Thinness, Status, and Coping (why it’s okay to admit that being thin is good)

This went massively viral a little over a week ago, with over 10,000 “likes”:

This is an example of good genetics, those being genetics that regulate metabolism and appetite signaling/control, if the sought phenotype is being lean. Many people diet and count calories but still remain fat and or cannot lose much, and do not become anywhere nearly as slim as he is. To say it’s “just environment” implies that a full-time streamer who by his admission has never stepped foot in a gym is somehow better at dieting than bodybuilders and coaches.

Of course, it’s not like he’s athletic or strong, but we’re talking about a specific outcome–the attainability of a low body weight. Those other things are orthogonal. That is what is weird about genetics. The “thing” that is desired or sought may confer no evolutionary advantage–if anything, being smaller and weaker is disadvantageous–but it is still as every bit as innate.

Genes are the answer to, “why outcomes so varied when the environment is more or less held constant.” This is why I’m such a fan of “HBD” for its unrivaled explanatory power. It’s such an accurate heuristic. But social media is an environment–albeit, an artificial one–which generally favors thinness or athleticism. You have to be in one of those boxes.

If Mr. Fuentes were visibly fat, it would hurt his credibility, and worse, be a distraction. People would constantly be using his weight as a way to discredit his ideas. For a visual medium, image does matter. To illustrate, consider the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy presidential debate. Radio listeners generally believed that Nixon had won, whereas television viewers reached the opposite conclusion, largely because Kennedy looked better.

Of course, one can argue he undermines his credibility with bad arguments, but this is again orthogonal to image. Looking like a fat slob and having bad arguments only compounds it; being only an idiot is better than being a fat idiot. Another example is Martin Shkreli, whose opinions on drugs prices have estranged him to both sides of the aisle, but he still conveys intellectual credibility by having a similar noodle-like build. Other examples include the popular creator/streamer “penguinz0”, who is similarly lanky. Even if your positions are bad, if you want to play the smart person online, it helps to look the part.

The negative responses often seen in the comments, such as dismissing it as “victim weight,” may reflect the same insecurity or jealousy that frequently appears when people downplay IQ or other valued traits. Internally, people know thinness not only looks good, but also confers social status, in men, too, not only women. Hence, the “cope” that it makes him a victim, “not a real man,” or other excuses people create to justify their own inability to be attractive or inability to lose weight.

Look at the huge popularity of GLP-1 drugs, by people who are not even overweight (e.g. Sam Altman). Everyone wants to lose those last stubborn “10-20 pounds.” Millions of GLP-1 users correctly equate thinness with status and credibility. This is yet another example of “revealed vs stated preferences,” in which people internally covet thinness despite admonishing others online for being too thin.

Everyone on social media is being judged by and on their appearance, like it or not. This is the “new normal”. Fitness and dieting culture went from a niche largely confined to Instagram or tabloids, to everywhere. Pre Covid, no one expected a guy who yelled into a microphone for 3-4 hours a day to be a role model for health. But that’s where we’re at now, starting around 2022 by my estimate.

Indeed, this timing sounds about right. Blame Ozempic or the post-Covid online “fitness craze,” but everyone has been “thinmaxxing”. Typically people gain weight as they get older, but now we’re seeing the reverse trend, whether in Hollywood or tech. Save for Elon Musk, all the top tech CEOs cut a thin, athletic figure. Here’s Peter Thiel from 2012:

He has a small pouch and some facial fat. In other words, he looks like a regular guy. Fast forward to a 2025 interview, and despite being 13 years older, he cuts a chiseled, stone-like visage, and is clearly much leaner overall:

In Hollywood, examples include former WWE wrestlers The Rock and Bautista, who have downsized considerably to the concerns of fans. It’s not just about the health aspects. Mr. Theil doesn’t look healthier in his interview; if anything, his gaunt dour complexion invites concerns about his wellbeing, similar to concerns over sudden weight loss seen in many celebrities, leading to speculation about eating disorders or illness, but it’s really about status.

Thinness signifies self-control and discipline, in contrast to indulgence. As society becomes wealthier, wealth is no longer sufficient to stand out, requiring other attributes. When everyone in your social circle is already wealthy or famous, what other dimension remains but appearance? It’s the one thing that AI or post-scarcity cannot level or equalize.

Overall, when people are critical or in disbelief about something which is difficult and confers social status, whether it’s claims of high IQ, fast metabolism, or thinness, this signifies a form of coping. People cannot bring themselves to being honest, because this would require having to admit being inadequate or otherwise lower on a hierarchy where thinness is valued. An honest response to Fuentes’ video would be something along the lines of, “I have been trying unsuccessfully to lose weight, but it’s impressive and commendable how he lost weight with relatively little effort.”

Honesty isn’t just about holding others to being accountable, but more importantly, yourself. Sometimes this means acceptance, which is a black or white pill in the sense the news may be bad and unchangeable, but it also means you can move on, having taken an honest inventory of the situation. Sometimes “acceptance” is the best answer than lashing out with resentment or creating “copes”. Just as Neil Postman famously wrote in 1985 that we’re “amusing ourselves to death,” the same is true of too much self-improvement.