Hey dudes –

So when I typed "I haven't gotten around to going through Blueprint yet" yesterday, I realized I should, in fact, get around to it.

Blueprint Decoded (warning, marketing cranked up to 11 on that page), by the way, is a product from RSD on inner game, consisting of 20 hour-long video sessions. I decided to check it out based on Tofu's recommendation, and digging Brad from RSD when he did his AMA here several weeks ago.

By the way, I don't think reading summaries will really do the videos justice, but I don't think it can hurt. So here goes:

I watched session #1 last night, and it was pretty awesome. The basic points I took from it were:

Don't see pickup as a way for a lower status guy (you) to "trick" a higher status girl (HB) into sleeping with you. This is the frame of most PUAs, he says, especially old school ones. Instead, realize that that entire lower-status frame is just in your head, and has no basis in reality.

It seems sort of Zen, really. As in, don't see yourself as unenlightened and trying to become enlightened; realize that you are already enlightened. My guess is the rest of the series is aimed at helping guys realize this.

BTW, if that paragraph turned you off, you might not be into this series, lol. (He hasn't said anything that really sets off my woo-dar, but YMMV.)

Another concept: seduction shouldn't be something you do, like a mode that you feel you need to switch to when you see a cute girl. Instead, it should become integrated into who you are, so when you go talk to a girl you're just being yourself.

He also spends a good chunk of time trying to demolish the ideas that money or looks help in pickup. Here's the gist of it:

Not only is money not enough to get girls – hopefully we've all realized that by now – it's not even a perk. As evidence, he mentions rich guys with no game, who turn girls off by trying to buy their attention or impress them. And he mentions a rich guy that does have game who runs into the problem of girls being ready to fuck him, but changing their minds when they realize how rich he is – they want a relationship now, not a ONS. TL;DR – money can be a liability.

Same goes for looks – looks aren't even a perk, not just because game/confidence is more important, but also because handsome guys tend to get complacent and not work on their game as hard as ugly guys do. Again, looks can be a liability.

I didn't find these completely convincing – sure, money and looks have their dark sides, and really are way, way down the list of important things for picking up girls. But I can't really buy that, all things being equal, money and looks aren't perks. (Of course, all things are never equal, so it's sort of an academic point.)

Though I think Tyler isn't so much trying to make a true statement about reality as provoke a beneficial change in attitude in his listeners. I mean, if you're ugly or broke, you're probably overly pessimistic about it, and someone saying "IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER AT ALL" might get you thinking in a more realistic and positive way – even if you don't take him completely literally.

Anyways, that's my take on the whole "do looks matter??" question right now. TL;DR – not really.

About to watch #2, stay tuned...