Summary: Men are easily manipulated using their pride, their sense of duty and honor, their standards, and their idea of being true to themselves. Many things that gain us absolutely nothing, and even create consequences for us, might still feel good because we’ve been conditioned to feel a sense of pride or a sense of duty. Embracing humility, dropping the arrogance, recognizing that we don’t decide what is important or what has value, and that we live and die by the judgement of others stings, but helps us reap real rewards for our actions instead of false pride.
It’s easy for a man, or for anybody really, to get caught up in the way things are “supposed” to be. A lot of us grew up believing that if we worked hard, got a higher education, got a decent job, a decent place to live, and were generally friendly and respectful to women, we’d eventually meet somebody in passing who would like us for our accomplishments and our kind, respectful nature, date us, marry us, have a family with us, and live happily ever after with us. We then found ourselves pining after seemingly great women who accepted our kindness, but kept us at arms length while having casual sex with far less kind and respectful men, and we learned that things don’t always work the way they’re supposed to.
Women face similar types of issues and have their own ideas of how things are supposed to be, that often aren’t how things really work. Not the same issues, of course, but similar types of issues.
Some men notice the way the world is working, feel the way the world is changing, and work to learn the new system and try to succeed at it. Not all of these men end up succeeding, but some do. And the others at least make the effort and recognize what’s going on and how and why they’re failing.
But some men shove their fingers in their ears, squint their eyes tightly closed, and shout “LA LA LA” while doubling down their efforts to excel under their own interpretation of the way the world ought to work. And they continue to fail. But strangely, they pride themselves in this failure. They declare that it is somehow meaningful to be true to themselves, to hold themselves, women, society, and the world to certain standards, and to act the way they feel that they are supposed to regardless of the consequences. Essentially, they have given themselves a self-imposed duty to adhere to a certain way of life, then they bask in the feelings of pride that come from performing what they perceive to be their duty.
Men are especially vulnerable to this form of mental masturbation. Pride. A sense of duty. This idea that being true to something we believe in, even when this inflicts consequences upon us and gains us nothing, has some kind of inherent value. In much the same way that guys like us used to think that being a decent, employed, friendly guy who liked a girl and wanted to date her had some kind of inherent value, many men think that adhering to some kind of inner sense of standards or duty is valuable for its own sake, even when it’s holding them back and getting them nothing.
After all, a man will enlist in the armed forces, suffer through grueling training and unpleasant living conditions, get deployed thousands of miles from home, and fight and die for his country – and he will feel a sense of pride, honor, and duty for doing so. Even though his country’s government has no idea who he is and doesn’t give a shit about him, and even though his country’s people think that only dumbass losers who can’t succeed at life join the armed forces. He doesn’t care. He feels a sense of pride and duty. Men will sacrifice their lives to feel that sense of pride, honor, and duty inside their minds, even though it gains them absolutely nothing except that personal feel-good sensation. Even when it costs them everything and nobody cares but them. Even when other people actively think bad things about them.
Sadly, this isn’t so different from your average video game addict who feels a sense of accomplishment when he plays a video game well. He’s doing something that brings him joy and that inner sense of feeling good, but he’s not actually gaining anything. He’s just sacrificing his time growing fat and lazy, and other people think he’s a loser.
Men who double down on their ideas about how love, sex, and relationships are supposed to work are a bit like these two examples. They are burdened by a sense of false pride. A sense of honor, duty, feel-good-ness about being true to themselves, or whatever you want to call it. They feel an inner sense of value or importance when they do something that nobody else cares about or finds valuable in the slightest. In fact, other people often dislike how these men behave, and these men suffer the consequences of practicing unsuccessful behaviors, but they grin and feel a sense of pride for sticking to it anyway.
Men are arrogant. They believe that inside their minds, they, and only they, determine what is truly important. If women won’t date or fuck them, it’s women’s fault for not realizing what’s truly important. If nobody wants to be their friend, it’s the other men’s fault for being pussies who don’t get it. If nobody wants to hire or promote them, it’s society’s fault for keeping good men down.
