Why it’s important to have an early alphabet surname
In the absence of quantitative signs of performance, the urge for recognition can make people obsess about what appear to be deeply trivial signs of success.
The other week, an economist at the University of Chicago named Chris Blattman posted 10 pieces of advice on social media platform X about how to email a professor or another senior member of the professional classes.
A greeting consisting of, “Hi!” is inadvisable, he said, as are emojis, emoticons and an abundance of exclamation marks. I especially liked his tip to use capital letters and punctuation, “otherwise we will lol at yr sad attempts”. Quite so.
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Financial Times
Pilita Clark is an associate editor and business columnist at the Financial Times. She writes a weekly column on modern corporate life, as well as features and other articles.
