Friday, January 29, 2010

Expanding the Taxonomy of Male Classifications


Eveybody's favorite Christian Libertarian anarchist blogger, Vox Day, recently posted about Roissy and his practice of classifying men into the Alpha/Beta dichotomy.

VD wrote a pretty good taxonomy that definitely expands on what many critics of game and Roissy have always pointed out as Roissy's ideological weakness in using only two definitions of male behavior on the spectrum of male value in the sexual marketplace's hierarchy.

Before I present Vox's list, I do want to note that I think Roissy's focus on a Alpha/Beta dichotomy is useful as an intro for people who have never heard of "game" in the first place to gain a solid understanding of the differences in male behavior and demeanor.

Vox's expanded taxonomy seems to be a pretty good breakdown that accounts for all of the variations people always seem to question Roissy about. Roissy's comments are often filled with queries about behaviors such as "Is this "beta" or "alpha?" Am I a "greater beta" or a lesser alpha." Etc.

Perhaps Vox gives us a more useful taxonomy here:

Alphas - the male elite, the leaders of men for whom women naturally lust. Their mere presence sets women a-tingle regardless of whether she is taken or not. Once you've seen beautiful married women ignoring tall, handsome, wealthy, and even famous men because that ugly old troll Henry Kissinger walked in the room, you simply can't deny the reality of Alphadom. Example: Captain Kirk, Big from Sex in the City. Suggestion: Do you see a scoreboard? Right, so relax already!

Betas - the lieutenants, the petty aristocracy. They're popular, they do well with women, they're pretty successful in life, and they may even be exceptionally good-looking. But they lack the Alpha's natural self-confidence and strength of character. They're not leaders and they're not the men to whom women are helplessly drawn. Most men who like to think they're Alphas because of their success are actually Betas. Most Betas won't change their game because they don't really have any need or reason to do so. This is probably the easiest social slot in which to find yourself, since the Beta enjoys many of the benefits of Alphadom without being trapped in the Alpha's endless cycle of competition. Example: Brad Pitt Suggestion: Have some compassion for the less naturally fortunate. Try to include them once in awhile.

Deltas - the great majority of men. These are Roissy's Betas. Almost all of you reading this are Deltas despite the natural desire to believe that you are a brave and bold Alpha snowflake notwithstanding. Deal with it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a Delta, it's just a simple statistical and observable reality. The sooner you accept the truth about yourself, the sooner you will be able to control your unconscious inclinations and modify your behavior in a manner that will help you achieve your goals. I've gone out of alphabetical order here because delta symbolizes change, which most Deltas are capable to some extent. Hence the synthetic alpha instruction set known as Game. Example: Probably you. Suggestion: Never forget that there are plenty of girls on the girl tree.

Gammas - the obsequious ones, the posterior puckerers, the nice guys who attempt to score through white-knighting, faux-chivalry, flattery, and omnipresence. All men except true Alphas will occasionally fall into Gamma behavior from time to time, this is the behavior and attitude that Roissy is attempting to teach men to recognize and avoid. The dividing line between a Gamma and a Delta is that the Gamma genuinely believes in the Gamma reality to the very core of his soul whereas the Delta is never truly comfortable with himself when he behaves in this manner despite being thoroughly indoctrinated in it by his culture. Example: Probably you if you've found yourself complaining about your lack of female companionship over the last two years. Suggestion: Remember that the statement "all are fallen" applies to women too. She isn't any more naturally pure or holy or ethereal than you are.

Lambdas - the gays. They have their own social hierarchy. They can fill any role from Alpha to Omega, but they tend to play the part rather than actually be it because the heterosexual social construct only encompasses the public part of their lives. Example: Neil Patrick Harris. Suggestion: Straights will be more tolerant if you keep the bathhouse behavior behind closed doors.

