I like your comment, but one problem is that telling people you don't know stuff projects low status.

That only happens if it's credible, otherwise it's taken as counter-signalling. When I say I don't know much about something, people generally realize I'm just holding myself to a high standard and don't genuinely believe I know less than the typical person; the problem is that they also think that when I actually don't know shit about something (in the sense the typical person would use that phrase). Conversely, showing off knowledge can come across as arrogant in certain situations.

I tried the "don't care about status" thing for a while

Even if you don't care about status, I'd say that what X (e.g. “I don't know”) actually means in English is what English speakers actually mean when they say X, regardless of etymology (huh, it sounds tautological when put this way, doesn't it?), and if you're aware of this and use X to mean something else you're lying (unless your interlocutor knows you mean something else).