A comment on Tierney’s NYT blog post on Miller’s Spent: I recently applied to PhD programs. I had the good fortune to be accepted to a number of top-rate programs. … One stood out as the university with the most prestige and ‘brand recognition’. … I was not surprised that strangers, especially those outside of academia, reacted most positively to the name with the highest perceived prestige. What did surprise (and sadden) me is how it seemed to change the perceptions that my family and very close friends have of me. Even when family or friends … told me to make the decision based on what program I thought was best for me, it was clear that they were leaning towards and routing for the program with the most famous name. After I made the decision, it was clear that their perceptions of me changed, palpably. They can now say, ‘I have a friend/daughter/granddaughter who is going to this world famous Ivy League institution’. The whole story they can tell about me- and they way they think about me has shifted.
I might be using the word "shallow" in a different way than you. I meant based on signals that are easy to verify by a distant observer who doesn't put in much effort.
Interesting insight, but what competing aims get slighted when over-valuing credentials? I would say getting things done. In an academic setting, the level of "getting things done" may be difficult to discern. In a business setting, it's much more salient. My boss may want to impress his boss with my credentials, but he (hopefully) knows that my actual performance, if it leads to better overall performance, will make his boss even happier. In a business context, this kind of behavior is very bad, in my opinion.
I suppose it might be nice to live in an isolated small town where everyone knows everyone so well that superficial signals count for little.
It's apparent, even apart from your mentioning it, that you've never lived in a small town. Believe me, it may be more personal, but it's hardly any less shallow. Or less classist. Maybe a small town filled with intellectuals working in the same field... now that would be something.
We also want to affiliate with high status institutions, hence our desire our teams should win the "World" Series, our party's President should always be right, and our country always be exceptional.
"We all want to affiliate with high status people, but since status is about common distant perceptions of quality, we often care more about what distant observers would think about our associates than about how we privately evaluate them."
Interesting insight Robin.
There's also the issue of authority and objectivity; one's own mother saying, "My son is sharp as a tack!" isn't very strong evidence that her son is in fact intelligent. "My son attends Harvard Law," on the other hand, may be a relatively objective testament to her son's - if not intelligence, then at least, shall we say, "lack of dumbness"?
This presumes, of course, that the mother of the subject is not also the wife of an ex-President, long serving Senator, etc.
suppose it might be nice to live in an isolated small town where everyone knows everyone so well that superficial signals count for little. But I’ve never lived in such a town, and am quite unlikely to ever live there.
there's a simpler way of saying this: in order to curry favor with higher status people, help them curry status with even higher status people.
I might be using the word "shallow" in a different way than you. I meant based on signals that are easy to verify by a distant observer who doesn't put in much effort.
Interesting insight, but what competing aims get slighted when over-valuing credentials? I would say getting things done. In an academic setting, the level of "getting things done" may be difficult to discern. In a business setting, it's much more salient. My boss may want to impress his boss with my credentials, but he (hopefully) knows that my actual performance, if it leads to better overall performance, will make his boss even happier. In a business context, this kind of behavior is very bad, in my opinion.
I suppose it might be nice to live in an isolated small town where everyone knows everyone so well that superficial signals count for little.
It's apparent, even apart from your mentioning it, that you've never lived in a small town. Believe me, it may be more personal, but it's hardly any less shallow. Or less classist. Maybe a small town filled with intellectuals working in the same field... now that would be something.
We also want to affiliate with high status institutions, hence our desire our teams should win the "World" Series, our party's President should always be right, and our country always be exceptional.
"We all want to affiliate with high status people, but since status is about common distant perceptions of quality, we often care more about what distant observers would think about our associates than about how we privately evaluate them."
Interesting insight Robin.
There's also the issue of authority and objectivity; one's own mother saying, "My son is sharp as a tack!" isn't very strong evidence that her son is in fact intelligent. "My son attends Harvard Law," on the other hand, may be a relatively objective testament to her son's - if not intelligence, then at least, shall we say, "lack of dumbness"?
This presumes, of course, that the mother of the subject is not also the wife of an ex-President, long serving Senator, etc.
suppose it might be nice to live in an isolated small town where everyone knows everyone so well that superficial signals count for little. But I’ve never lived in such a town, and am quite unlikely to ever live there.
lesswrong?