What is plate theory?

quickquestionfor · 2014-02-11T23:16:51+00:00

As pulled from TRP sidebar's glossary of terms (Or Keep Spinning Plates) -- Gaming multiple women simultaneously to boost ones sexual market value. Read on Plate theory here: http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/plate-theory-2/"

As for the objectification claim I believe it originated from the spinning plates trick where plates are placed on a stick of some sort and spun. There is a limit to the amount of plates that can be spun and all require some minimum level of attention depending on size, amount of wobble wanted, and other factors. So as an analogy it is quite suitable. Analogies and simple terms are much more suited for common phrases and topics due to their shorter length and consolidation. So any objectification charge is misguided or overzealous at the least. Additionally PC language is actively avoided in TRP so that is basically low-hanging fruit. Is it really needed and if you truly believe so then perhaps a new PC language general thread might be best suited to that discussion.

fiat_lux_ · 2014-02-11T22:17:25+00:00

Why do hackers refer to each other as "hats" (white hats, black hats)? Why fables (humans as animals to teach lessons)?

Understandably, there's potential for dehumanization, but at some point we're just complaining about nothing.

Spinning plates is an analogy for multitasking that even laymen understand. The more plates you spin, the more difficult your life will be. As you practice, you get better at balancing them.

Plates are, at the most general level, just tasks. Dates are tasks. Sometimes the people themselves are the plates.

Men can be plates too when seen from the woman's perspective.

Copies and pasted from my other post, two of the reasons it makes sense are:

Parallel dating vs serial dating. It's the faster and more efficient way to go before settling down and committing to the right partner.
Psychological benefits of not having all eggs in one basket. Less pressure to pedestalize that single basket.

[deleted] · 2014-02-12T02:10:14+00:00

Why is this even called a "theory" instead of just a metaphor? I don't see how there is any theory to dating multiple people at the same time. You either are or you aren't.

sh1v · 2014-02-11T23:28:22+00:00

Is it simply dating around? If so, why not just call it dating around, and why is it a theory

It's a theory because it's a new, and still relatively untested, way of looking at LTRs. Dating around has the implicit goal of eventually finding the "right one" and settling down. For plate theory, the dating around is itself the endgame. The difference sounds subtle but manifests in significant ways. What you'd look for in a plate would be entirely different from what you'd look for in a potential marriage candidate. The way you'd steer these relationships towards your desired end, entirely different.

objectification

If a woman says of a man, 'he is my rock', is that objectification? How about 'he's a hunk' -- a hunk of what? Solid metal? Obsidian?

I think you're reading too much into the word. I also think objectification is a loaded phrase, and rubbish. Any time a woman's feelings aren't being pedestalized someone will cry 'objectification!' When I actually physically reduce a woman to the state of an object, by enslaving her or some such, then call it objectification. Right now the concept is just being used as a handy way to shame or take offense at a man who happens to be doing something, anything, that the shamer in question disagrees with.

This is why feminist concepts are difficult to take seriously.

nicethingyoucanthave · 2014-02-11T22:17:23+00:00

My understanding is that it's based on the idea that there's always some work involved in a heterosexual relationship. We're not complaining, "whaa! we have to work!" Instead, we're noting that serializing that effort is a recipe for frustration.

That is, you put in a few months of work on one relationship, and it probably doesn't work. Well, that sucks. Try again. Fail. That sucks. Wash, rinse, repeat.

This, of course, is life. The vast majority of people with whom you interact will not be attracted to you, and of that few who are, you will be incompatible with most.

It therefore makes sense to conduct your efforts in parallel, and an analogy is made to "spinning plates" in parallel. When one of the plates falls, you don't feel quite as bad.

calling sexual partners "plates" is a very common piece of red pill lingo. Why is that?

Men commonly do this thing called systematizing. It's just how most male brains work. Please don't presume that your way of thinking is the only possible morally acceptable way.

Can men be plates?

Most men are plates, or something like it. We often call them orbiters. The difference is, I have to work to keep a girl around. Women don't have to work to keep orbiters. The men do it all on their own.

lbspredh · 2014-02-14T11:40:26+00:00

both a numbers game and a mind game, it's basic human nature to find popular people more attractvie, and you have more chance of success if you dont put all your eggs in one basket

It of course also smacks of objectification

no it doesnt, it's not calling women plates it's calling the dating game a plate spinning circus performance that is as delicate as it sounds in order to maximise opportunity

men could be plates if that's what you're into

CFRProflcopter · 2014-02-11T22:25:42+00:00

I think dating around a little disingenuous. Dating involves, or at least signals, investment on the part of both parties. You date for the future, even if its casual or with other people. If everyone's being honest, a future, no matter how unlikely is being considered. Spinning plates is fucking for fucks sake. It has not point and is done with no consideration of where the other person will be in the future. You put in as little investment in the other person as possible. Or that's the idea.

IIHotelYorba · 2014-02-12T04:55:03+00:00

It's supposed to be an evocative image, to give people an idea about how their actions should look. You keep several plates spinning by giving them attention before they really start to slow down. I assume anyone who was part of a description involving spinning plates could be a plate.

The best explanation I've heard is that it teaches you to value yourself and not lose perspective. To not inflate the value of one person to the point of losing touch with reality. If it satisfies your dogged obsession with pickup advice not "being special," I suppose this part fits being called dating around. The difference is that you are encouraged to hold on to several steady FBs at the same time.

This works hand in glove with "dread game" or/and an "abundance mindset." Whether you use it for that or not, it does boost your SMV and many top puas hold it as the key to bedrooms not going dead. In fact, IIRC Tyler from RSD has said it spookily seems like women, regardless of their attraction to their SO will lose interest in actually having sex with them unless they feel they are at risk of losing them to other women on some level. It's supposed to apply even if it has solely to do with the woman's insecurity and nothing to with the man's actual actions.

Also, my feelings about objectification are changing. Right now it seems like another overblown philosophical curio, like Nietche talking about transitioning to being the lion, or Baudrillard taking about the hyper-real. There may be some limited semantic use for it, but it seems like more fanciful Feminism/Marxism crossover with limited applicability to real life outside of the tide of popular opinion.

I'm starting to think there are just levels of consideration which vary depending on how appropriate they'd be. Otherwise you get into the very real problem of codependency.

Theige · 2014-02-11T22:06:01+00:00

As a man, I see absolutely nothing, nothing wrong with objectification.

A girl recently told me she wanted to come buy me drinks and dinner and come to my neighborhood and take me home, after I said I didn't want to go out or spend any money because I had just started a new job, was low on savings, and had to work the next day.

And it was the best thing ever.

For me plate theory is having a bunch of different girls you're sleeping with at the same time. This way none of them mean that much to you, and it's much easier to get more girls because they don't actually mean anything to you.

I don't know why girls work this way. It was frustrating growing up, till I learned it the hard way.

Title	What is plate theory?
Author	myfriendscantknow
Upvotes	2
Comments	84
Date	February 11, 2014 9:57 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1xnf6x/what_is_plate_theory/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/what-is-plate-theory.286224 https://theredarchive.com/post/286224

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