Sooner or later, someone is going to walk up to you with a bucket, and somewhat breathlessly explain how you urgently need to stick your head in it.
It might have any number of different labels on it. “Jesus”, perhaps. Or “philosophy”. Or “psychotherapy”, “socialism”, “functional programming”, or “steroids”, or “veganism” or “nofap” or “The Red Pill”, or “LSD”, or “mysticism”.
They’ll explain how inside the bucket is a wonderful enlightening experience that will change your view of the universe… and having already stuck their own heads there, they certainly seem to believe it. But is that a slightly glazed look in their eyes?
If we look at this problem in a naive, simplified-math-game-theory way, it’s insoluble. Before you stick your head in the bucket, you don’t know what’s inside. And afterwards, if indeed you do, you don’t know if you have truly gained meaningful enlightenment, or simply been practiced upon.
But the world, fortunately for us, isn’t actually that simple. It’s full of other people.
All you have to do to notice what happened to the other people who stuck their heads in that particular bucket.
Did they prosper afterwards? Did they thrive? Were they suddenly wittier, richer, healthier, stronger, prettier, more insightful? Were their lives suddenly filled with joy and meaning?
Or did they mostly just hang around doing the same old stuff, except now they’re trying to get you to stick your head in a bucket?
Every bucket is going to have its own set of advocates who want you to stick your head in it (because the ones that don’t, you’ve never heard of due to lack of publicity). They’ll promise you all sorts of things, sincerely or not. Stop listening to them, and start looking at them.
If it’s nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, and they are walking up and down your street knocking on doors, then where do you think you will be in five years if you decide to drink the Kool-Aid? If that guy has the secrets of getting rich by flipping real estate, why is he writing it up in a book and selling that instead of using the secret himself? If that scientologist or self-styled practitioner of “magick” can so much as light a single candle with the power of his mind… will he show you, or produce endless excuses about why he can’t or shouldn’t? Will that kungfu master climb in the ring with a decently-ranked amateur boxer?
There’s always someone willing to test the waters for you. If something amazing happens for them, you should be able to see it. If not, you’re just being proselytized by someone with a bucket on his head.
Ultimately, the Red Pill is about winning. Certainly, it was invented to be nothing but a pool of observations and speculations about what really is, but the reason we care about this shit is so we can get what we want.
Knowledge is important because knowledge is power.
And we can read the 48 Laws of Power for some valuable suggestions on how to attain and wield power. But what about knowledge about power? Surely that is the most powerful of all. What are the underlying principles upon which power is based, and with which it can be analyzed and understood?
Examine this possibility:
The Zeroth Law of Power: In any interaction, power is held in inverse proportion to need. He who needs the least from an interaction has the most power within it.
When we try thinking this way, we can see arguments, negotiations, and power struggles in a whole new light.
For example, we have all had interactions with that tiresome breed that insists upon not just disagreeing with the Red Pill and not participating, but hanging about attempting to discredit you at every turn for attempting to do so.
If you view an argument as a clash between two opposing viewpoints, each armed with a set of factual allegations and some rhetoric, you can spend a lot of time trying to figure out whose argument is better, and who will “win”. But an argument is power struggle, and therefore it is a clash not between opposing viewpoints, but opposing people. And the winner will be whoever needs less from the interaction.
So the reason these people call you “misogynist”, or “rapist” or “evil” or a “manchild” or speak endlessly about their nebulous theories of what “insecurities” you must have… is that they need something from you.
You are doing something, saying something, living some way, and they want you to stop. Urgently… because if they did not want it urgently, they would simply have avoided you, and the unpleasantness you represent.
They need something from you. They require your cooperation to get what they need.
What do you need from them? If you are weak inside, and need them to stop saying mean things about you, then there is a balance of power… but if you don’t, then all the power belongs to you.
Sure, you could argue with them for giggles, but you could stop at any point and start posting cake recipes in response, or pictures of your penis. You wouldn’t be “losing” the argument, because their goal in arguing is to make you stop taking the Red Pill… and they don’t win unless they get you to do so.
Now, think about this in terms of approaching a girl. Of getting a job. Of buying something from a business. Of responding to a request for help. Of having sex. Of… anything.
Think: what does each person need? Who needs it more? If you can figure this out, you know who will win the confrontation, or get the best of the deal.
And if one of those people is you, the less you need, and the more others need you, or need from you, the more you will win in conflict, and the more you can demand in a deal.
This is the secret behind agree and amplify; you do not need the insult contradicted. This is the secret behind social proof and abundance mentality; you do not need that woman, you have access to others. This is the secret behind dread game, negging, and almost every other trick you will ever learn.