Who’s That Guy (Girl)?

Ben Thompson, author of the blog Stratechery, found this question on Quora, asking who he was. He was bit irritated with the question (I’ll get to why in a minute):

Re-read that question again: the person asking the question knows Thompson to be the author of the blog, which, by the way, is how Thompson wants to be known:

 “I’m a person, I put myself out there on this blog, and I trust that what I write represents me well.”

But that’s never enough, is it? Thompson again:

“I’ve been quoted as “Microsoft’s Ben Thompson,” as “former Apple intern Ben Thompson,” and “batshit crazy Ben Thompson.” I actually wish the third were true, because, unlike the first two, the descriptor rests on what I write, not on some sort of vague authority derived from whoever is signing my paychecks.”

A variant of the Thompson’s point is why authors often write anonymously.  As Maria Bustillos explained:

“Anonymous is more than a pseudonym. It is a stark declaration of intent: a wall explicitly thrown up, not only between writer and reader, but between the writer’s work and his life. His book is one thing and his “real” life another, and the latter is entirely off limits, not only to you, the reader, but presumably to almost everybody.”

Related to this topic, I got an insight from this series of articles titled (hold your breath), “Why Should Women Shave”? One guy’s response was:

“I’m not opposed to women having armpit hair in the abstract, but I would be unlikely to date a woman who does not shave because it is a social signal attached to certain values. I know this not a causation or even a perfect correlation, but the women I’ve known who don’t shave tend to embrace ideologies such as new age spiritualism, ascribe to conspiracy theories about the food system, reject modern medicine, etc.  So I don’t actually have a problem with the hair itself; it’s the associated values that turn me off.”

I guess it’s a “package deal” issue. If we know some things about the author, we assume we can infer other things. And makes them that much more likeable. And opens us to be willing to be influenced by them. We want to be able to relate to them. They stop being strangers. Because let’s face it: who wants to say they were moulded (to whatever little extent) by complete strangers, who (shudder) may be jerks or harbor dark secrets?

I guess it must be an evolutionary thing: we want to know the people we like, for them to be a part of our tribe. And strangers can’t be part of your tribe, can they? And so we seek more information about those people.