Why is everything a binary?

hyperrreal · 2014-07-16T23:26:42+00:00

Derrida goes into this at length. It's because binary oppositions are built into western semantics and thought. Good/evil, man/woman, white/PoC poor/rich, gay/straight, etc. In post-structuralist theory, one side of the binary is 'privileged' over the other. In this case it would be 'alpha.'

I'm not saying it's an unfair criticism. It's just painfully non-unique.

TogiBear · 2014-07-17T02:16:50+00:00

Alpha and beta terminology is just a way to classify behaviors. Alpha refers to dominant behavior, beta refers to submissive behavior. A person is considered alpha if he exhibits mostly dominant behaviors; likewise, he's considered beta if he exhibits mostly submissive behaviors.

Mostly we refer to people being alpha/beta in the third person perspective because it is relevant to the discussion and it's ridiculously easy to spot an alpha or beta male.

Using this terminology to refer to yourself is pointless because it doesn't accomplish anything if you already know these behavioral traits exist and how to spot them. Everyone exhibits beta behaviors; it's just a question of how much.

Exner2 · 2014-07-17T01:56:58+00:00

Well, as is the case with most binaries, the "truth" is far more complex and nuanced and difficult to pin down.

For example, many people at TRP argue that BP men are deluded "betas" who are physically weak and unsuccessful with women. In contrast, many blue pillers argue that TRP is filled with young men who are somewhere on the autism spectrum and have little social or sexual success. Basically, both are pointing fingers at the other and yelling, "neckbeard!!!"

In reality, there's probably more overlap between the groups in terms of age, appearance, education, and even things like "number " than either would like to admit.

Although I gotta say, did you all see when the BP folks posted pictures if themselves? That is a good-looking bunch!

kickit · 2014-07-17T02:00:05+00:00

RedPill is ideological in nature. You have to radically change your perspective for any of its ideas to make sense. For instance, a 'bluepiller' wouldn't even necessarily think in terms of alpha/beta, wouldn't adopt the hamster/betabux/etc lingo outside of joking on the RedPill. To begin thinking RedPill, you have to accept a set of ideas (specifically about women: women are childish, women are irrational, women are mostly motivated by dick and money) that necessarily distance you from others.

Many BluePillers -- a more appropriate, general term might be people with a more mainstream viewpoint on sex -- still exhibit traits a RedPiller/PUA idealize as Alpha: confidence, non-chalance, outcome independence, assertiveness. TBH I think that for many RedPillers, TRP is an extreme reaction to a lack of these characteristics, combined with a generally bad experience with women & sex.

In short, though, TRP is an ideology like marxism or fascism or anti-semitism or serious feminism or even liberal capitalism. Once you accept one central kernal of truth (class conflict is the root of most evils, female subversion of old sexual mores is the root of most evils, the Jews are crippling Germany) the rest of the ideology kicks in around it, creating a radical difference from mainstream thinkers.

PyrrhicIntent · 2014-07-17T00:24:11+00:00

Because relativity is a pain in the ass. You need reference points and that creates a spectrum with extremes at either end. Someones notion of the above concepts(RP/BP) generally relates to their positioning on that scale. It will be like this as long as human relationships remain two dimensional.

myfriendscantknow · 2014-07-17T01:54:06+00:00

There is no binary. Like much "us vs. them" thought, TRP has set up a mental narrative of two sides in a war. Really, when it comes to attraction, dating, and sex, there are all kinds of folks with all kinds of behaviors and types, the male population can't reasonably be thought of in terms of "alpha" or "beta" in any useful way, unless it's simply a convoluted mental trick to compel yourself to actually talk to women.

Bakerofpie · 2014-07-17T03:45:00+00:00

The binary way of looking at things irritates the shit out of me. For one thing referring to someone as an "alpha" or a "beta" feels really cheesy to me. There are dominant and submissive behaviors, but I think it's pretty rare to find a man who is a true Alpha MaleTM. I automatically don't take someone seriously when they immediately refer to themselves as an alpha male. It's one of those things where if it's true you wouldn't have to advertise it.

