CronoDAS comments on Love and Rationality: Less Wrongers on OKCupid - LessWrong
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (329)
Hey, I'd like some advice.
When I hang out in nightclubs, I seem to have two discrete states with a very abrupt transition between them: an "off" state where I'm almost invisible to girls, and an "on" state where they suddenly hang on me in twos and threes. But the "on" state happens rarely (once or twice a month for several hours, max) and I'm still not sure how to trigger it, even though I've spent months on experimenting. I've established that it doesn't depend on clothing, haircut, posture or the other obvious controllable factors - it must be some aspect of "inner game" that I sometimes achieve spontaneously but can't put a finger on. I also know that it's easier to reach the "on" state after a random girl smiles at me: it becomes a little easier to make the next random girl smile at me, and (with luck) it escalates like runaway AI. Does this match your experience? What is this thing, and do you know any tricks for "switching"?
I wonder... is this a "social proof" a.k.a. Magnetic Girlfriend effect? (If you have one girl hanging on you, others become interested?)
Edit: Rephrased to fix ambiguity.
Definitely not. If I shake myself free and go to another room alone, it works just as strongly.
Warning: "Magnetic Girlfriend" is a TV Tropes link.
EDIT: This comment is obsolete; it was based on an ambiguity that has been fixed.
Not clear what distinction you're drawing - if the latter is the effect itself, then it describes it by definition; the question is what's the cause, of which "social proof" is one possible. Or how were you thinking about it?
Fixed, sorry. (Two different names for the same basic thing.)