Top all-time · #2581
Rob Henderson
Personal blog · robkhenderson.substack.comculturephilosophyscience
Rob Henderson's personal blog at robkhenderson.substack.com covers culture, philosophy and science. Since 2022, 32 different Hacker News readers have linked it 78 times, most often “Luxury beliefs are status symbols”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-11-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Human nature, psychology, social class, luxury beliefs, and more. Click to read Rob Henderson's Newsletter, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
Most-linked posts?
- Luxury beliefs are status symbols7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2022-06-12
- Status over Money, Money over Status4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-06-26
- You Can’t Outsmart Your Own Nature4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-05-01
- Nobody is a prisoner of their IQ3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-01-15
- All the Single Ladies3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-02-05
- The True Self Is the Person You Want Others to Believe You Are2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-06-19
- Social Comparison Orientation and Its Correlates2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-07-11
- The Logic of Envy2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-07-15
- The Male Monkey Dance2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-09-11
- The Happiness-Accuracy Tradeoff and the Limits of Rationality2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-12-17
What Hacker News says?
I totally agree there are real concerning trends. Just earlier today we got some great examples from Rob Henderson https://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/no-one-expects-young-me...
Comment linking /p/no-one-expects-young-men-to-do-anything?s=r
on “Gen Z does not dream of labor”Submitted No one expects young men to do anything and they are responding by doing nothing as a story · 704 points
HN discussionThis reminds me of Rob Henderson piece about why adults care what children think[1]. There seems to be an unwillingness to grow up in modern society. Growing up doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or enjoy kid “toys”. But it does mean taking on responsibility, being dependable, and willing to lead younger generations. [1] https://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/i-have-yet-to-hear-a-sa...
Comment linking /p/i-have-yet-to-hear-a-satisfactory?utm_source=substack
on “Why are so many adults acting just like children?”Submitted People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes as a story · 252 points
HN discussionTo me, this matches with the submission about the logic of envy [1] [2]. Accumulating knowledge doesn't help making decisions. An I is needed to make a choice. To me, this is thus an important text about procrastination. >He characterised [the a. of the I] as a self-reverting activity, a reflection on itself, a transitioning from indeterminacy to determinacy [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32103900 [2] http…
Comment linking /p/the-logic-of-envy
on “Why Read Fichte Today?”Submitted Marriage Markets (and Muscularity) as a story · 97 points
HN discussionIt's correct. Some people choose status over money. https://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/status-over-money-money... "The solution, then, is to pay the low-status workers a bit more than they are worth to get them to stay. The high-status workers, in contrast, accept lower pay for the benefit of their lofty positions." The consequence of this is job title inflation. https://www.economist.com/business/2022/12/08/the-s…
Comment linking /p/status-over-money-money-over-status
on “Companies save billions of dollars by giving employees fake “manager” titles”Submitted The Logic of Envy as a story · 83 points
HN discussion1. The changes you've outlined are all simplifications except the ones for non-binary, which as the Stallman essay linked above outlines, is a mess. Simultaneously more confusing, less accurate, less precise, sounds more clumsy, and takes more effort. Not a winning strategy (though calling people bigots got quite far for a while). 2. We know what a country is, we've created several. 3. We're not with the Pope and ha…
Comment linking /p/status-symbols-and-the-struggle-for
on “Firefox Android now supports tampermonkey”Submitted The true purpose of propaganda as a story · 69 points
HN discussionIf this is a typical offer you should negotiate for both title and salary. Titles are fungible and don’t cost the company. You may run up against some ego problems if you skip over the title of your supervisor but that’s about it. Taking what they offer isn’t your only choice. The same is true of salary. They’re likely hoping you will take just a little more to join. If they won’t raise salary, seek a signing bonus,…
Comment linking /p/status-over-money-money-over-status
on “Ask HN: Should I take a step back in Seniority? (Sen-Mid)”Submitted Luxury beliefs are status symbols as a story · 45 points
HN discussionThere is a link in the comment that explains just that to be honest. But here is a better source: https://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/status-symbols-and-the-...
Comment linking /p/status-symbols-and-the-struggle-for
on “Yahoo is making a return to search”Submitted First base is hooking up, second base is talking, third base is going on a date as a story · 41 points
HN discussion> And then one day someone steals one of their Teslas, and they bemoan the injustice that normal, law-abiding citizens like them face and resolve to hate the poor even more. They hire private security for they gated community, don't have any Teslas stolen, bemoan on how poor kids that steal cars are a result of dysfunctional society and pat each other on backs for being so progressive. All while completely ignoring…
Comment linking /p/status-symbols-and-the-struggle-for
on “Baltimore sues Hyundai, Kia over spike in car thefts”Submitted The zigzags of politically correct opinion in communist regimes as a story · 39 points
HN discussionhttps://robkhenderson.substack.com/p/status-symbols-and-the-... usually only the lower classes suffer for our luxury beliefs. this is an exception.
Comment linking /p/status-symbols-and-the-struggle-for
on “Bob Lee, Former CTO Square, Creator of CashApp, Stabbed to Death in SF”Submitted The Distinctiveness of Human Aggression as a story · 28 points
HN discussionSubmitted Be Wary of Imitating High-Status People Who Can Afford to Countersignal as a story · 25 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Propels Cancel Culture? (2020) as a story · 23 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Adults Care What Young People Think as a story · 19 points
HN discussionSubmitted Luxury Beliefs Are Like Possessions as a story · 18 points
HN discussionSubmitted Rich Friend Poor Friend as a story · 9 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Male Monkey Dance as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted Luxury Beliefs Are Status Symbols as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted Social Comparison Orientation and Its Correlates as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Caesar vs. Dominance-Oriented Status Seekers as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Luxury Beliefs Are Status Symbols as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Luxury Beliefs Are Like Possessions as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Keep Your Head Up in Some Rooms, and Your Head Down in Others as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
