What do you think of non-manipulation as a principle, generally?

It seems to me that PUAs try hard to avoid certain kinds of manipulation. Don't try to buy a woman's affection by buying her dinner. Don't try to manipulate a woman by being a nice guy, or by promising eternal devotion when you're not really ready to say that, or by apologizing when you don't actually think you did anything wrong, or by making her feel guilty about wanting sex. These seem like reasonably good prohibitions. For one thing, all of these behaviors are part of the old courtship model of relationships that some people don't like anymore; but for another thing, they are all manipulation. People sometimes figure out when they're being manipulated, and they don't like it.

Then the PUA turns around and tries to manipulate women in other ways, like with negs, various shows of dominance, and so forth. But, unless the PUA is extremely skilled (and I'm sure there are some out there who are that skilled), I'm pretty sure that many women will see through the techniques, which she will perceive to be deceit and gimmicks, and will react badly. In fact, just as badly as she did to the other gimmicks.

Is it possible that for the majority of men, the most important challenge is not to learn PUA manipulation, but to un-learn the other kinds of manipulation? And, don't get me wrong, that's hugely difficult. People learn questionable manipulation tricks from their parents and culture. Sometimes the hardest thing is to act naturally and authentically under a great deal of pressure. A "shit test" is not really a fiendish scheme on the woman's part to see how dominant you are. It's just a question of whether you act normal and authentic when something goes slightly differently than you expected.