One of the more difficult truths for a man to accept is that you are not important. The things that are important and valuable to you are not important. You thinking that something is important doesn’t make it important. You aren’t in control of the world. The world is in control of you. You don’t decide what’s important – other people decide what’s important.
If what you are doing is not working – nobody is having sex with you or being your friend or giving you money – then what you are doing is not valuable or important, no matter how much you want it to be. You don’t get to decide what’s valuable. The rest of the world decides what’s valuable by rewarding you or inflicting consequences upon you based on what you do.
If something you are doing is not working, it doesn’t matter how ingrained into you and how big a piece of you that you think this thing is. Cut it out and find something that works. Things that work and bring you success and the things you want are valuable. Things that don’t work or that bring you consequences are value-less.
Your sense of pride, your sense of honor, your sense of duty, the idea that you need to hold yourself to certain standards or hold women or society to certain standards – these are tools the rest of the world can use to manipulate you into doing things that benefit others while burdening you with consequences. You’ll feel good about what you’re doing – a tiny little sense of pride – while nobody likes you, fucks you, or pays you.
RedHoodhandles 5y ago
I usually like your writing Cain but here you are just wrong. Plain and simple. Not because I say so but because, as you see by the comments here and following your logic, (trp) society said so.
CainPrice 5y ago
It's definitely not a popular opinion, to imagine yourself under the power of others - especially women.
But that's fundamental TRP: women are the choosers when it comes to sex, and if you want to have sex, you do things that get you chosen.
If you do something that doesn't get you laid, then declare "I'm a valuable, masculine, amazing man - women don't get to dictate my value. I do!", then you're just being one of those MGTOW weirdos. Believing really hard in yourself isn't the key. Women opening their legs for you is the key. That's an undeniable external barometer of whether what you're doing is working.
If you declare, "Well, I don't prioritize chasing pussy anyway!", you're just hiding your inability behind a pretense of choice. The ideal is that if you're really that awesome, you barely have to chase pussy. Women just give it to you. If nobody's giving it to you, maybe you're not that awesome.
yuyuyuy6 5y ago
This post is literally the definition of beta male mentality. Chase external validation and do what the world thinks is important and valuable. If the world listens to Nicki Minaj, then so will I.
Alpha male mentality is doing what we find to be important and valuable. I would rather listen to Metallica, even if the world hates them, so I will. That's not to say that we completely disregard what the world thinks and become a social outcast sperg lone wolf like the OP is suggesting.
​
alex_is_alex 5y ago
This is ridiculous... basically, if something doesn’t give you sex, social approval or money, don’t do it... because those are the only things that have value in life?clown
saturnalion 5y ago
In other words, be a beta. Don't forget to feed your hamster.
Kakieng 5y ago
Bro you aren't red pilled, you are just obsessed with being liked and getting pussy, pathetic.
A real fucking man will speak his mind regardless if people like it or not.
anylegtypes 5y ago
This is a sad philosophy.
I love hiking and mountaineering - it clears my head, makes me feel connected to nature, keeps me fit, and is generally really fucking fun and a good test of my skills.
Is that worthless unless I start getting sponsored for it?
Is it worthless until I tell somebody about it and they think I'm cool for it?
Nah, man. Its worth is in making me happy. If you live trying to make society happy, that's a recipe for never being happy yourself, IMO.
redpillschool Admin 5y ago
Some sperg level reading comprehension here.
Exercise is important because it lengthens your life and increases your sexual appeal.
But if you dedicated your life to climbing mountains alone and you don't have time to forge a network of relationships and opportunities to earn money, then you've done yourself a disservice.
anylegtypes 5y ago
Can you explain how this isn't still just putting pussy on a pedestal?
Things aren't important to me because they help me get women, and I don't structure my life around those things.
