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DanArmak comments on LW Women Submissions: On Misogyny - Less Wrong Discussion

27 [deleted] 10 April 2013 07:54PM

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Comment author: DanArmak 11 April 2013 07:15:13PM 3 points [-]

attempts at artificially puffing up ones social dominance are almost never good.

Of course everyone (like you) want to put down people who claim higher status than you think they really have. What makes one's social dominance "artificial" or genuine? Merely the success of convincing others that you are in fact dominant. So your argument (that artificially high dominance is bad) implies that you only dislike unsuccessful PUAs, the ones who fail to raise their status in your eyes.

Comment author: someonewrongonthenet 11 April 2013 08:51:49PM *  1 point [-]

...what I meant by that, is the methods that people usually employ when attempting to puff up social dominance (displays of power and authority, disregard for others, etc) are distasteful.

you only dislike unsuccessful PUAs, the ones who fail to raise their status in your eyes.

That's sort of true, but the order of events is reversed, and we need to unpack "status".

If I identify someone using unethical behavior, I dislike them, thereby lowering their social status.

To become a "successful" PUA (one that raised his/her status in my eyes) one would need to refrain from behavior I perceive as distasteful. Obviously, this includes refraining from all behaviors that I define as immoral.

Unpacking status: Perceptions of "dominance" and perceptions of "liking" are separate. Dominance is decided by power hierarchy within a group - for example, I'll almost always perceive my boss as "dominant", but if she exerts authority unfairly I will see her as dominant and unlikeable, whereas if she is charismatic and helps me achieve my goals I will see her as dominant and likeable.