I cannot get over is the fear of being thought of as an asshole by those around me whenever I decide to put what I, myself, preach to others, into practice. For example, I am pretty much a homebody, just working, and, occasionally, going out. My life is spent working, while this is fine for some (or they pretend it is), it's really lacking in work-life balance, which I understand the US doesn't concern itself with.

So, I've turned to services like meetup and okcupid to meet people. The former, I have no clue how or whether to game the few girls I've met. On the latter, I have focused on getting women to "like" my profile and chat me up for the past few days, with the disappointing success rate of 3 likes out of 227 messages sent to women whose profiles I find intriguing.

Simultaneously, I started following a gentleman named Alan Roger Currie, whose book, entitled Mode One: Let The Women Know What You're REALLY Thinking stresses being brutally honest towards everyone you meet. Currie has a low tolerance for "inconsequential small talk". He refuses to acknowledge there is an art to small talk. In the long run, it puts the gentleman in the friend zone.

While I read this and intellectually understand this, I find it hard to be blunt with everyone. Most of my conversations are just platonic, and I'm not remembered, unless I encounter the person repeatedly -- the bartender who remembers me, pours me a glass of wine without being asked, etc. the punter who considers me an intellectual with informed views on economics (my degrees are in economics and applied math, after all).

Instead of this approach, Currie recommends being straightforward and going straight for what one wants. For example, if he's approached a woman he's attracted to, he will just tell her, seemingly, that "I want to make you scream in ecstasy right now" or similar.

Currie does admit that for the first 5 minutes they are offended after which they will be more comfortable with the gent. I can see them being offended. I have a problem plowing through the false front.

I'm not sure if it's recognising it as false vs true front. Whether she's shit-testing (to borrow RP parlance) or she's telling me to slag off and means it. I just give up on people too easily.

So, how do I increase my tolerance for people's false fronts? Both online and offline.