Thinking about this stuff seems like a waste of time to me. If you think status makes you happy, I assume there are still some things you need to figure out for yourself. But maybe it's the other way around, who knows. Still, I don't care. :)
I think part of the point is that you actually do care and you need to care and this is healthy. For instance, if you dressed in dirty clothes and didn't take care of yourself that would be very low status. Anyone coming in contact with you would smell your low status immediately and treat you accordingly. So, if you bathe, shave, and wear clean clothes then you are already playing the status game. And that's great!
Not necessarily. I would argue that plenty of people bathe and wear clean clothes more for their own comfort rather than that of others. The fact that these things can be interpreted as status signals has nothing to do with the motivation for taking these actions in the first place.
