"The Game" Excerpt - "Are You A Social Robot?"

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Taken from "The Game" by Neil Strauss.

Have you ever noticed that there's something strange about a lot of guys in the Community?

It's as if just by looking at them, you can tell that something is missing. They don't seem entirely human.

Some of these guys even do well in the field. They get great reactions- sometimes even numbers and lays- but they never seem to have a girlfriend.

Are you one of these guys?

To find out, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you panic if you run out of "material" during a conversation with a woman?
• Do you think that everything a woman says to that isn't 100 percent positive is a "**** test?"
• Do you see every other male who is interacting with a woman as an alpha male who must be destroyed?
• Are you unable to discuss a woman without first asking, "What's her rating?"
• Do you call women in your life who you are not sleeping with a "pivot" (or even a wh0re, cvnt, biotch or slvt) instead of friend, girl or woman? [I added the stuff in parenthesis]
• If you are around a woman in a non-social setting such as a business meeting or a nursing home, do you get a strange shot of adrenaline and feel obligated to sarge her?
• Have you stopped seeing value in things that are not pickup related, such as books, movies, friends, work, school, food and water?
• Is your self esteem constantly at the mercy of the reactions of women?

Then you may be a social robot.

Most of the sargers I know are social robots. This is especially true among those who found the community in their teens or early twenties. Because they haven't had much real world experience, they have learned to socialize almost entirely through the rules and theories they've read online and learned in workshops. They may never be normal again. After a great twenty minute set with many of these social robots, a woman begins to realize that they don't have anything more going for them. And then they post online complaining that women are flakes.

The Internet newsgroups and the pickup lifestyle can give you so much- I know it's given me so much- but it can take away a lot too. You can end up becoming a one dimensional person. You start to think that everyone else around you is a social robot too and begin to read too much into his or her actions.

The solution is to remember that the best way to pick up women is to have something better to do than to pick up women. Some guys give up everything- school, work, even girlfriends- to learn the game. But all these things are what make one complete and enhances one's attractiveness to the opposite sex. So put your life back in balance. If you can make something of yourself, women will flock to you, and what you've learned here will prepare you to deal with them.

-Style.

 

[Inc. ©]

Sounds like he's concluded a DJ is better than a PUA. I agree completely.

 

[everywomanshero]

Very true

I'm going to admit I have a mild case of social robotism. I think in sarge terms almost 24/7. I can't hardly take a piss without trying to find some way to turn it into a social interaction with some hot chick.

However, I don't allow it to affect my work or (soon) school performance. That would be really crazy. Thnks for posting that exerpt. It's something I'll need to keep in mind.

 

[jiza101]

I don't, i don't need to rely on material, my looks at strong attitude get the job done most of the time

 

[DjDreamer]

I agree...

Don't have respect for social robots... hate being a social robot... ain't nothing worse than feeling compelled to do something which serves as a distraction from accomplishing other things which have long lasting rewards...

 

[Bradshaw]

I have no idea what the fvck 'Style' is talking about. Social Robots...







Anyway, here is a picture of me (left) about to switch from rapport level 2 to rapport level 3 with the girl on the right.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/kismet.jpg

 

[jiza101]

Originally posted by Bradshaw
I have no idea what the fvck 'Style' is talking about. Social Robots...







Anyway, here is a picture of me (left) about to switch from rapport level 2 to rapport level 3 with the girl on the right.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/kismet.jpg

Good one :crackup:

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

You know, if I didn't know better I'd swear it was Pook who wrote that. Hmmmm,...

 

[MindOverMatter]

Yes, because everyone who is smart is ripping off Pook. Just because you're incapable of forming an independant thought without being breastfed by Pook doesn't mean everyone else has the same problem.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

What keeps me awake at night is the thought that a few of these 'social robots' who've been socialized in this way in their teens and early 20s will eventually come into some circumstance, merited or not, where they run game on a girl and end up convicted of date rape as the result of an incomplete understanding of being a PUA or DJ. That's when the sh!t will hit the fan and this whole community/lifestyle will end up demonized on Oprah (or worse) and The Game will enter into popular consciousness.

MINDOVERMATTER: C'mon now, you've read my posts, do you really think I can't form an independent thought? I'm not glossing Pook; if anything, Strauss puts Pook's perspective in a much more intelligible paragraph here.

 

[Desdinova]

The solution is to remember that the best way to pick up women is to have something better to do than to pick up women.