Things are important to me because they make me happy. They are INTRINSICALLY valuable for that reason, whether you agree or not.
redpillschool Admin 5y ago
We're wired to fuck. We also need food and shelter.
We're not putting food on the pedestal are we?
anylegtypes 5y ago
No, because nobody makes idiotic statements like:
Food is great, but someone who claims that therefore makes basically everything else worthless would be an idiot.
The OP is quite literally saying (multiple times over) that if something doesn't make you friends, get you laid, or make you money, then it's worthless.
All those things are great but it's a stupid argument to say that everything else is necessarily not great if it doesn't do those things.
I have no issue with food, shelter, sex, money, friends, or love. I do have an issue with someone stating those are literally the only valuable things in life and that everything else is worthless and you should literally stop doing it, because that's an absurdly limited and sad view of life.
[deleted]
Hombremaniac 5y ago
That reminds me of one dude I know. Not exactly friend, we just have few friends in common, so we met few times.
Anyway I know this dude has terrible "luck" with females, he is somewhat chubby and is not lifting.
He is obviously unhappy with his sexual life, yet on his FB, he posts stuff about how he will remain true to himself, how he will not change, as that would mean compromising, who he truly is and stuff like that.
Seeing that I just thought, that when man is obviously unhappy about anything, he should try to change the situation to get better results. Not cry about how the world is unfair (it is) or that women are bitches unable to appreciate decent guy (kinda true too) and instead of improving himself bask in the self pitty and feeling of misery.
​
Btw I'm not trying to lecture anybody. I'm 40 and only this year I've finally came to conclusion I was leading shitty life and started to work out, count macros, reading materials related to this (like TRP stuff), ended up relationship with a women that was not good enough, all in order to get my shit together.
WhatDreamsHaveGone 5y ago
Yes, we do. When you state that "the rest of the world decides what’s valuable by rewarding you or inflicting consequences upon you based on what you do" then you're implying that the only rewards worth having in life are those bestowed by other people.
I see the point behind your post, but you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater - realising nobody gives a shit about you unless you're useful & that people will always try to use you is a painful truth to swallow, but it's no reason to abandon your personal values. At best it forces you to rethink them, but there will always be things that shape you into a better person and make your life long-term more meaningful without other people deciding whether or not it's deserving of money or sex.
CainPrice 5y ago
I think the baby might be garbage, too.
This idea that you, a man, decide what has value in the world, and that everything is measured by how it makes you feel is a dangerous road. If a life of porn, beer, and video games makes you feel good and makes you happy, then under that mentality, that life is just as valid and worthwhile as a life of sex, money, and power.
Some lives are just plain better than others, and the measurement of whether something is valuable and important isn't whether it makes you happy. Otherwise, porn, beer, and video games are the ideal life. It's whether others judge it favorably. Whether other people think what you're doing is valuable or important enough that they want to have sex with you, be your friend, or give you money over it.
Too many Red Pill guys have this bullshit pseudo-philosphy notion that "I'm a man and I have this mission that makes me happy and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks because all of my satisfaction comes from within" is this ideal kind of enlightenment. As they proudly proclaim that doing anything for the judgment of others is weak, pussied, blue pill, beta crap.
It's the opposite. That's just more blue pill bullshit. It's the idea that being true to yourself and just being you has inherent value even when it doesn't get you anything and might even get you some consequences. If people aren't paying you for it or having sex with you for it, it's not actually valuable, no matter how badly you want it to be and no matter how badly you think that other people's judgment shouldn't get to determine what is and isn't important.
aDrunkenWhaler 5y ago
If you are into something, chances are there are plenty other people into that thing as well, which means there are plenty oportunities to build a following, be liked, slay pussy and earn money.
Also, money and pussy are a benefit and a tool, not the end goal. Living a good life, being true to your mission, leaving a legacy, those are end goals.
Howdoiusesync 5y ago
That's what OP'd missed. If everyone stopped in the beginning nobody would get paid.
