Rollo Tomassi
Master Don Juan
I recieved this as a PM and thought it would make a good thread.
The problem with the examples you give is that both rely on OVERT communication. This is predictable because men default to OVERT communication in almost everything we do. We mean what we say and we say what we mean (and even when we think we're not). We have to make a conscious effort to be subtle or indirect in our meaning.
Women hate OVERT communication because their default is to communicate COVERTLY. They imply meaning and feeling in gesture, 'dirty looks', intonation in voice, posture and many other forms of sub-communication. This is how they are used to receiving and conveying feelings and information with other women. How often have you beena at a crowded social gathering and had a GF pull you aside to say "Oooh, did you see that dirty look that b!tch just gave me?" when a you didn't see a thing?
This is exactly how most sh!t tests are delivered - COVERTLY. They insinuate things, they use double meanings and innuendo because they know how easily it can be misinterpreted by men to test their perceptiveness to their form of communication. They also know how easily she can prove the opposite of her original intent by simply being OVERT and accusing the man of being presumptuous. Yes, women will resort to OVERT communication when either it serves their purposes to do so or they've exhausted (or have been exasperated to) their ability to make their point COVERTLY and the message is more important than the delivery. It's exactly this ability to discern when a woman has reached the point of OVERTLY communicating, and why she has, that's primary in understanding and passing a sh!t test. Remember in the same way that men must make a conscious effort to be COVERT in their communication, women also must make an effort to be OVERT - they can speak it, but it's not their native language.
The second part of identifying a sh!t test is determining feeling. Women communicate feelings primarily and information secondarily. Always ask yourself what feeling is this woman conveying to me by acting, speaking, gesturing to me in this way? Rarely do women give men OVERT sh!t tests and when they do it's in the form of an ultimatum (which is always a statement of powerlessness). Generally sh!t tests are COVERT so it's necessary to struggle with what it is she's feeling and how she wants you to address it. Remember women convey emotion first and thus you're dealing with an emotive state. Most often sh!t tests are based in insecurity; emotional, financial, practical, long or short term security issues are at the root of most, not all, sh!t tests.
The next most common is a test of quality and this is generally a confidence test. This type of sh!t test is a filter to determine a man's condition and his knowledge of self-worth. This is easily recognizable in the "I already have a boyfriend" disclaimer (really a proactive LJBF). A woman slipping this into a conversation (again COVERTLY, or so she thinks) is subcommunicating that she may be unavailable, but the test is to see whether a man, who she's shown a definite IL in will be confident enough to push past it or even display confidence in his mannerisms that he has other plates spinning and she's not the only one vying for his attention. Quality tests are designed to determine a man's acceptability for her intimacy, and are used (mostly unconsciously) when a man refuses to automatically and OVERTLY qualify himself for a woman from the start. This is a fall back for the woman who is cuaght by Neg Hits and realizes (maybe subconsciously) that she is qualifying herself for the guy and perceives an imbalance she's not accustomed to.
The examples of reactions you've listed here are in theory both correct for certain situations, but I'd warn against looking at them in binary terms (i.e. one extreme or the other) and putting them into practice as such. In reaction #1 I think the maturity superiority (be her daddy) reaction is definitely a good tact for some types of sh!t tests, but "making a big deal out of it" or OVERTLY calling her on her behavior as a sh!t test not only makes you out to be a potential abuser, but it also opens you up to her simply making you out to be an ogre who didn't "get what she meant" and allows her to change the frame back to herself.
Remember, anytime you are dealing with a sh!t test, do so COVERTLY. The moment you tip your hand and OVERTLY identify a test as a test, you lose all manueverability and the frame reverts back to her. Far better to stay ambiguous and pass a test, giving her pause and doubt for doing it (assuming they realize it) than to blurt out "FINE, I'LL JUST DO WHAT YOU WANT!" in as loud a voice as you can muster. This is the hardest part for a guy to do because it takes patience, confidence (which is generally what she's looking for anyway) and the mental effort to stay intentioanlly subtle.
As for reaction #2, removing yourself from a sh!t test is almost universally a failure, again if you do so OVERTLY. This reaction presupposes an LTR or at least a dating familiarity and so some kind of relationship is at play, thus this would come as a response to a sh!t test based on securities. If you OVERTLY storm out of a sh!t test situation like this you fail. You look like a spoiled child who'll take his toys and go home, basically confirming for her what her sh!t test was designed to determine - can she break you? Yes she can.
The reaction in theory is sound - increase value through scarcity, but the time to be scarce was BEFORE the test was administered. In fact the test might be to determine just how clingy and insecure you really are. In practice however, you can systematically and COVERTLY remove your attention, thus removing it over time. Think of it as a protracted takeaway method. If suddenly you blow her off and tear away after a sh!t test, she'll see this as OVERT and immature, but if you are gradually unavailable due to your being needed by other people (job, school, family, pursuing a passion, etc.), not only do you effect a takeaway, but you also increase your (at least perceived) value. You become unavailable, but in demand.
I could go on (and I'm sure I will), but I hope this helps.
Dealing with a sh!t test takes practice, but the art isn't in what you do so much as simply becoming able to recognize them in the first place and then how you go about addressing it.You have said before that marriage is one long sh!t test. My guess is that if that is true then you should be one hell of a master at handling them.
So what's your secret to it? Is there a trick to it that works most of the time? And if you don't want to write a thing explaining it all I can understand that, in which case do you remember the titles of any threads of your which explain your techniques?
I have heard basically two lines of thought on how to handle sh!t tests.
