aurum

One of the best ways to do cold approach is really a hybrid of including some social circle. For example, you go out solo and meet a bunch of people that same night through cold approach. You become a social connector, merge groups of people you just met, introduce single men and women to each other, etc. You will be one of the most popular guys in the venue if you do this. Most people are so passive while socializing that with just a little bit of cold approach, you will easily stand out. And yes, women will notice. But no one will see it as "creepy pickup", because you're actually providing value to people by being a connector and demonstrating tons of social competence. And if you do this repeatably, the effects usually just compound as you start to become more well-known in your local area. Pretty soon, even if you go out by yourself, you're bound to run into people you already are friends with. Now, is that cold approach or social circle? Really, this whole debate between cold approach and social circle is a bit overblown. Just mix and match as much as you see fit.

Yeah there's no easy answer here. If the teachings are truthful, then convergence actually is a good sign. Convergence is not necessarily a sign of not doing the work. That said, of course you need to check yourself on this. You could also very easily be rationalizing your lack of understanding. Both are true.

Sweetness is not bad in of itself. It might be useful for your growth to overcorrect for a while, but you will eventually hit a wall with even your douchebaggery. Really, what you're seeking is balance.

@Xonas Pitfall excellent!

You could have a temporary, limited experience of that. Anesthesia is a good example. But that cannot be the sum total of reality. Doing so would make God less than infinite. Also, that assumes there isn't value in pain, which is false. Pain is valuable information. From the standard human POV, yes. But metaphysically, no. We do not agree on that. There is a difference. No, that is not a possibility. That is only a possibility in the mind of someone who is confused.

Consider this: If God exists, God must have infinite power over reality. But how can God have infinite power over reality? Only by being infinite. So both things are true: God has infinite power over reality, but God must also be infinite. If God is infinite, infinity must contain finiteness / limitation / pain / suffering / scarcity. That's what a lot of human life involves. Also, if God is infinite, there literally is no other to inflict suffering upon. Sadism assumes a frame of some outside entity desiring to inflict harm on another, which is metaphysically impossible. If you want to say God contains, sadism, that's coherent. Because of course infinity must contain sadism. But that does not make sadism the foundational value of God.

The answer was given: suffering is a structural consequence of the infinite nature of reality. Life cannot not contain suffering to some degree. But of course, unless you understand that answer, it doesn't mean anything to you.

That is NOT sadism. Sadism is something very specific. It's a mistake to conflate the existence of suffering with sadism being a top value of God.

You just need an awakening to Goodness / Love / Perfection.

Sadism is the wrong frame. The suffering is more a consequence of the structure of infinity itself, not some sadist kick.

Yeah, it’s very challenging to balance. Having a greater vision of what you care about in life can help.

@Mixcoatl what about family? Life goals does not necessarily just mean career to most women. Most women who are serious about a relationship will want to see that you’re interested in living together, marriage, buying a house, kids etc. For them, a relationship not moving in that direction will feel static and pointless.

There will be moments that functionally act like a test. Sometimes they might be conscious / intentional, sometimes not. Either way, you should see it all as contributing to the interaction and the process of you two forming something together. And obviously not all playful banter should be interpreted as some kind of devious test. Becoming too combative or paranoid is very bad. Just have fun with it.

Overall I feel like abstaining is beneficial if I'm serious about going out. But you do need to be careful about thinking too much with your dick. If you just let your dick run the show, you can make stupid decisions. Dick gets a voice, not the final say.

The clearly example of capitalist bullshittery is how much the richest people in the world have made since Covid. There's no possible way to justify how much more they are worth in just a couple years based on merit. Their businesses have not functionally changed in that time period.

There's a few, but mostly they do not exist. People in the Metamodernism / Integral / Metacrisis space would be the place to start.

Stuff like this was inevitable. People just copy what works.

That's a shame. Finding a legal, safe substance that produces consistent awakenings is holy grail territory.

They might feel safer around gay men at times. But that's not the same thing as "preferring" gay men over straight men.

Relevant indeed.

Tier 2? Musk does not fit any definition I care about for Tier 2. He has spent the last half a decade attacking Green, completely misunderstanding it.

Nothing about my thoughts on Musk have changed.

Good for her. Smart woman.

Health is the foundation for just about any kind of success in life.

Now that it's convenient for their legal case, lol.