Coroshi 5y ago
"Nietzsche’s philosophy contemplates the meaning of values and their significance to human existence. Given that no absolute values exist, in Nietzsche’s worldview, the evolution of values on earth must be measured by some other means. How then shall they be understood? The existence of a value presupposes a value-positing perspective, and values are created by human beings (and perhaps other value-positing agents) as aids for survival and growth. Because values are important for the well being of the human animal, because belief in them is essential to our existence, we oftentimes prefer to forget that values are our own creations and to live through them as if they were absolute. For these reasons, social institutions enforcing adherence to inherited values are permitted to create self-serving economies of power, so long as individuals living through them are thereby made more secure and their possibilities for life enhanced. Nevertheless, from time to time the values we inherit are deemed no longer suitable and the continued enforcement of them no longer stands in the service of life. To maintain allegiance to such values, even when they no longer seem practicable, turns what once served the advantage to individuals to a disadvantage, and what was once the prudent deployment of values into a life denying abuse of power. When this happens the human being must reactivate its creative, value-positing capacities and construct new values."
uglynihilist 5y ago
I would say do what you can do better than others and do it until they start paying you.
Mazohist 5y ago
Thats a solid concept, I would add healthier aswell. Tho that can get in the way of fun, well balance.
misls 5y ago
Nah, fuck that. I'm making myself happy first, being a man in the armed forces is in no way, shape or form similar to some video game addict lol..
CainPrice 5y ago
Some lives are just plain better than other lives. If you (and every individual man) gets to be the arbiter of what is and is not important and valuable, and the standard by which this is determined is "it makes me happy", then as we follow that road, a life of video games, cheetos, and mountain dew is just as valid of a life as a life of sex, money, and power.
As long as the cheeto-crusted gamer is happy, he's winning life.
Fuck that. Some lives are just plain better than others. As you've noted, a man in the armed forces is better than a video gamer.
Why is he better than the video gamer if the video gamer can say "but my life makes me happy"? Because society judges the army guy as better. The army guy at least gets a modest paycheck, some training, some friends in the armed forces, etc. The video gamer doesn't get to choose what is and isn't important and valuable. Other people do by their judgment of him and their judgment of others. And other people declare that the video game is a loser and won't fuck him, be his friend, or pay him for his video game hobby.
If other people are fucking you, being your friend, and paying you, then what you are doing is valuable. If nobody fucks you, likes you, or pays you, what you are doing is not valuable. You feeling good and happy about doing something is just masturbating in self-satisfaction. That's your sense of pride and self-importance making you think you're doing something important when you're not.
iwbbty 5y ago
Why does society's view of an individual matter so much?
If I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying:
society says army guy is better -> therefore army guy is better.
That lining of reasoning really doesn't resonate with me. Following society's rule is one thing, but conforming your whole value system to what society tells you is good(money/sex) seems extremely weird, for a lack of a better term.
Additionally, if you look at any individual that accomplished anything worth putting in our history textbooks, they did so by following their own happiness and values.
Even though having a great, fulfilling life can often lead to having more money and sex, I don't think money and sex can ultimately provide lasting fulfillment nor greatness in life.
Zech4riah 5y ago
So...drop your mission and/or greatest purpose if it doesn't get you laid, liked or paid?
It's almost like you are saying that "stop everything which doesn't get you validated (in form of money, sex or social status)."
I really advise you to read "Ego is the enemy" by Ryan Holiday.
CainPrice 5y ago
Red Pill guys have this really funny idea about "real success" being some kind of internal thing instead of external validation. They're hyper-focused on being some kind of strong, independent man who has a "mission" and doesn't need anybody else to favor him or validate him or do anything for him because he's too manly to care.
And they resolutely believe that as long as he's super-focused on this manly mission and super-genuine and super-outcome independent about what anybody thinks about him, this will make him super-attractive as a side effect.