1. Is to make a big deal out of it and yell at her like a father would a badly behaving child. The idea being that a. it shows you don't back down and that you fight back when provoked and b. you give her drama which most women love. Basically it's the VERBAL version of the clint eastwood/john wayne b!tch slap from all those old movies.
2. Is that you leave the house/don't answer phone calls asap even if it means walking out on her. And thus by making yourself scarce you show her that your attention is conditional.
Very few advocate the first one obviously and I find it crude anyways but the second isn't really ideal either especially if you live with a chick. So I was wondering if you had developed an ideal sh!t test passing technique
The problem with the examples you give is that both rely on OVERT communication. This is predictable because men default to OVERT communication in almost everything we do. We mean what we say and we say what we mean (and even when we think we're not). We have to make a conscious effort to be subtle or indirect in our meaning.
Women hate OVERT communication because their default is to communicate COVERTLY. They imply meaning and feeling in gesture, 'dirty looks', intonation in voice, posture and many other forms of sub-communication. This is how they are used to receiving and conveying feelings and information with other women. How often have you beena at a crowded social gathering and had a GF pull you aside to say "Oooh, did you see that dirty look that b!tch just gave me?" when a you didn't see a thing?
This is exactly how most sh!t tests are delivered - COVERTLY. They insinuate things, they use double meanings and innuendo because they know how easily it can be misinterpreted by men to test their perceptiveness to their form of communication. They also know how easily she can prove the opposite of her original intent by simply being OVERT and accusing the man of being presumptuous. Yes, women will resort to OVERT communication when either it serves their purposes to do so or they've exhausted (or have been exasperated to) their ability to make their point COVERTLY and the message is more important than the delivery. It's exactly this ability to discern when a woman has reached the point of OVERTLY communicating, and why she has, that's primary in understanding and passing a sh!t test. Remember in the same way that men must make a conscious effort to be COVERT in their communication, women also must make an effort to be OVERT - they can speak it, but it's not their native language.
The second part of identifying a sh!t test is determining feeling. Women communicate feelings primarily and information secondarily. Always ask yourself what feeling is this woman conveying to me by acting, speaking, gesturing to me in this way? Rarely do women give men OVERT sh!t tests and when they do it's in the form of an ultimatum (which is always a statement of powerlessness). Generally sh!t tests are COVERT so it's necessary to struggle with what it is she's feeling and how she wants you to address it. Remember women convey emotion first and thus you're dealing with an emotive state. Most often sh!t tests are based in insecurity; emotional, financial, practical, long or short term security issues are at the root of most, not all, sh!t tests.
The next most common is a test of quality and this is generally a confidence test. This type of sh!t test is a filter to determine a man's condition and his knowledge of self-worth. This is easily recognizable in the "I already have a boyfriend" disclaimer (really a proactive LJBF). A woman slipping this into a conversation (again COVERTLY, or so she thinks) is subcommunicating that she may be unavailable, but the test is to see whether a man, who she's shown a definite IL in will be confident enough to push past it or even display confidence in his mannerisms that he has other plates spinning and she's not the only one vying for his attention. Quality tests are designed to determine a man's acceptability for her intimacy, and are used (mostly unconsciously) when a man refuses to automatically and OVERTLY qualify himself for a woman from the start. This is a fall back for the woman who is cuaght by Neg Hits and realizes (maybe subconsciously) that she is qualifying herself for the guy and perceives an imbalance she's not accustomed to.
The examples of reactions you've listed here are in theory both correct for certain situations, but I'd warn against looking at them in binary terms (i.e. one extreme or the other) and putting them into practice as such. In reaction #1 I think the maturity superiority (be her daddy) reaction is definitely a good tact for some types of sh!t tests, but "making a big deal out of it" or OVERTLY calling her on her behavior as a sh!t test not only makes you out to be a potential abuser, but it also opens you up to her simply making you out to be an ogre who didn't "get what she meant" and allows her to change the frame back to herself.
Remember, anytime you are dealing with a sh!t test, do so COVERTLY. The moment you tip your hand and OVERTLY identify a test as a test, you lose all manueverability and the frame reverts back to her. Far better to stay ambiguous and pass a test, giving her pause and doubt for doing it (assuming they realize it) than to blurt out "FINE, I'LL JUST DO WHAT YOU WANT!" in as loud a voice as you can muster. This is the hardest part for a guy to do because it takes patience, confidence (which is generally what she's looking for anyway) and the mental effort to stay intentioanlly subtle.
As for reaction #2, removing yourself from a sh!t test is almost universally a failure, again if you do so OVERTLY. This reaction presupposes an LTR or at least a dating familiarity and so some kind of relationship is at play, thus this would come as a response to a sh!t test based on securities. If you OVERTLY storm out of a sh!t test situation like this you fail. You look like a spoiled child who'll take his toys and go home, basically confirming for her what her sh!t test was designed to determine - can she break you? Yes she can.
The reaction in theory is sound - increase value through scarcity, but the time to be scarce was BEFORE the test was administered. In fact the test might be to determine just how clingy and insecure you really are. In practice however, you can systematically and COVERTLY remove your attention, thus removing it over time. Think of it as a protracted takeaway method. If suddenly you blow her off and tear away after a sh!t test, she'll see this as OVERT and immature, but if you are gradually unavailable due to your being needed by other people (job, school, family, pursuing a passion, etc.), not only do you effect a takeaway, but you also increase your (at least perceived) value. You become unavailable, but in demand.
I could go on (and I'm sure I will), but I hope this helps.