Sigmas - the lone wolves. Occasionally mistaken for Alphas, particularly by women and Alphas, they are not leaders and will actively resist the attempt of others to draft them. Alphas instinctively view them as challenges and either dislike or warily respect them. Some Deltas and most Omegas fancy themselves Sigmas, but the true Sigma's withdrawal from the pack is not a reaction to the way he is treated, it is pure instinct. Example: Clint Eastwood's movie persona. Suggestion: Entertain the possibility that other people are not always Hell. The banal idiocy is incidental, it's not intentional torture.

Omegas - the losers. Even the Gamma males despise them. That which doesn't kill them can make them stronger, but most never surmount the desperate need to belong caused by their social rejection. Omegas can be the most dangerous of men because the pain of their constant rejection renders the suffering of others completely meaningless in their eyes. Omegas tend to cluster in defensive groups; the dividing line between the Omega and the Sigma is twofold and can be easily recognized by a) the behavior of male Betas and Deltas and b) the behavior of women. Women tend to find outliers attractive in general, but while they respond to Sigmas almost as strongly as they do to Alphas, they correctly find Omega males creepier and much scarier than Gamma males. Example: Eric Harris Suggestion: Your rejection isn't entirely personal. Observe the difference in your own behavior and the way the Betas act. And try not to start off conversations with women by sharing "interesting facts" with them.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon etc. in the Greek alphabet. I think you have mixed up delta and gamma.

David

PS Like your blog. I am a married man running game on the missus.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I now see that you have explained this.

David

Athol Kay: Married Man Sex Life said...

I like it and I don't. I think the Alpha/Beta concept is basically just too useful as a framework to ignore. However I see all men having a mixture of Alpha and Beta traits rather than simply being an either/or choice.

I make my basic case here http://tinyurl.com/yfuzeq9 and I think you would find it interesting.

John Smith said...

if you got married....you're running desperation game. marriage is the last stop on the express line to hell for the vast majority of men

Default User said...

While the broader taxonomy is interesting, I think that for most men it is alpha and the rest.

What man would want to be anything other than the one that dominates the room, dominates other men, has women falling at his knees, and acquires great wealth and status?

The rewards of the world are Pareto in nature. The richest twenty percent own far more than 20 percent of the wealth. The top twenty percent of attractive men have disproportionate access to women. The most famous actors get vastly more attention and money than the other 80 percent. The top sportsmen garner more fans than the rest combined.

The top people (the alphas) do not need to worry about each other. The rewards are so plentiful that there is enough to go around (go around the top 20 percent that is). Friendly rivalry aside, I doubt that Bill Gates or Warren Buffett really worry about who is richer. I doubt if Arnold Schwarzenegger really worries a lot about Tom Cruise. They are the top dogs. The only people who worry are the bottom eight percent who are struggling to be in the top 20 percent.

Alpha and Beta is about the difference between the winner's enclosure and been an also ran. So we may enjoy discussing other letters, but for most men there is only one letter that counts: Alpha, the winners, the top-dog.

While a man's primal drive is to beat other men the name will not matter: beta, delta, silver medal, second place. It is all the same. We remember the winner, the Arnies, the Curises, and all the rest. We neither know, nor care much about, the other 80 percent. Every man is acutely aware of this.

So in the end there are only two letters: Alpha and beta. Winner and loser. Top dogs and the rest.

Nick39 said...

Rookh, while I think you're basically overstating your case, I love this sentence:

"Women's natural attraction to such scum is of course a reflection of their own overmastering sense of existential inferiority before male self-mastery and godlike achievement."

Anonymous said...

I do not think all women fit into the thug worshippers. Perhaps most, but not all. There are indeed women who prefer the money.

Part of my life view is that all human characteristics are found on a Bell curve, including not only physical but emotional as well.

Anonymous age 67

The Private Man said...

I suspect that the Alpha/Beta notion is too implanted into our collective psyche in order for things to change.

Of course, you could be experimenting with the spread of memes in order to determine the impact of new memes within the manosphere and ultimately outside of the manosphere.

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