A good deal of philosophy originates with this question. Even the cavemen that didn't know what philosophy was probably pondered this.


Simply put, we are a paradox. We are slaves driven by our base instincts, yet at the same time are gifted with minds strong enough to be aware of our nature and the ability to control those impulses through sheer will.

As much as we like to believe that we're in control of our choices, the truth is we are nothing more than organic wads of programs with the primary drive of survival. Some of those programs are rather simple. You get hungry, you seek out food. A separate program assigns pleasure telling you that the fatty, salty, sweet food is of higher value than the soup made of boiled twigs.

Some of those behaviors are physical and hardcoded into our DNA. Others are psychological and are much more prone to manipulation, whether of your own or others' doing, allowing you to adapt. The old nature vs nurture debate.

And it is this quirk of evolution that is our greatest weakness and strength.


One of the hardest truths that RP will make you realize is that your entire life you have been programmed by others, usually for their benefit.

As children, whether it's your parents, your teachers, or the movies you watched, everything around you subtly shaped your psyche.

We were quickly told what's "good" and what is "bad". What makes one a moral person or an evil person. With the psychological reward of validation or punishment of shame to reinforce which is which. The BP programming would tell you the man we should all strive to be is selfless, kind, caring, sacrifes for others' benefit, and is considerate of others by deferring to their interests (feminine traits).

As much as some of us circle-jerk the Dark Triad traits, if you examine human history, have any kind, caring, selfless men who kept their head down made a mark on this world? Are any of them admired or remembered? Or was it the cruel, selfish, greedy, power-hungry men that led us to where we are today?

The irony is that the "bad" traits end up benefitting everyone the most.

Take Amazon for example, the company that's ruthlessly erasing retailers out of existence. Was it kindness and compassion that made them who they are? Or was it their cruelty and greed for dominance that allowed us to live in a technological renaissance?


The hardest and most worthwhile process of the TRP journey is reprogramming yourself. Or as Rollo puts it, shedding yourself of your "ego-investments"

"If you tell [Betas] the truth- they’ll say you hate women, or have dated the wrong types, or whatever else they can come up with to protect the mental model underwhich they operate. They’re invested in that mental model and they’re happy with it; to challenge it is to, almost literally, destory the world they live in. Not only will how they view the world be destroyed, but how they view themselves will be destroyed as well."

"When a person internalizes a mental schema (see belief) so thouroughly and has become conditioned to it for so long, it becomes an integral part of their personality. So to attack the belief is to, literally, attack the person."

This is what inevitably leads to the Anger Phase. After a life-time of BP conditioning, we become far too invested in the values that we are instructed to display. Countless men come here saying, "I'm afraid I'm becoming an asshole." The cognitive pain/fear/doubt they experience as a result of becoming accustomed to behaviors which they've been told their whole lives would make them "bad" men.


The way I see it, BP ego-investments are like a dinky little shed in your mind. It keeps the ego warm and shelters it from harm. But it is neither comfortable nor is it the embodiment of your true potential, and deep down most men know this. It's what urges them to seek out TRP in the first place.

And as many of you have discovered; you have to make a conscious and deliberate choice, perhaps the first choice you've ever truly made on your own, to tear that shed apart piece by piece and build a new one in it's place. To brave the emotional pain that comes with being exposed to the harsh truth while you work on building a new mental model. A new program and shelter of your own choosing that serves no other will than your own.


tl;dr Adapt and rewrite your own programming. Make the choices that suit your own desires rather than being a pawn in the plans of others'.