X signals Y if X is more likely to be true when Y is true than when Y is false
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- [note::Definition of signalling]

we want to convince bosses we are skillful, honest, and hard-working. If we run the company, we want to convince customers we have superior products. If we are on the dating scene, we want to show potential mates that we are charming, funny, wealthy, interesting, you name it
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- signals,
- [note::Examples of signalling]

signaling can be really horrible
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Nikolai Roussanov's study on how the dynamics of signaling games in US minority communities encourage conspicuous consumption and prevent members of those communities from investing in education and other important goods.
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- [note::Woah. This seems plausible, but is it actually true? Seems like a convenient way to blame minority communities for their financial misfortune i.e. "minorities just need to manage their money better."]

if every other company in your industry is buying Super Bowl commercials, then none of them have a comparative advantage and they're in exactly the same relative position as if none of them bought Super Bowl commercials - throwing money away just as in the diamond example.
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- [note::Assumes the memorability of each commercial is the same.]

nitpicky attention to good grammar, even when a sentence is perfectly clear without it, can be a way to signal education, and hence intelligence and probably social class
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signal is a method of conveying information among not-necessarily-trustworthy parties by performing an action which is more likely or less costly if the information is true than if it is not true. Because signals are often costly, they can sometimes lead to a depressing waste of resources, but in other cases they may be the only way to believably convey important information
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- [note::Summary of article]

(highlight:: "no communication is reliable unless it has a cost".
Having this outlook on life in the past 5 years made a lot of things seem very different - small questions like why some people don't use seatbelts and brag about it, or why men on dates leave big tips; but also bigger questions like advertizing, how hierarchical relationships really work, etc.)
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handicap principle theory
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