This is an excellent statement.

I almost can't help but wonder if being a PUA is the first hobby a PUA ever had.

 

[MindOverMatter]

C'mon now, you've read my posts, do you really think I can't form an independent thought? I'm not glossing Pook; if anything, Strauss puts Pook's perspective in a much more intelligible paragraph here.

I completly agree with you (and Pook and Strauss) on this topic. I may have been harsh in saying you can't form an independant thought, I do enjoy reading all posts from a psychological perspective and yours are among the best on the site.

However, most of the sosuave Pook community is completly incapable of independant thought to the point where they'll hang on any word Pook says and not develop their own opinions. To me, this is just as bad as these guys who become social robots. I may have been hasty in lumping you with these people, and I do apologize, it's the result of reading dozens of posts by these people.

I believe it was Wyldfire who posted that majority of sosuave posters come here with oneitis for some girl, and end up staying here and developing a oneitis for Pook. To me, there is nothing that's more sad then developing infatuation/blind faith in someone whose face you've never even seen. Instead of making progress and actually becoming men, these kids just end up staying on the forums and recycling all the bible/pook information and giving advice to other kids.

Blind leading the blind.

I'll never understand how these people seek to become men while lacking the independant mindset of one.

 

[Jariel]

The solution is to remember that the best way to pick up women is to have something better to do than to pick up women. Some guys give up everything- school, work, even girlfriends- to learn the game. But all these things are what make one complete and enhances one's attractiveness to the opposite sex.

Very wise words. Guys have been p1ssed at me for criticising the PUA lifestyle lately, but that there is the reason why.

 

[Jariel]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
However, most of the sosuave Pook community is completly incapable of independant thought to the point where they'll hang on any word Pook says and not develop their own opinions.

I'll never understand how these people seek to become men while lacking the independant mindset of one.

I couldn't agree more. The same can be said of any guru or any number of gurus. No one should be worshipping anyone or taking their words at face value.

 

[Smooth Player 056]

I read that post in the game. In fact, it is one of the best posts i have ever read. I would take advice from Style rather than Pook any day.

 

[Abbott]

Funny...I answered "no" to every question. I was sure that I'd answer "yes" to at least one.

The downside of course is that it's harder to talk to female strangers if there isn't a clear and obvious topic to discuss (bookstore/what she's reading, college/what class she's in, etc.). This is because I think with my brain, not my penis.


Ben

 

[Nike]

Hey guys!

I'd like to ask for a little help here. I'd like to buy this book, but the problem is I live in Romania(Europe), and it won't apear here that's for sure. Also I don't own a credit card to order it online, so I was thinking if someone could buy it for me and send it to me, so that I pay when I get it, would be nice.

Could anyone help me out with this?
Thanks

 

[Don Giovanni]

Mindovermatter,

I have noticed you speaking out a lot against “Pook worshiping” and people who are “recycling all the bible/pook information.” Your demand that people form their own independent thoughts is very good and I agree with you, but I want you to understand something. A lot of the guys on this board are fairly young and probably have limited life experience overall. What this means is that they have probably never met anyone in their real day to day lives like Pook or whoever.

Why does this matter? Because being young, most of the guys on this board are of the age of hero worship.

Hero Worship. This is what young men do and it is right and proper. It is right when young men are inspired by men who came before them and even to elevate them to the level of heroes. It is right because they will dream of more for their lives than they thought even possible for life. They will go out and dare greatly because of this. They will dare the beautiful girl they had their eyes on for so much of life. They will dare for financial independence so that they won’t have to be at the mercy of the world financially in the future. They might even dare to be great themselves one day too.

I know, I know – what about encouraging independent thought? Well, the problem solves itself. What does Pook encourage except for young men to pursue their own passions and learn to read their own hearts and discover what they truly want in life?

When I was at this age, I was fortunate enough to meet the hero I that I worshipped in my real day to day life. My life was touched and completely changed.

Not all young men find their heroes in life. Those who don’t, never learn what it means to worship one and have life changed.

For those who do find their heroes, their lives will be changed. But ultimately, these heroes will one day fade away in the minds and hearts of the young men who worshipped them because they will have grown up. And even if these young men do not dare for great things themselves in life, they will still have carried something away with them and will perhaps dare a little more than they would have otherwise.

