Over in /r/alreadyred TRPsubmitter posted a classic piece: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-ii-posturetalk-powertalk-babytalk-and-gametalk/

It's a really read if you haven't read it already. It basically breaks communication into 4 primary ways of communication with 3 different players. Even though that article doesn't specifically dive too deeply into the subject, but to me the most important aspect is the "clueless" character.

Maybe it's because I'm the type that is very transparent and when someone says something stupid in regards to a social interaction, I may not say anything, but I think, "is this person serious? Are they really that dumb? Do they not see the context of that discussion?

Coincidentally, as I type this, I actually just got a PM that describes this type of person perfectly:

I was talking about something saying how the reason people say a teenager shouldn't take steroids isn't because they aren't responsible enough to use them, similar to our belief on why teenagers shouldn't use alcohol, but it can have serious long term impacts at that age. In which the person responds with, "Yeah, but alcohol is bad for you too."

Now, any competitively social person can realize why all I could do was raise my brow and roll my eyes. All I can think is, "Do you not understand what I'm saying with the bigger picture? Do you not understand what I'm saying beyond just my words?"

Another good example of this type of person would be: let's say you're hanging out with your buddy. You ask him how he it went with that girl he was with last night, and he responds with, "Well, it was whatever." You obviously understand that he's saying it was just no big deal, but that it didn't go great. If it did go great he would word it differently. So you respond with, "Yeah man, I feel you. Telling you, women are bitches. Can't win 'em all." Now any compitent person can see what you just said, which was, basically, "I understand what you're saying, and you can't win every date, and you should just go on another date."

However, your typical "clueless" person doesn't read the situation the same way. The only thing the clueless person understands is the face value of the conversation. The first part is that your friend doesn't want to talk about it, and it's impossible to know how the date actually went, and that you just called all women bitches. The subtle communication relayed between the two parties is completely mysterious to them. They only know what was verbally put right in their face, and they interpret it as exactly that. And now according to her, you just called women bitches, which is entirely offensive. Does that remind you of a certain group of people that only look at TRP with at face value not understanding the context of what we are saying?

Another quick example is an article on the front page when the police said that people can't lay down at the park because they are a safety hazard since people can trip over them. In reality, what he was saying was, "I need an excuse to prevent the hobos from taking over the park. But I need a politically correct reason to appease the clueless. But you guys all know the real reason. I don't need to say it."

A final quick example of this is, since I'm watching JRE right now, is they are playing a video that's really stupid video and Joe just says, "Hey this video is scary turn it off, I can't watch it any more." What he's really saying is, "This video is stupid, turn it off." But he's able to communicate the idea while giving the person who put on the video an out without looking stupid for putting on a stupid video.

What's great about this form of communication is that it allows all parties to explain what they need to explain, but at the same time don't have to go on record saying it. Women are great at using this form of communication btw. Often, they'll do something, you'll know the context isn't right, but she'll say, "I never SAID I'd have sex with him! I just said I'd go meet up for some drinks. Why are you freaking out? I never said anything wrong!"

It's the same way when you ask to have sex with a girl and you invite her to your room to check out your guitar collection. Any reasonable person knows what this means. It means we are going back to have sex. However, if she declines, you have an out. You never asked for sex, you just wanted to show her your guitar collection and she wasn't interested.

But let's say she does say okay. You get there, play her a song her two, then go in for the move, grab her ass, and she freezes with shock. You then say, "I thought we were here for a reason?" And she responds with, "OMG I can't believe this. You didn't say we were coming here for sex. I didn't give you any expressed consent! We didn't talk about this before!" Does this attitude remind you of any specific group? And I assure you, it's not just bluetards. Ever invite a girl back to your place and she starts talking about sex, and then even says, "When we get back to your place, we should have sex," in a non-joking way. Now a rational person thinks, "Yeah, no shit." But to this group of people, this is literally how they see the world. Words are literal, and communication must be direct. They are completely oblivious to implications and indirect verbal communication.


Now, let's raise it up just to a higher level. Let's involve TRP. TRP, without doubt, is mainstream within the more fun and exciting parts of society. However, it's not talked about directly. Because by talking about it directly removes all possibility of plausible deniability. Every one knows it exists, and they communicate it on a subtle level, but they don't dare directly communicate it. Because if a "clueless" person were to hear what was said, they'd flip shit. Event though the "power talkers" talk about TRP all the time in their subtle ways, to the "clueless" person, TRP is NEVER talked about. To the "clueless" person, the world is very literal, and they've never heard their hot friend talk about getting a guy to orbit her, or talk about why Chase being an asshole is so hot.

Last summer I had to learn this the hard way. I broke the powertalk rule and decided to be direct with a "clueless" person (BTW, direct talk, just like it says in the article, should ONLY be done between two people not in or around a clueless person. Direct talk around a clueless person can be dissasterious. The clueless lives the world with a different understanding. Which is exactly why TRP pisses them off so much).

I was at an outdoor club with a few friends, and one of the girls was new. She started saying something about how this guy creeped her out blah blah blah... So I called her out for not actually being creeped out by the guy, but she just wanted to brag about guys hitting on her to the group. And even though she's a feminist, she loves it when guys treat her like a sexual object. This ended up spiraling into a feminism argument and got no where.

Interestingly though, the more attractive ladies of the group didn't even dare participate. Not because they had nothing to say, but I blew everyone's cover. I was talking about the things we shouldn't talk about. The hot girls did enjoy being sexual objects, but they wouldn't dare come out and say it to defend me. That would make them look like sluts in the eyes of the "clueless". Instead all they can do is remain silent. They couldn't say that they do enjoy the dynamics of guys chasing after them, taking advantage of guys buying them drinks, and getting treated nice wherever they went. Saying that would make them sound like selfish bitches.

Eventually it blew over and a few hours later we part ways and stop for some pizza. Eventually I bring it back up and say, "Was I wrong? Seriously?" And the only response was, "It's not that you're wrong, it's that you're playing with fire." Basically saying, "Senator, you're right, but it's not something you can talk about." But again, with powerspeak.


And this is the reason why TRP is so hated. Reddit is filled to the brim with these BP "clueless" types. It's the nature of this type of platform. Us using direct straight talk, out in the open, is just like my story before. It's going to piss off the clueless who don't "get it".

Instead, the ones that do "get it" don't really talk about it. Instead they lurk, read, and add value to their lives. When they go around Reddit, they aren't trying to spread it, because they know it's not reasonable. Sure, sometimes they will, but rephrase TRP ideas in a way in which Reddit just eats it up. If you read the article, this is called baby talk when dealing with the "clueless". It's cleaning it up and telling them the idea in the way they need to hear it. They are incapable of straight talk, since only powertalkers can do that effectively. Instead, they use "baby talk".

Which is exactly why -- and I'm occassionally guilty of it -- stop worrying about convincing bluetards. Just stop. It's not that you're wrong, it's that they just don't "get it". They are physically incapable of getting it. You'll never be able to change their mind, ever. On the internet, or real life. The "clueless" shouldn't be wasting your time -- this is the matrix bitch. They are the hoard that are to be used. When you talk with them, you don't touch these sort of subjects. You don't tell your bro "women are bitches" after a bad date when they are around. You have to baby talk them, and never actually deal with them. They are the social equivalent of an uneducated surf class. It's not that they are bad people, it's just that they are best used as means to an end, and not to be brought into a philosophical debate. You'll never be able to bring them up to your level no matter how hard you try.

EDIT: As always, I don't proof read. Any typos or lack of clarity you notice -- kiss my ass. Edit: Okay, I fixed a handful of typos.