Which is silly. That's just another version of "just be yourself". Commit super-hard to your "mission" and women will suck your dick? Nonsense. Obviously, being completely authentic and outcome independent and true to the things you like and want with no care for what others think can be stupid. If you commit yourself super hard to your Dungeons and Dragons and fantasy sports groups, everybody thinks you're a loser, nobody fucks you, and nobody gives you money.
It doesn't matter if it means a lot to you and if it's your "mission". You don't get to decide whether your mission is valuable or important. Your own mental desire for something to have meaning insn't the measure of actual value. If nobody else fucks you, likes you, or pays you for it, it doesn't have actual value. You've got the wrong mission if all it's reaping you is consequences.
Zech4riah 5y ago
I'm not saying that. I'm saying that if pursuing your mission makes you feel better than money, sex and social status combined - Keep doing it.
I used wording "gets you validated" because you seemed to be coming from a place of needing validation. I may be wrong tho.
If your mission aligns with money, sex and/or social status - great, you hit the full house.
Andrew54321 5y ago
So in order to do something you need someone to create an incentive?
Frameless factory drone.
Don’t be this guy.
IAMB4TMAN 5y ago
I like this, but it doesn't seem fleshed out appropriately. I think the comparison you're making here is letting a results-based decision tree dictate your decision-making vs. the male equivalent of female hamstering.
But, I think while the former is clearly the optimal approach, the flaw & warning sign I want to point out is if you do things -> to get laid. If you act like the 'clown' in a group -> to get liked, and if you start a business -> with profits as the far above & beyond #1 priority, I'd argue that this is just validation seeking behavior which is a suboptimal foundation for long-term success, RP internalization, & what other posters have said is 'happiness'.
Ultimately, you do things bc you want to do them.A lot of RP literature does say play less computer games, but fundamentally it isn't telling you to stop, or to repeat steps A-Z & wow you're alpha af now. It's more about having the ability to be brutally fucking honest with yourself. Sure, you like playing computer games, but is it the maximum utilization of your potential? If no, then just as important as discipline/not giving up, once you have mastered these, you learn to sift through hamstering & reality, then refocus, re-strategize, & re-execute. Bc this is the Man you believe you should be. You have a goal, you achieve them, & you find an angle to get paid, get laid, & your results should garner the attention of like-minded folks you need to cultivate likability. You're not chasing little result chips to cash in for little validation dollars. You do you, & enforce this frame sexually, economically, & socially. Even if it's computer games (hey these gamers get paid fuckin' millions now)
FereallyRed 5y ago
Imma gonna be the bestest plowhorse of all the plowhorses out there... then I'll be content.
WoodleyWarrior85 5y ago
Life is transactional. Women won't give you sex and affection if you can't provide them leadership in return. Employers aren't going to give you money and opportunities if you don't increase their bottom line. You don't get to be the starting quarterback just because you showed up at practice.
Winners accept the world works this way (usually at a young age), and learn over time to make good deals. Losers delude themselves and decide that transactional relationships either don't exist or are "shallow" and not worth pursuing. Losers usually have some type of belief system like a religion or political ideology that helps them rationalize this denial of reality. They also engage, as OP mentioned, in outright denial via excessive consumption of entertainment, food, and drugs.
shinywhitedarkness 5y ago
I remember telling once a girl that all I wanted to do in life was " do something good". After encountering a nihilistic phase, discovering TRP and starting to feel more disconnected of what I always believed to be true, I won't say it to no girl anymore but just to myself (and here, I'm such a hypocrite) "I want to do something for myself".
Great post, great mentality, I'll try to implement it. Thanks
Thisisntunpopular36 5y ago
I do what I want, fuck off with your long-winded rhetoric.
STIMjim 5y ago
Appreciate your post. Some of your points are valid but others I don’t agree with. I’ll take from it things I think will work for me.
TaCTurnus 5y ago
A very utilitarian view of the world.
clon3man 5y ago
Interesting. It would also follow that you should always be getting out of bed to explore new ways of getting you laid , liked or paid, without giving a shit what others think about your plans.
silvertongue93 5y ago
Imperfectly balanced, as all things should not be.
