Guys around here debate endlessly about a woman's n-count, but what's the use? You will never be able to definitively prove that she is telling you the truth if she claims that her partner count is low.

The allure of utilizing the n-count as a barometer of LTR stability is obvious: it's a simple statistic that men can use to instantly qualify or disqualify a woman from commitment. To some extent, academic research backs the use of n-count as a qualifier, because a high number of sexual partners is correlated with future infidelity and relationship instability.

Of course, women are keenly aware that a tumultuous sexual history is perceived as a major liability for future commitment, while a low n-count is seen as a major asset. The solution? Simply lie.

Indeed, a study found that half of respondents (both men and women) had lied to a partner about sexual history. But a growing mountain of evidence suggests that sexual surveys themselves are unreliable, as people are reluctant to admit socially unacceptable behavior to researchers. When one study led participants to believe that they are hooked to a lie detector, the results conformed with RP truths: women downplayed their number, while men inflated it.

I suspect based on the collective experience of men on this sub that the true rate of 'sexual history revisionism' is far higher than currently believed.

"Okay," you say, "but I met my LTR from my extended social circle. I know her sexual history." But do you? The fact is, you only truly know the number of real boyfriends - the men whose existence is public knowledge. You do not know (and will never know) how many guys she fucked while away on vacation, study abroad, or work trips. You will never know how many times she snuck out for a ONS with a hot Tinder date, away from the prying eyes of her roommates and friends. Those incidents are flushed down Orwell's memory hole, forever erased.

Obsession with n-count among RP guys highlights a recurring problem in the community - the fallacy of using RP truths to obtain Blue Pill ideals. Nowhere is this more evident than in the search for the elusive Quality Woman™, a mythical creature free of hypergamistic tendencies.

In reality, the search for the Quality Woman™ represents a guy's unconscious longing to return to a Blue Pill state...a fantasy world where he can insulate himself from competition anxiety in the sexual marketplace, ensconced in the safety and security that his loyal, low n-count woman affords him.

The real solution, as we constantly advocate, is to watch what a woman does and not what she says. Blind faith in her supposed n-count is no substitute for observant vetting of actions. A man who has fully internalized TRP will have the savvy to discern which women genuinely desire and want him above other men - regardless of events that took place in an unknowable past.

And even then, risk and uncertainty can never be eliminated entirely...only managed and minimized.

EDIT

In response for requests for sources, here are two citations. There is a fairly large body of literature to support the arguments that I make here, so anyone who wants to investigate further can easily do so:

lie detector study: Fisher & Alexander, 2003, Journal of Sex Research

high partner count/infidelity: National Survey of Family Growth