Your Problem: Hardware or Software?


One year as a kid I received a special present. I was shocked when I opened it to find a video game I had been wanting for months. My parent's weren't too keen on us kids having video games at the time so naturally I felt as though a minor miracle had taken place. I rushed to the computer (running Windows 95 if memory serves) and began installing the game. I waited hours for the install to take place. Finally, after waiting the better part of the day I fired up the game.

...

...

...

Crash. Nothing.

I tried again. Still no dice.

Having become something of a self-taught adolescent tech support I began doing everything I knew to get the game to run. I spent hours tweaking every setting I could and nothing worked; the hardware was simply not up to the task.

Can your hardware run your software?

Men who begin to learn and implement the things they read here and elsewhere in the manosphere are going through the process of upgrading their software (their mentality, what they believe, how they see the world, how to interpret signals, what to say in specific situations, etc.) Some men simply need to patch, others need to uninstall and reinstall a completely new operating system.

Armed with this new software they eagerly begin to use it only to find that it doesn't work quite as well as they thought. They encounter a fitness test and run AmusedMastery.exe, but they don't come off as amusing or masterful, so they run the AgreeAnd Amplifying.exe but it backfires and comes off as self depricating. Kino.exe started working but the system couldn't run it because it had 30-40% BF. Later, he carefully opens OI.exe before initiating. He gets turned down and the program crashes, he's butthurt and bluescreens. Finally, he tries to open UnstoppableEmotionalInertia.exe but turns out it was a Trojan Horse virus that infected his relationship. The only program that seems to run at all is STFU.exe but it runs choppy and doesn't really do that much but keep the system from catching fire.

What keeps going wrong?

Like young OsmiumZulu's crappy windows machine that couldn't run a basic video game, the hardware these men are working with isn't up to running their new software effectively. Some run it with some glitches, others can't even run the programs without completely crashing.

You have to upgrade your hardware too

There is a reason why lifting is not a suggestion. There is a reason why you need to take time to improve your style and smell great. Neglecting to upgrade your hardware will greatly inhibit the software from functioning.

Consider two men: a handsome guy with extremely basic red pill understanding and an ugly guy who has memorized every red pill sidebar. Who gets the hot girl? We all know the answer because we know that having the greatest software is useless without hardware to run it effectively.

In my experience Christians, especially us conservatives ones, are especially prone to this issue. Many Christians would rather learn and discuss theology far more than put it into practice and do something useful and build the kingdom with it.

Some of us need better software

There are some who come here with well functioning hardware, but are running garbage software. Because it runs and works, it is tempting to forgo patching things and upgrading obsolete ways of thinking. The "natural" runs the risk of stagnating and the axiom, "good is the enemy of great" is his bane. He is in okay shape, has a decent career, gets laid just enough to not really be dissatisfied (but he would like her to be more enthusiastic) and so on. In general, things come easily to him.

The problem with "naturals" who pick up on things quickly is they rarely become great at anything because they could skip over the truly mastering the fundamentals. When I played soccer I was faster than almost all the other kids in the league so I never bothered to learn the footwork. When I learned piano I could play well from memory so I never truly learned how to read music well. What happened in both cases? Eventually the other kids caught up to me and the music became complex; my "talent" wore off and I hit a wall. Worse, going back and relearning the fundamentals became even more challenging because I had learned poor habits along the way that had to be broken. Had I taken the time to really master the fundamentals I am positive I would have gotten much further in the end. Nowadays, with such hindsight, I treat mastering the fundamentals as essentially important when I take it upon myself to learn something new.

Diagnosing the problem

As you implement what you've learned you will encounter instances of break down where things don't work as intended. Ask yourself in those instances: is this a software or a hardware issue?

Would Chad Pitt have succeeded where you failed? Probably a hardware issue. Would Chad have gotten shut down too? Almost definitely a software issue.

Each of us has room to grow in both areas, but especially for those of you just getting started you will get further faster by focusing your greatest shortcomings holding you back.