I think it's silly to refer to my husband as an alpha. He is too laid back to give a shit about bossing anyone around, but he expects respect and general submission from his wife. He doesn't take my shit and is very outcome independent when it comes to me. I definitely have no upper hand with him, at all, ever. He is my leader, but is he a leader in general? Not really.

Outside of our relationship I couldn't call him alpha or beta because it's rare that people are really just one or the other. He's not a whiny bitch whipping boy who lets himself get shit on all the time, but he's not going to be in an upper management/authority position outside of our relationship most likely at any point. Nothing wrong with that.

GuildedCasket · 2014-07-17T05:59:53+00:00

Because it's a lot easier to say alpha/beta than to acknowledge and address all of the variation in between that would otherwise go quite a ways to invalidating TRP.

lev21pirate · 2014-07-17T00:17:51+00:00

The idea, i think, is making it your own.

Things are discussed in broad, general terms but its understood that its going to vary in details at the personal level. Its just not necessary to go about it every time.

Sort of how you can make general statement about what might constitute a punk. And we can say X/Y/Z is punk. Now you can get all offended cause you're a punk but you listen to classical music and not X. Well , who gives a shit. If you were so adamant about your "punkness" we wouldn't need to go over the minutiae for every little thing.

I mean, the conversation would grind to a halt. So its binary, and its your job, as an intelligent & confident person to work in whats specific to you.

[deleted] · 2014-07-17T06:56:41+00:00

There was a post long ago on TRP that expanded the Alpha/Beta into four tiers: Alpha+, Alpha-, Beta+, Beta-.

Beta- is what we call the White Knight(or omega I guess?).
Beta+ is someone who understands the gender differences, but for some reason, either temporary or permanent, lacks qualities to alha-ify himself.
Alpha- has alpha qualities(confident, fit, etc.) but is immature(irresponsible, no leadership qualities, hothead).
Alpha+ is the classic idealized build-house-plant-tree-have-son strong head-o-family archetype.

But we use alpha/beta because it's fucking faster and easier.

[deleted] · 2014-07-17T12:11:02+00:00

The right lens to look at this all through is classifying behaviors as alpha/beta or red pill/blue pill. Someone might be able to identify as RP or BP based on the majority of their actions and reactions, but assuming each RP or each BP (or each PP for that matter) fits a certain mold isn't what we're going for here. So your end statement, that alpha is some masculine ideal, is almost correct. It's an idea.

masterrod · 2014-07-22T02:28:33+00:00

binary is easy.. Most basic human thoughts are If then statements/situations.. There is no reason that relationship position should be binary..

boscoist · 2014-07-22T17:23:18+00:00

People are more comfortable with discrete forms of measurement than continuous sliding scales. Discretes allow for snap judgments while continuous require much more thought

[deleted] · 2014-07-16T23:18:25+00:00

Because TRP likes to think of itself as distinct from the rest of the world. Like special little snowflakes!

Edit: I totally expect this to be downvoted

[deleted] · 2014-07-17T05:41:52+00:00

It's not correctly alpha/beta, It's alpha beta and omega. In trp betas are wrongfully downgraded to omega, this has not usually been the case in the manosphere. Betas are everyday guys, not particularly dominant, not particularly submissive. They are able to be attractive to women and to step into the breach to lead. They prefer LTRS and used to be referred to as "good husband material". The problem is that they overdo the beta comfort aspects of LTR and let the alpha traits they exhibited to attract a woman lapse and cease to be attractive to their SO. Omegas are the creepy, Fat, nerd, 23 year old virgin loser type, often mistakenly called "beta".

Vox Day sought to correct this with his sociosexual hierarchy that was pretty popular in the manosphere:

http://alphagameplan.blogspot.com/2011/03/socio-sexual-hierarchy.html?m=1

Title	Why is everything a binary?
Author	silverwyrm
Upvotes	8
Comments	38
Date	July 16, 2014 11:05 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/2awj9a/why_is_everything_a_binary/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/why-is-everything-a-binary.285296 https://theredarchive.com/post/285296

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