4 ms·

Here is my problem: "I find no fault in youthful promiscuity. Oscar Wilde could have written a novel about my college years. It was part of my development as a

Here is my problem: "I find no fault in youthful promiscuity. Oscar Wilde could have written a novel about my college years. It was part of my development as a person and I have (almost) no regrets." This strikes me as similar to the advice naturally skinny people give to the fat -- "Why don't you just eat less and work out more?" If something comes to you naturally, it seems like a real jerk move to blithely assume that it's the same for everyone else. The author had a decent amount of natural success with promiscuity, and now he looks down on people who have to work on it. If something doesn't come naturally to you, you shouldn't be allowed to experience or enjoy it?

chasingsparks 17y ago
However, I always had some recognition as to the vapid nature of what I was doing. Mystery and his pickup hucksters want to nullify that socialized feeling, feeling themselves justified by our selfish genes and tribal heritage. That's the part I should have focused on more, judging by some of the comments. I don't object to promiscuity; I object to delusional promiscuity. Having experience with it, I wanted to say that it is a lot more glamourous on paper than in real life. Ignoring the "vapid" nature of it all, I failed to include one of my personal most important lessons: sex for women, even if ostensibly casual, is rarely consequence free. They are wired differently. Occasionally you'll get a girl who just wants a meaningless night, but more often than not, they'll pretend they are okay with it while hoping for more. Considering the pickup artist community has rules about (effectively) going on three dates, it is misleading if you are only after sex. That being said, it's not like me being in shape and telling fat people to work out more. It's me telling people who are not assholes that, having once been an asshole, you should not aspire to be one.
roc 17y ago
The author seems to be making the classic mistake of assuming everyone is coming to the material for the same reason. He is apparently past the stage of promiscuity and was looking for help finding a true mate. The MM disappointed him. So now he's preaching against the MM itself, rather than against the MM as a tool to meet his particular goal. I bet if confronted about the contradiction, he'd claim he never meant to disparage the young using the MM to improve their own "youthful promiscuity" experience. Whether he'd change his article is another story. He'll clearly get more attention as it is.

chasingsparks 17y ago

However, I always had some recognition as to the vapid nature of what I was doing. Mystery and his pickup hucksters want to nullify that socialized feeling, feeling themselves justified by our selfish genes and tribal heritage. That's the part I should have focused on more, judging by some of the comments. I don't object to promiscuity; I object to delusional promiscuity. Having experience with it, I wanted to say that it is a lot more glamourous on paper than in real life. Ignoring the "vapid" nature of it all, I failed to include one of my personal most important lessons: sex for women, even if ostensibly casual, is rarely consequence free. They are wired differently. Occasionally you'll get a girl who just wants a meaningless night, but more often than not, they'll pretend they are okay with it while hoping for more. Considering the pickup artist community has rules about (effectively) going on three dates, it is misleading if you are only after sex. That being said, it's not like me being in shape and telling fat people to work out more. It's me telling people who are not assholes that, having once been an asshole, you should not aspire to be one.

roc 17y ago

The author seems to be making the classic mistake of assuming everyone is coming to the material for the same reason. He is apparently past the stage of promiscuity and was looking for help finding a true mate. The MM disappointed him. So now he's preaching against the MM itself, rather than against the MM as a tool to meet his particular goal. I bet if confronted about the contradiction, he'd claim he never meant to disparage the young using the MM to improve their own "youthful promiscuity" experience. Whether he'd change his article is another story. He'll clearly get more attention as it is.