Liburnian 5y ago
By stopping giving two shits who likes me or not, I made the most liberating decision in my life. Admiration is such a distraction.
celincelin 5y ago
brb stops listening to music asap.
papunigga031 5y ago
What if you don’t value any of the three things you stated?
Not everyone operates under the same terms you do. Don’t be so egocentric.
I’m not going to tell you what to value. So don’t tell me. Live on your own terms, that is how you become a true alpha
CainPrice 5y ago
If we go down that road, then as long as a cheeto-crusted video gamer loves his games and his mountain dew and is happy, he's winning at life.
Fuck that. Some lives are just plain better than others. And the measure of whether something is valuable or important isn't whether or not it makes you happy or you're being true to yourself or living "on your own terms".
If everybody thinks you're a loser, and nobody is having sex with you, being your friend, or giving you money over what you're doing, it's not important or valuable. The fact that "I'm living on my own terms" doesn't have some kind of inherent value or importance. That's just an extension of the same blue pill mentality we used to have - where just being ourselves was supposed to be valuable and important.
papunigga031 5y ago
“Some lives are just plain better than others.” In whose eyes? That’s an opinion, not a fact. Maybe someone would rather live like a Cheeto crusted gamer than Dan Bilzerian. Not that I’m promoting this lifestyle, but maybe it’s a lifestyle someone values.
I never claimed that living on your own terms has inherent value. I’m just claiming that not everyone values the same things or lives by the same rules you do.
You’re viewing value through the frame society has given you and a social construct which you have never challenged. This, whether you like it or not, is living within a frame that’s not your own. You can adopt this frame, but you’ll also be adopting a way of life someone else has created for you.
Fine, but that’s not how I live my life. I live by my own terms, terms that I make for myself. If someone doesn’t like it, then they can fuck off. I don’t care about respect. I care about what matters to me, and I pursue those things the most.
And hey, when I do that, it seems like everything else comes along anyway.
You are making the mistake of confusing TRP as a toolbox with TRP as a way of life. Those are two very different things.
“Accept all responsibility for living the lifestyle you want. If it requires you to be lonely sometimes, accept that. If it requires you to not be respected sometimes, accept that (you shouldn’t need others’ respect). If it requires you to make less money, accept that. If it requires you to work hard, accept that. Do whatever it takes to live by your own rules, and spend as much time as it takes to understand what your own rules are.”
[deleted]
[deleted]
Kurush559 5y ago
and if something makes you a happier person?
yomo86 5y ago
OPs approach is utilitarian in nature. Your counter-argument roots in morals.
Which is right in its own sense but as OP pointed out: it is being manipulated and used.
You will say helping a person moving makes you happier because said person is happy. Usually said person is female. You, also usually, will not feel inclined to do so when it's male who is asking for that favor - true friends are an exception because it will not make you happier but you feel morally obliged to do so ie duty-bound. A concept alien to almost all women.
It all boils down to male conditioning. Female are to be helped cause either happiness or it is the right thing to do. Ask yourself: does a female will usually feel happiness when helping a male?
RStonePT 5y ago
Heroin makes you happy, get on the black dragon son!
Kurush559 5y ago
when has heroin ever made anyone happy? it destroys lives, kills people, ruins families, is a massive harm to society. I didn't say 'do what gives you momentary pleasure'
RStonePT 5y ago
So which is it? Pick one because I can't score when you move the goalposts
Kurush559 5y ago
it doesn't make anyone a happier person. it also is a harm to society. where is the contradiction you seem to perceive?
RStonePT 5y ago
It literally makes you happy. Happiness is hormone receptors getting the hormones.
All this stuff is exactly what OP is talking about. you're thinking about happiness as poor activities giving you your own personal dopamene in the first comment, then appealing to the damage to society in the other, which has nothing to do with happiness.
