Blueberry comments on A Rational Education - Less Wrong

12 Post author: wedrifid 23 June 2010 05:48AM

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Comment author: Blueberry 27 June 2010 11:43:58PM 0 points [-]

I would also like to see the top-level post, but there are a couple problems with this definition. First of all, if we're talking about how much influence people have, it would be clearer to use a word like, say, "influence". Second, status usually suggests some element of what people think of you, which is related to though not the same as influence. One can be highly influential but poorly-regarded, and vice versa. Note that in this sense status can be multi-dimensional: for instance, people can regard you as a good person to spend time with, but think poorly of your intelligence.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 28 June 2010 01:20:11AM 0 points [-]

This is a good point, thank you. I have an intuition that while status is the ability to control the group, you can have influence without having status, although you cannot have status without having influence. That points to an flaw in my definition, one which I should resolve somehow before making that post.

I should probably note that I think that there are actually two different terms to which we refer when we say "status". Status1 (or "influence") is the ability to control the group, so it's the one I was talking about above. Status2 is stuff like official titles or other considerations that cause a situation where it's expected that people grant you Status1. I believe that people liking you would fall under Status2.

Comment author: Morendil 28 June 2010 06:05:59AM 2 points [-]

you can have influence without having status

See here for a recent mention of an example.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 28 June 2010 06:08:53AM 0 points [-]

That's a good example, especially since it's different from the one I was thinking about. Thanks.

Comment author: ata 28 June 2010 06:14:06AM *  1 point [-]

you cannot have status without having influence

Is that true? A few counterexamples come to mind, such as figurehead monarchs and Paris Hilton. Or is the assumption that their status is such that they could 'control the group' to some degree if they so chose, even without any formally recognized authority?

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 28 June 2010 06:53:52AM 0 points [-]

Good point, let me reword: you cannot have status1 without having influence.

(I need to find better names for these. Status1 could be I-Status, for "Influence". Status2... P-Status for "Position", maybe.)