Signaling as a service. From julian.digital

Click ➡ here to read the article “Signaling as a service”, written by the blog julian.digital and inspired by the book The Elephant in the Brain.

According to the author of the blog post (and the book), there is a common “hidden” reason behind every, or at least most, of human actions: increasing our social status.

“So we think and say that we do something for a specific reason, but in reality, there’s a hidden, selfish motive: to show off and increase our social status.”

— julian.digital

An example of this concerns “Green products”, which are more about signaling a prosocial attitude than actually helping the environment; or Education, which helps with “credentialing and signaling to potential employers”.

In fact, Hanson (one of the authors of the book) believes that “well over 90 percent” of human behavior can be explained by signaling. What is more, the article points out that signaling can be broken down into 3 components:

• Signal Message, namely “whatever (hidden) subtext you are trying to convey. In the case of a pair of cool sneakers this is probably something along the lines of “I can afford to spend $100 on a pair of shoes” and “I live an active, healthy lifestyle”.”

• Signal Distribution, the way you get your signal message across to other people. “So how are you going to distribute the signal message of your sneakers? You simply wear them where other people can see them.” Social media provide signal distribution at scale.

• Signal Amplification: “If everyone is wearing cool sneakers .. how do you make sure yours stand out? You could buy the pair with the most noticeable design or the one with the flashiest colors, for example. These signal amplifiers help you to better compete against status rivals.”

The Elephant in the Brain has taught us that you don’t just meet people for fun. You are engaging in a constant battle for attention and status. This is the core message of the article, which really resonated with me especially because it puts into words a concept that I have felt to be prominent for a while.