Got sucked down the Red Pill rabbit hole because of that post Rob and Esther were hatereading. It’s crystallized an idea that I hadn’t quite been able to articulate until now:
PUA culture cares more about embodying a certain ideal of masculinity than it does about winning. Even if we accept their idea that social relations are fundamentally adversarial, their recommendations for getting ahead in an adversarial system are pretty dubious. I can’t help but notice that “weak and effeminate men,” a category this Illimitable Men article mocks relentlessly, includes the majority of the most powerful people in the world. If your model for acquiring power places the last half dozen US presidents among those who are too emotive, concerned with being liked, and willing to engage in vapid pleasantries to get anywhere in life, maybe devote some time to thinking on the phrase “Procrustean Bed.”
The point that really made it click was this one: “Psychologically and symbolically, folding means you have ‘lost control and given up’ in the way that a player folds when they surrender in a game of poker.”
Okay, I get it, poker is the metaphor of choice for people who want to signal a certain sort of hard-nosed, pragmatic intelligence. But to do that, it helps to have a basic understanding of poker. You know what the best poker players do all the time? If you guessed “fold,” then congratulations, you know more about poker than Illimitable Men does. Stone-cold bluffs aren’t actually all that common outside of the movies. They’re often good drama, rarely good poker: your opponents are not idiots, and while it may make you feel very manly to raise big on every shit hand you draw, it will also make you predictable, not to mention committing you to throwing away substantial amounts when your opponent clearly has a hand that will trounce yours.
It’s not hard to see how this applies to the life philosophy of this crowd. Not only is cutting your losses clearly the right choice in many situations, surrendering can have strategic value even in cases where one isn’t clearly going to lose. Unpredictability is an asset. Commitment of resources to the areas in which they’ll provide the most benefit is important. The Red Pill philosophy is fixated on winning every battle, and that leads to a lot of lost wars.
Oh my god, that poker analogy is an exquisite self-own
(Good post in general too)
1 month ago · tagged #nothing to add but tags #pua cw · 142 notes · source: dagny-hashtaggart · .permalink
vulpineangel liked this
judal-is-my-spirit-animal liked this
psybersecurity liked this
hunterstheorem liked this
politicalmissdemeanor reblogged this from ms-demeanor and added:I’m still lolling at the username Dagny Hashtaggart, tbh.
shacklesburst liked this
dagny-hashtaggart reblogged this from 91625 and added:Oh hey. I thought of the rock-paper-scissors lizards when I wrote this, but I couldn’t recall what they were called.My...
nattanya-the-notorious liked this
91625 reblogged this from psybersecurity and added:You know we’re ruled by lizards, right?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_side-blotched_lizard
wanderingwhore reblogged this from chroniclesofrettek and added:you, a nerd, are arguing vehemently that this muscle-bound actor and professional athleteeven if the territory of Arnold...
zeteticelench liked this
lisp-case-is-why-it-failed liked this
rebellionkid reblogged this from chroniclesofrettek and added:None of these things are part of his public persona. Likewise Bush actually *is* stupid in the only sense that matters...
millievfence reblogged this from chroniclesofrettek and added:Also he picked up that hobby as a deliberate business strategy.
illidanstr liked this
chroniclesofrettek reblogged this from lisp-case-is-why-it-failed and added:Maybe. I’m not really sure Macho/Nerd is carving reality at the joints.
nonternary liked this- chroniclesofrettek liked this
drethelin reblogged this from chroniclesofrettek and added:Also bodybuilding is pretty fucking nerdy. It’s all numbers and specific dimensions (sometimes measured by calipers!)...
allfeelsallthetime liked this- lisp-case-is-why-it-failed reblogged this from chroniclesofrettek and added:
Is Trump also a nerd by that definition? Is there something nerdy about the type of thing Arnold did that doesn’t apply...
- crazyeddieme reblogged this from mugasofer and added:
Noted philosopher Kenny Rogers touched on this as well. But I guess he’s not manly enough either.Now I have that fucking...
laropasucia reblogged this from mugasofer
mugasofer reblogged this from empathy2000
firstchurchofchristspaceman liked this
serinemolecule reblogged this from wirehead-wannabe and added:“PUA isn’t winning” isn’t a criticism of PUA I’ve heard before, and I don’t think I’d agree with it.Looking at results...
coselick liked this
numb-exe liked this
derplefurf liked this
daisukitoo liked this
boozer-pitt reblogged this from sadoeconomist
sadoeconomist reblogged this from drethelin and added:This is a really weird criticism of pickup artistry honestly - ‘don’t get hung up on The One and don’t be afraid to...
eaglesnotforks liked this
theicalife liked this
the-grey-tribe reblogged this from psybersecurity- psybersecurity reblogged this from obiternihili and added:
warning: devil’s-advocate rhetoricThis is definitely largely true but it’s also interesting to note (since you mentioned...
misanthropymademe reblogged this from dagny-hashtaggart and added:Quality post. PUAs basically bring sunglasses to the game and expect every instance to turn into strip poker eventually.
- drethelin liked this
obiternihili reblogged this from wirehead-wannabe- obiternihili liked this
wirehead-wannabe reblogged this from ursaeinsilviscacant
earnest-peer liked this
goddygaudess reblogged this from eversolewd- goddygaudess liked this
eversolewd reblogged this from empathy2000- eversolewd liked this
- Show more notes