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JoshuaFox comments on Need some psychology advice - Less Wrong Discussion

7 Post author: Kenoubi 27 February 2013 05:03PM

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Comment author: JoshuaFox 27 February 2013 07:29:08PM -2 points [-]

Study Pickup Artistry. The cold-blooded rational approach presented there will quell your anxieties.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 28 February 2013 08:51:50AM *  3 points [-]

The advice is good in general, but how exactly will it help in this specific case? For example, how reliably does reading "cold-blooded rational" texts reduce anxiety? It could easily have the opposite effect. Like: "Oh, to be successful with girls you have to be like this, and I can't imagine myself being like that... so I guess I have no chance." There; anxiety doubled. Now not only does one fear about rejection, but also that without developing the proper (possibly unsympathetic) personality, even the short-term successes are ultimately doomed.

Also, I wouldn't call all pickup materials "rational". There is a market out there, and there are people trying to make money by selling books. The books don't sell better by being more rational, but they can sell better by exaggerating claims, or adding new speculations only to be more interesting.

Even if some recommended method works, it does not mean the explanation behind it is correct. Maybe it's just a placebo effect. Thinking that one knows the seduction method increases one's confidence, and confidence makes one attractive, ceteris paribus. Even if the method itself is neutral, or even slightly harmful.

It would be probably more useful to recommend a specific material. (For example I would recommend "The Blueprint Decoded", but I wouldn't call it rational.)

Comment author: Curiouskid 15 March 2013 02:47:32AM *  2 points [-]

I really love the Blueprint Decoded. I was not expecting to hear him reference Bertrand Russel, Richard Dawkins, Nassim Taleb, Eckhart Tolle, etc in a video about PUA.

Comment author: [deleted] 28 February 2013 01:33:28PM *  2 points [-]

(For example I would recommend "The Blueprint Decoded", but I wouldn't call it rational.)

Well, some of it isn't rational, but most of it is essentially a primer on cognitive biases in disguise.