Summary: The broader implications of the basic concept of 'homeostasis'.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the concept of homeostasis in its more traditional sense, and in fact, in most physical processes you’ll generally notice its effects:

When you eat more salt in your diet, the next day you’ll see your weight temporarily go up, as a result of the consequent water retention. When you train for endurance, you’ll come to find that you can exert your muscles for longer without feeling the same amount of strain. When you spend a long time in a pool, your fingers become wrinkly so as to better grip wet objects. When you train for strength, weights that perhaps a few months ago you would have struggled with, feel like toys. It’s the whole idea behind progressive overload; You adapt to suit your environment.

But while the physical effects of this process are generally noticed, the psychological ones require a little more self-reflection to see. If you constantly spend time with successful people, your interests, hobbies and opinions will gradually shift towards their own. There’s a quote by Jim Rohn that goes 'You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.' It’s probably also why the way you act around your family at Christmas dinner is different to the way you act around your mates at a party. You adapt to suit your environment. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Except when there is something wrong with it.

While there are many positive ramifications of adapting to suit your environment, there are just as many negative ones too. A young girl spending hours reading the elaborate ideas crafted by tumblr feminazis will internalise that culture. She’ll adapt to the environment - and grow up to become a strong, independent woman who can’t understand why her degree and slutty past can’t make her happy. Similarly, a young boy who spends his life slowly marinating in porn, video games and junk food will grow up to become the physical manifestation of that culture - he will be overweight/skinnyfat, be unattractive, have poor hygiene, have poor social skills, have a lack of confidence, have bad posture, have horrible eye-contact, and the list goes on. You adapt to suit your environment.

But what does this mean for us?

It means being vigilant of the environment around you, and thinking about how it affects you. It’s not without reason that /u/NeoReactionSafe goes on and on about blue-pill conditioning. It’s not without reason that Law 10 specifically says to avoid the unhappy and the unlucky. It’s not without reason that reading all the posts here about AWALT, hypergamy, and branch-swinging women (all real-life phenomena) help you better navigate the sexual market-place. It’s why I fully support /u/redpillschool’s hard pushes to ensure posting rules and regulations. The lower the 'average' post’s quality, the more the sub will disadvantage readers in the times to come.

Now, I’m not saying the moment you think someone might be having a negative impact on your life you need to never speak to them again. As with all things, exercise good judgement. But always be vigilant, and remember that while many of the impacts of your environment on you are negligible in the short-term, there are also many of them that can make or break you in the long-term.

Lessons Learned:

  • Even by virtue of the fact that this sub exists, the adaptation-response to mainstream ideas is clearly becoming a problem. Too much exposure to blue pill media is turning today’s boys into the blue shadows of the men of the past.

  • The changes brought about by adaptation are often unnoticed, but always present.

  • The kinds, and quality, of the people you choose to spend time around will determine what values will come to influence your own.

Tldr; You adapt to suit your environment. So if you really want to change yourself, try changing your environment.