I write to you, Mindovermatter, because you obviously care that young men on this board develop their own thoughts and essentially their own Self. I want you to see what Pook can mean to some young men on this board who you think are forsaking their own thoughts and sense of self. Who knows what young man on this board might be secretly chanting “Wow, that’s Mindovermatter” to himself when he reads what you write? Perhaps they’ll say “Look at what Mindovermatter has overcome in his life. See how he is conquering the world!” And perhaps having a hero who has done it, he will dare a little more in life than he might have otherwise.

 

[Rollo Tomassi]

As much as I see the value in Pook's teachings, I would hardly call it 'hero worship'. Putting credit where it's due, I have to praise Style for an observation he makes in The Game in this regard. At the begining of the 3rd section of the book he illustrates that PUA (and I'd included DJ) self ascribed 'Masters' are comparable to martial arts instructors for different styles of fighting. The chapter begins with "Choose your dojo" - Ross Jefferies sees NLP as a pathe to success, Mystery has his method, Gunwitch his, D' Angelo his as well and I'd put Pook and Anti-Dump in this same category. Too many guys in the seduction community get hung up on this adherence to a single particular method, but just like Bruce Lee, Style chooses to learn from them all to have an all encompassing understanding of the art.

I happen to get a lot out of Pook's wisdom, but that in no way means that I 'worship' the guy as a hero and the be all end all. Rather I'd like to adopt Style's approach to be the consumate student; like any good philosopher it's best to know that you don't know anything. I think it much wiser to glean the best aspects of all these "masters" and apply them in the ways that work best for you.

 

[Don Giovanni]

Haha, first thing before anything else.

Rollo Tomassi, don't stop posting on this site. Your posts are one of the few things that I come back for. I especially like the different perspectives you give on marriage - every guy can learn a thing or two from you here.

And Rollo Tomassi, what in the world made you think I was talking about you? No disrespect, but you're hardly a young man.

But what I said about hero worship is true. It doesn't happen with everyone, but it's there. When a young man's hero imprints himself strongly enough on a young man's life, something happens. Some of the spirit and some of the greatness (whether true or perceived) rubs off on the young man. Look a Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander the Great. Four great men, one after the other and each a student of the other. Is this an accident? But maybe I'm just ranting about weird thinkers and a tyrant.

Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger then, a man of our times. Arnold tells of a time when he was a young man in his book Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder.

"From then on in my mid-teens, I kept my batteries charged with the adventure movies of Steve Reeves, Mark Forrest, Brad Harris, Gordon Mitchell, and Reg Park. I admired Reg Park more than the others. He was rugged, everything I thought a man should be. I recall seeing him for the first time on the screen. The film was Hercules and the Vampires, a picture in which the hero had to rid the earth of an invasion of thousands of bloodthirsty vampires. Reg Park looked so magnificent in the role of Hercules I was transfixed. And, sitting there in the theater, I knew that was going to be me. I would look like Reg Park. I studied every move he made, every gesture.... Suddenly I realized the house lights were on and everyone else had walked out.

From that point on, my life was utterly dominated by Reg Park. His image was my ideal. It was fixed indeliby in my mind."

Arnold doesn't meet Reg Park until a few years later when he is competing in bodybuilding contests. They become friends and Arnold even goes on vacation to live with Reg Park for a little while. Arnold and Reg Park ultimately have to compete against each other in a competition. Arnold is torn with whether he should compete or not. But he eventually decides to do so and beats him. And so the hero fades out of a young man's mind. The hero is gone, but he has done his work well.

A lot of people give great advice on women. Doc Love for example knows a lot about women and can give good advice (although usually short term and for specific situations). But hardly will anyone take him to be their hero. Why Pook then? Because of Pook's integrity to his life. You can spot it when someone backs down from life because whatever is too hard and claims that "I can live however I want. Everyone leads their life differently and if I want to play the jester for this girl, let me do it." Although Doc Love gives good advice, does he inspire people to be more than they dared dream? There is a lot to learn about getting women, but once you know how to get women what then? You won't need advice about what to do with a girl because you will instinctively know at that point. But still, will you have dared some dream you nursed for yourself at the end?

This is why I really liked your post about your younger days and how you picked up girls left and right because you were in a band. You managed to tap into the mysterious fountain of 'social status' or 'social proof' and as great as that was, I gotta say there probably wasn't too much integrity in your life. But you managed to snap out of it. Posts like yours help younger men not to fall into the same puzzy trap. You managed to snap out of it, but more importantly you dealt with women after that by your own terms. If this doesn't inspire, what does?