= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
army1987 comments on Mistakes repository - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (192)
This brings up an excellent point.
It's perfectly fine to be Packers fan, but I would judge a person who showed up to a wedding or funeral dressed as a cheesehead. I wouldn't judge them for being a Packards fan; I would judge them for disrespectfully violating decorum -- for choosing to signal that they are a Packards fan.
Projecting nerdiness is similar EDIT in that the first-order signal is not the harmful one. A nerdy appearance emits two important signals:
The second-order signal is the more negative and important. It isn't too bad if people think you are nerdy; it's bad if people think that you don't understand or don't care how most people perceive you. It signals a lack of self-awareness, or a deficient understanding of cultural norms, or blithe indifference. In my case, it accurately signaled all three.
Signaling my lack of self-awareness didn't cause bad things to happen; it prevented good things from happening.
No negative impact, and I don't think people do assume the wrong things about me. In conversation I'm usually transparent about who I am. You can credibly profess to be nerdy no matter what clothing you wear. You cannot credibly profess to understand unspoken social norms if your appearance contradicts your words.
Nitpick on wording: I wouldn't call wearing a suit to a wedding “looking like a non-Packers fan” -- it's not like non-Packers fans are all that much more likely to do so than Packers fan; I'd call it “not looking like a Packers fan”. By the same token, on hearing “looking like a non-nerd”, I think about an appearance that's significant evidence than you're not a nerd; I'd refer to an appearance that doesn't provide much evidence one way or another as “not looking like a nerd”.