I understand exactly what you're saying, do you?
the point is, and i think you made it better than I did, was that happiness is a stupid metric, and you have no idea about your own happiness disconnect. Stick to the list Cain gave, he's talking fufilment, not happiness.
Or, do what gives you happiness that has nothing to do with those things, but if you do, at least stick to heroin which is more direct than whatever bullshit activity you're trying to say makes you happy but doesn't benefit you.
Probably vidya
Going_Black_Hat 5y ago
BobbyPeru 5y ago
^^^ that was my first thought. Do things that make you happy and bring joy to your life... this is natural abundance
plumo123 5y ago
It's very easy to mistake a temporary dopamine hit for happiness (drugs, porn, games).
Sometimes we do things just for the sake of doing them (hobbies) but they also give you only a temporary sense of happiness. If one of your hobbies takes up most of your time then it becomes your mission.
Otherwise to get true happiness you have to find another mission. Happiness comes from achieving the objectives that ultimately lead to your goal. A mission would be a lifelong set of goals revolving around a broad but specific area (business, academia etc.)
What's important is to find a mission that will sustain your desired quality of living and yet challenge you on a daily basis so you don't stagnate.
What's interesting is that this kind of mission is usually something very different from what you've been programmed to believe to give you happiness. This is why once you're on the right path of your mission, you start to feel the true, mild but constant sense of fulfillment which you could call being truly happy.
Kurush559 5y ago
as I've said to everyone else that's responded, you're taking my comments about happiness and responded as if I had written about pleasure. I didn't.
iamthelogos 5y ago
For what it's worth - Happiness is becoming a bit of a debated buzzword, so there are lots of different ways that people will resonate with "happier". I think a more apt question would be "and if something makes you more content?".
​
Contentness (as I've come to think of it) isn't as fleeting as happiness - it isn't felt by a quick dopamine rush (that's followed by sadness/regret as soon as your done - like porn, video games, acting inauthentically can all do) it's by being in the right place at the right time, not being plagued by doubts about the past or the future. In my experience being content doesn't just happen by itself. You have to work towards it, engineer it and then have enough perspective and wisdom to be grateful for what you have rather than what you don't have.
​
I think it's a key separation between men and women that men for the most part are trying to be as content as possible while women are more emotional, looking for the next happiness fix.
Kurush559 5y ago
Happiness/welfare isn't a fleeting rush that you're describing - what you're describing is pleasure, which I didn't mention at all in my comment.
Aroundwork 5y ago
Always be happy, never be content
CainPrice 5y ago
That's your pride. Nobody fucked you. Nobody became your friend or liked you any better. Nobody paid you for it...
But you still enjoyed getting your online RPG character to level 1000...
But you know that you did the right thing by not making any moves on her for six months...
But you know that even if your boss didn't notice and nobody at work cared, the extra 15 minutes fixing the formatting templates for the office was time well spent...
You felt good. That's all that matters.
Kurush559 5y ago
tbh all the examples you're using seem to come from a source of regret based off mistakes youve made in the past. Perhaps they're mistakes you're fed up of other guys making.
But what about taking the time to read a book that you enjoy? What about writing a beautiful piece of music? Watching a ballet? There's more to life than vagina and cash
CainPrice 5y ago
If we go down that rabbit hole of "If it makes me happy, that's all that matters", then we enter a world where video games, cheetos, and mountain dew are just as valid of a life as sex, money, and power. Essentially, if we go down that road, as long as the cheeto-crusted video gamer is happy, he's winning life.
I'm going to come right out and say it: It doesn't matter if you're happy or not. Some lives are just plain better than others, and it's not you and your "well I'm happy and it's all that matters" that determines what's better. That's what society is for. "But I'm happy" is loser-talk. It's lowering the bar. It's like getting your limbs blown off in a war zone and having to learn to live with a lower-quality life, except you're doing it voluntarily because real success is hard.
