Like with any discipline or subject, it can become decadent, moralistic and an arena of mediocrity. Nietzsche was stabbing at this when he said that there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. The rest (the Popes, Saints, Disciples and all the other "Christ-wannabees" (to use Nietzsche's spirit of writing)) were just simply clambering for the top-spot to satisfy a lust for power and control.

Why do I say this? I just thought one day that the same could happen to the pick-up community. The pioneers of pick-up have established themselves as fantastic examples of leadership and skill. Has this time past by? Worse still, is it possible for the discipline of pick-up to become dominated by moralistic idiots, who pretend to be proficient in a skill that they clearly do not possess?

It's perhaps easy for someone to say that I'm being moralistic myself by writing this. But I'm not assuming a position above my station. I engage in the community because I want to maintain a good quality of life. I love the community and wish to see it grow. But sometimes, it feels like a shooting gallery of insults and suggestions designed to put people down.

Or maybe I'm just having "one of those days"!!!

Love

A

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Only great men seize the moment

I have always felt that way as well. I believe pickup shouldn't be a seperate entity but should intergrate itself seamlessly into one's personality and one's life.

The pick-up artist (such as Mystery) is a mimic of a natural but not as capable as the real thing. Even beyond that, after he made up canned material PUAs around the world taught themselves to become clones of him and we had thousands of men using the same exact openers instead of having the knowledge to create their own. Most of them couldn't survive without their material because they have little idea why it works on a core level to develop their own.

An excellent example is in the game. Mystery is the ultimate pick up artist but whenever he fails he cries and becomes both suicidal and potentially homocidal - he's not a true alpha. He only knows how to appear to be one.

Pick-up shouldn't be such a win-lose game. This is community is amazingly wonderful and helps us to develop skills we missed in childhood so that we can become complete and happy people.

We should get into it to improve our success with women and make sure we are not trying to fill an emotional void left elsewhere. Seduction should be about building a skillset to become a better human being which comes into application when necessary. While we should still critique ourselves we should always be considering that we are learning a skill to become better people first.

Mystery is obsessed with social value and thinks he has the perfect social life down to a science. Ross, although more realistic, is an egotistical maniac. David D's first priority is to be a businessman and make profits. The only major (interational) pick-up artist I respect is Neil Strauss. In The Game it was obvious how cutthroat all of them were.

Fascinating post. I am curious to see what other responses you get with this one!

- Chris

Some very valid points there, especially the part about how sarging can evolve into a cut-throat microcosm of conflict. A symptom of the group dynamic I suppose. Elements on this forum give credence to this negative aspect of pick-up and it's disappointing.

It is unavoidable however. I hold the pioneers of pick-up in high regard. But by the same token, this high regard I have illuminates even further the garbage that some mediocre forum elements come out with. I refuse to acknowledge tablets of sarging ettiquette that blatantly serve the purpose of fuelling the ego of their creator.

Pick-up is surely about achievement and personal development. It is surely about becoming a happier individual and in turn making someone else's life happier in the process. That aim is not achieved by waving a moralistic ego around in a really REALLY lame attempt to assert themselves with Mystery-style authority. I feel uneasy and embarassed about it sometimes...and I'm not the one saying it!!!

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Only great men seize the moment