I feel like I get a lot of criticism for doing things that aren’t obviously fun/pleasurable but are considered more high-status by mainstream society or something. Maybe the criticism is fair but maybe these people just differ from me on how much utility they derive from the object level of their life, as opposed to various meta levels?
For most experiences I think I get more enjoyment out of anticipating and reflecting upon them, and using them to signal (even if just to myself) than I do out of the actual experience.
Of course, you could just have different aesthetics/signaling strategies than me, and that’s reasonable. I think a lot of people I know have a sort of contrarian hyper-utilitarian aesthetic. But I feel like there’s legitimately less room for interesting signaling there. If your aesthetic is “drink five bottles of Soylent a day” that’s basically … all you can do? Where do you go from there? Whereas the signaling hierarchies of being “cultured,” “classy,” etc. always have more levels to reach.