04-13-2011, 01:30 PM
Hey Leo man I feel like someone else needs to step in here and say something about this.
Even if you're right about girls playing games and Mark is wrong, it's probably a lot more empowering/effective to simply believe that most of the time they aren't. Like Mark's said before, if you expect certain behaviour from women then you will most likely find women behave like that. So if you feel like women play a lot of games, it's quite possible that's because you're attracting that behaviour into your own life. Mark likely doesn't see women as playing games 99% of the time because he doesn't expect women to behave like that, and therefore doesn't attract that behaviour. So you've got to see that a big part of this is simply having the belief that women don't play games.
On the other hand, I wouldn't simply encourage you to cultivate a belief that was grounded in willful misperception, so I'll also say that regardless of whether it's helpful or not to have that belief, I really do believe Mark when he says that 99% of the time women don't play games.
No offence, but it's pretty obvious here that you're looking for evidence to back up a belief you firmly hold, rather than being open to changing your mind. From how invested you seem to be in arguing this point it seems like you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about girls playing games, and so you're too invested in being right about this. I understand man. The last girl I hooked up with but didn't sleep with I got really 'fake alpha' about playing games. She flaked a couple of times by saying stuff had come up but was still saying how she really wanted to hang out. I called her out on her flaking and talked shit to my buddy about how I didn't take that behaviour from women. Eventually we ended up going on a date, and now I look back on it I think she really did want to see me, but was genuinely too busy to see me. The date went ok but there was much less tension than when we first met, and I think it was partly because I'd been OTT in 'showing her my boundaries. From her perspective she's just a really busy Philosophy major in her senior year, and she had to cancel a couple of times to finish some school work. I just look insecure by not being able to deal with this more calmly.
Maybe she was playing games, but I really doubt it. Like I said, in the end she did really want to meet up again, even after all the awkwardness of the flakes.
It was my issue, not hers. That's the message Mark's been trying to communicate.
I'd suggest before you hit you reply, you take minute a to think about why you're getting so insistent on it. I'm not trying to be a dick either, I think I need to take a little bit of time to think about this myself.
One other thing too; I know you regard Mark very highly, as do I, and we have a tendency to both congratulate and criticize him, but I think it's taking things a bit far to talk about subjects we really have little knowledge of, such as his affair with Erika. I know Mark's open about pretty much anything, but I don't think there's much to be gained from talking about something we don't understand. It's a little disrespectful too. Again, please don't be offended because I know I've certainly been guilty of similar projecting myself.
Hope you gain something from this man. Even if I don't agree with your POV I feel like I've actually learnt a lot watching you two argue this back and forth.
Even if you're right about girls playing games and Mark is wrong, it's probably a lot more empowering/effective to simply believe that most of the time they aren't. Like Mark's said before, if you expect certain behaviour from women then you will most likely find women behave like that. So if you feel like women play a lot of games, it's quite possible that's because you're attracting that behaviour into your own life. Mark likely doesn't see women as playing games 99% of the time because he doesn't expect women to behave like that, and therefore doesn't attract that behaviour. So you've got to see that a big part of this is simply having the belief that women don't play games.
On the other hand, I wouldn't simply encourage you to cultivate a belief that was grounded in willful misperception, so I'll also say that regardless of whether it's helpful or not to have that belief, I really do believe Mark when he says that 99% of the time women don't play games.
No offence, but it's pretty obvious here that you're looking for evidence to back up a belief you firmly hold, rather than being open to changing your mind. From how invested you seem to be in arguing this point it seems like you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about girls playing games, and so you're too invested in being right about this. I understand man. The last girl I hooked up with but didn't sleep with I got really 'fake alpha' about playing games. She flaked a couple of times by saying stuff had come up but was still saying how she really wanted to hang out. I called her out on her flaking and talked shit to my buddy about how I didn't take that behaviour from women. Eventually we ended up going on a date, and now I look back on it I think she really did want to see me, but was genuinely too busy to see me. The date went ok but there was much less tension than when we first met, and I think it was partly because I'd been OTT in 'showing her my boundaries. From her perspective she's just a really busy Philosophy major in her senior year, and she had to cancel a couple of times to finish some school work. I just look insecure by not being able to deal with this more calmly.
Maybe she was playing games, but I really doubt it. Like I said, in the end she did really want to meet up again, even after all the awkwardness of the flakes.
It was my issue, not hers. That's the message Mark's been trying to communicate.
I'd suggest before you hit you reply, you take minute a to think about why you're getting so insistent on it. I'm not trying to be a dick either, I think I need to take a little bit of time to think about this myself.
One other thing too; I know you regard Mark very highly, as do I, and we have a tendency to both congratulate and criticize him, but I think it's taking things a bit far to talk about subjects we really have little knowledge of, such as his affair with Erika. I know Mark's open about pretty much anything, but I don't think there's much to be gained from talking about something we don't understand. It's a little disrespectful too. Again, please don't be offended because I know I've certainly been guilty of similar projecting myself.
Hope you gain something from this man. Even if I don't agree with your POV I feel like I've actually learnt a lot watching you two argue this back and forth.