If your life doesn't pass the judgment of others - nobody fucks you, likes you, or pays you - then being true to yourself and your own internal sense of pride and happiness is just masturbating in self-satisfaction. Some life choices are just plain better than others, and it's not you or me or the man making the choice who gets to decide what's important and what's valuable based on "well I'm still happy so there".
[deleted] 5y ago
I'd give you gold but I don't want to put my bank account details on reddit.
iwbbty 5y ago
I get what you are trying to say, but that ain't it chief.
I disagree wholeheartedly.
It's your life. You decide what you value, and you decide your own standards for satisfaction. Sacrificing such standards and beliefs so that you can conform to society's standard of happiness(ie: money and sex) is in a way, ultimate cuckery.
Further, you strangely seem to equate self-defined happiness and satisfaction with indulgence of video-games and junk food, but that can't be farther from the truth. Cheap dopamine hits and skinner boxes(like video games/porn/junkfood) aren't activities that provide actual happiness. Mastering a craft, enjoying good art(whether that be a painting, movie or even cuisine), and relaxing in one's hobbies are all ways that provide invaluable value to our lives. I would argue those moments of relaxed-contentness I get from such activities are much more valuable than anything money or sex could provide.
How many girls you fucked or how many lambos you have in your garage ultimately don't matter. As countless real-life examples show, girls and money will never be a lasting source of fulfillment in life. You're going to die one day dude. Enjoy life your way. Don't chase things just because society tells you they're great. Fulfill your own standards of happiness.
Mushonix 5y ago
It seems that you think that the only thing that make us happy is playing videogames and watching porn, but it doesn't take much to see that people here on the RP like evolving in every way of life. If RP didn't make us happy, we would just leave the community after noticing this, ut here we are.
[deleted]
Kurush559 5y ago
I can tell you haven't studied ethics to any formal extent because you took my comments on happiness and responded as if I had written sensual pleasure. Read an introduction to ethics or something
halfback910 5y ago
He doesn't read books because it doesn't get him laid.
CainPrice 5y ago
I'm not trying to promote some kind of college philosophy course. I am literally saying that you, me, some other guy - we don't decide what actually has value. That's up to other people and what they choose to judge favorably with sex, friendship, and money.
The idea that "I don't care about other people's judgment and I'm just going to do what makes me happy" is some kind of enlightened path is just blue pill bullshit. It's the belief that you have inherent value just for being yourself and that doing something that doesn't gain you anything and might even get you consequences is still valuable simply because you like it and it makes you feel good. By that logic, doing drugs is the ideal life.
Zucaner 5y ago
But why let society define what's good for your life?
[deleted]
Kurush559 5y ago
You misunderstood my response
CainPrice 5y ago
Essentially, what you're saying is "I don't mean 'happiness' the way normal people mean it when they say 'happiness'. I mean 'happiness' as some deep philosophical concept I learned in my undergraduate philosophy class that is so much more and so much better than the way everyone else uses the word"?
Kurush559 5y ago
Spot on, have a gold star!
(on a serious note I do actually agree with you in general and many of your asktrp comments, I'm just being a contrary bastard)
nross368 5y ago
And what about the beta pick up artists? You can train a dog but you can't make a dog a bear by teaching it how to attract cats. You're looking at a symptom. Not the problem.
tchower 5y ago
You make some great points, but I respectfully disagree with some of it. There’s lots of stories and examples in life of people getting jobs that pay 200,000 a year ect. but still deal with people disrespecting them, looking down on them, or they feel generally trapped hating their life and their marriage. Life isn’t necessarily so clear cut. If you’re living for people liking you, money or woman and nothing else, what is going to keep you going when life gets tough or shit hits the fan? Anyone who’s really succeeded at anything knows there are haters and competition, or there might be financial sacrifices and risks necessary to succeed.
AutoModerator 5y ago
Why are we quarantined? The admin don't want you to know.
Register on our backup site: https://www.trp.red and reserve your reddit name today.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.