Comments on: Identity-Level Beliefs and The Game

By: RAP

RAP — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:15:48 +0000

Thank you for answering my question from such a long time ago. I went on your site again just to see if I can learn new stuff and I still do. And I say its freakin awesome that this stuff is for free. And again, thank you for your response.

Oh, and if I was in your second situation, personally, I would rather die then spend the rest of My Life inside a prison, especially if I had the choice, but that’s just Me.

By: thirtyplus

thirtyplus — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:28:30 +0000

RAP –

The mental exercise in this article is just that - a mental exercise. I do agree that people ought to be living their lives “to the fullest”, i.e., attempting to pursue their highest and best calling and the realization of their dreams and the betterment of their fellow travelers.

I’m certainly not advocating locking people in a room for all time to prove my point.

To answer your question, I propose another hypothetical scenario; let’s say you were sentenced to prison for the rest of your life with no hope of parole. But because prison space is scarce, the warden is going to kill all prisoners with life sentences and no parole to free up space for criminals who may serve their time and be rehabilitated.

You, therefore, are going to be executed, because the warden says your life no longer has any value, since you will be locked up in solitary for the rest of your life and unable to “do anything” on this earth. What would you say?

By: RAP

RAP — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 06:05:58 +0000

Even though I wrote the comment above a month ago, I would really appreciate it if you replied back, Thirty Plus. I absolutely love your website and all of your advice, so please, I really need to hear you opinion.

By: RAP

RAP — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:09:28 +0000

I answered “no” to your simple test. So does that mean that I have something wrong with me? I believe that everyone on this earth has something to do. And thats live live to the fullest. And how can people do that if they’re locked up in a room by themselves for the rest of their lives? I say “no” and I’m proud to say “no”. You can say that I need external stuff to live, because I do. For the people who said “yes”, tell me why you would feel valuable? Someone who says “yes” comment, WHY WOULD YOU FEEL VALUABLE?

By: robertj

robertj — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:58:40 +0000

Solid post. I’m really impressed at your command of psychology and inner game. Like I said in another comment, learning pickup is only superficially about pickup; it’s about being a better person.

By: College student

College student — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:28:35 +0000

Wow, this is profound. I grew up in an insecure environment (all of Southern California), and I always valued myself based on social praise. It’s crazy, the norms that we conform to.

This concept of social value has really put a strain on my life. I procrastinate homework and studying, just to browse and post on online social tools like facebook, email, myspace, and forums. I do this simply because I want to feel like others recognize my existence and my opinions. I actually realize, now, that my obsessiveness with social perception still exists (I thought I matured out of it after high school).

Anyway, thanks so much for writing this! It just sparked a couple of neurons in my brain, and allowed me to make sense of my ADD-like behavior. Now I just need to meditate and really rework my inner-voice and confidence levels. Easier said than done, but this would be invaluable to my personal growth.

By: ara

ara — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:13:52 +0000

And what if you answered yes to the test, yet you feel like there is still this hole?
I’ve gotten to the point where i have gotten essentially everything I’ve ever dreamed of out of life, and everything else going forward is just gravy. In a lot of ways this has made me lazy, and despite it all I continue to experience a lot of wierd social anxiety with meeting and approaching new people. So it’s something I want to kill and yet I seem to have trouble creating the space to allow it to happen oftentimes.