Before phones, many of us (I say us but you know what I mean) carried books so we wouldn’t be bored if we had to wait somewhere or you were reading an engrossing book you couldn’t wait to finish! I never left the house without a book - what else would you do while waiting for a train or bus etc? Now I love it when I see someone reading a book on the train. Rare. I like to look and see how many people are looking at their phones - maybe 90%? And then someone with a book :) The pendulum swings back. I don’t know if this is wisdom signalling? Maybe I’m old-fashioned. I just thought I was a reader. But maybe yes, back in the day, I did like people to think I was capable of reading War and Peace etc… 🤷🏻♀️
There’s an embedded paradox here: signalling wisdom relies on visibility, compression, and recognisability, while wisdom itself often resists all three. It makes progress slowly, is full of ambiguity, and tends to operate outside of performative frames.
If wisdom becomes something we’re expected to signal, then the nature of the signal inevitably distorts the thing being signalled. The more refined the performance, the more it risks replacing the practice. In that frame, “wisdom signalling” might not only reflect 'cultural aspiration', it could also accelerate the erosion of reflective space.
Hi Beth - BBH published last week a thing about masculine personas that your piece reminded me of. One was the podcast persona that signals the aesthetic of authority: “you don’t need credentials. Just a good mic and the discipline to sound like you mean it”.
Definitely seeing this trend. I wonder if it's also linked to anxiety about career prospects and the loss of linear career progression? The future of almost every industry feels so uncertain right now - signalling wisdom, or your access to 'insights' nobody else has, could be a play for longer-term employability.
Substack is full of this…there is also an overlap I think with virtue signalling on here too, which is something around spending your time doing “wise things” such as reading substacks, or reading generally, vs what the riff raff are doing over on other forms of social media rotting their brains.
Honestly this is a relief after the fake it until you make it (and are still vastly immoral and incompetent) trend that has only begun to lose it's footing recently. You can't help but be a little better each time you are exposed to good input.
I wonder if the rising cost of living is shifting how people express status—from material goods to less tangible signals like wisdom, resilience, or extreme physical achievement
I just received something in the post yesterday that makes me the ultimate wisdom signaller ~ A New Yorker tote….😏😜
Ohhhhh yeah. God tier baby!
More status from a Birkin bag or Anna Karenina? Interesting concept!
Haha depends on who you’re asking or maybe where you are!
Before phones, many of us (I say us but you know what I mean) carried books so we wouldn’t be bored if we had to wait somewhere or you were reading an engrossing book you couldn’t wait to finish! I never left the house without a book - what else would you do while waiting for a train or bus etc? Now I love it when I see someone reading a book on the train. Rare. I like to look and see how many people are looking at their phones - maybe 90%? And then someone with a book :) The pendulum swings back. I don’t know if this is wisdom signalling? Maybe I’m old-fashioned. I just thought I was a reader. But maybe yes, back in the day, I did like people to think I was capable of reading War and Peace etc… 🤷🏻♀️
There’s an embedded paradox here: signalling wisdom relies on visibility, compression, and recognisability, while wisdom itself often resists all three. It makes progress slowly, is full of ambiguity, and tends to operate outside of performative frames.
If wisdom becomes something we’re expected to signal, then the nature of the signal inevitably distorts the thing being signalled. The more refined the performance, the more it risks replacing the practice. In that frame, “wisdom signalling” might not only reflect 'cultural aspiration', it could also accelerate the erosion of reflective space.
Hi Beth - BBH published last week a thing about masculine personas that your piece reminded me of. One was the podcast persona that signals the aesthetic of authority: “you don’t need credentials. Just a good mic and the discipline to sound like you mean it”.
This was a great read, but i’m left thinking..
How do we differentiate between wisdom and wisdom signalling?
And isn’t it good that the larger population wants to learn better and deeper?
Definitely seeing this trend. I wonder if it's also linked to anxiety about career prospects and the loss of linear career progression? The future of almost every industry feels so uncertain right now - signalling wisdom, or your access to 'insights' nobody else has, could be a play for longer-term employability.
Substack is full of this…there is also an overlap I think with virtue signalling on here too, which is something around spending your time doing “wise things” such as reading substacks, or reading generally, vs what the riff raff are doing over on other forms of social media rotting their brains.
Honestly this is a relief after the fake it until you make it (and are still vastly immoral and incompetent) trend that has only begun to lose it's footing recently. You can't help but be a little better each time you are exposed to good input.
I wonder if the rising cost of living is shifting how people express status—from material goods to less tangible signals like wisdom, resilience, or extreme physical achievement