Once you add that in, no wonder someone could find a way to tie 90% of human behavior to "signalling." Why did you do something? To convince yourself that you are the sort of person who would do that thing. This story works with a large majority of things people do. That seems too clever by half.

>We do things to convince ourselves of our qualities

This just seems like basic logic though? If you want to be X and Y provides the means, then it makes sense to do it right? There can't be a hidden agenda if you're actively pursuing it

Well that’s a convenient tautology, then.