Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken. -Tyler Durdin, Fight Club

One of the things that's great about being a man is that you try to apply reason to your problems. But you know that already, because you're reading this right now, most likely because you realize you have a problem and you're seeking help. Q.E.D.

That manly reason is your greatest asset. Women will perceive a problem and immediately go down an emotional rabbit hole, basking in the feelz their problem generates. They'll hit Facebook right away and let the world know, so they can reap the validation and sympathy - more feelz. But not you, brave reader. You STFU about it and start working the problem, right?

You see, mankind is the only rational animal on our planet. (Maybe some whales or dolphins or some shit are pretty smart, but as far as I know they haven't built cities, brewed beer, or invented any damn thing, really. So fuck them. But I digress.) The problem with being the rational animal is that we tend to be the rational-izing animal as well. Our tendency to rationalize is at the core of things like the self-serving bias and confirmation bias. So you see, while the male go-to response of reason is good, if we don't use it right, it can be very bad.

For example, when we have new guys in askMRP who come in, clipboard in hand, checking boxes on the "How to be Alpha" checklist, utterly convinced they've changed their life in 15 days. We'll shit on them, call them Redpill Rambo, send them out with their tails between their legs. All good, it's how we do.

Here's where it can all go wrong: Some guys will introspect and use reason to decode the message, to integrate the feedback, and they will grow. But other guys will let their ego step in and they will rationalize instead. "Fuck those guys! They don't know me, I got it tough." This is what women do: hamster. It's DEERing to yourself. It's letting your asset become a liability. Stop it, stop it now for your own sake.

A more subtle form of rationalization comes not from external criticism, but from fair-weather self-delusion. I see guys think they've changed their thoughts and attitudes but fall to pieces when the wife prods their frame even a little. This is because instead of doing the new thoughts (i.e. actually having new thoughts) they tried to understand and think about having new thoughts. They understand the need to think differently, they understand what the new thoughts need to look like, but they are not actually having those thoughts. They get lost in thinking about thinking about thinking differently. Hear this now: knowing what you need to do and actually doing it are not the same. And here again is where rationalizing has gotten in the way of reason: you're so busy cognitively knowing the answer that you're not living the answer. Your mind tells you that since you know the answer you must be 'doing RP.' No.

One thing to note here is that rationalization often comes from the need to protect self-esteem, aka letting your ego get in the way. Your ego will tell you shit like, "I don't need to change. This isn't my fault. She's the one who is in the wrong!" It's how guys end up here claiming they swallowed the pill and are on Dread Level 42 but it's not working. Fuck all that noise. OYS.

Red pill asks you to enact real change. This is hard. This takes time to internalize. This is why we tell you to fake it until you make it. This is why we have so many readings. This is why we tell you to lift. Until this all clicks, give up this notion that you're doing it or that you're there. Trust me, you'll know when it's real.

TL;DR: STFU, read, lift. Be the ball, Danny. See your future, be your future... make... make... make it! Me? I'm a vege.

(Edit: correct the autocorrect)