The 80/20 principle and why "there are no good men out there"

Learn to be at the top and reap the rewards

On Reddit, a guy wrote a post, "The Pareto Principle, women's tendency to complain that there are 'no good men out there,' and its application to YOUR confidence levels." It's pretty good, unlike many posts, and men should know that 20% of the guys likely slam 80% of the women. For most guys, it's possible (albeit through work) to hit that top 20%. The guy who has more options also gets more options through the winners effect (winning a little begets more winning).

In addition, most women want to look up to a guy—to find a guy they perceive to have higher perceived SMV than their own. That's why putting a chick on a pedestal is so defeating and gross. But mentally stable 8+ chicks perceive few guys as higher value and get excited by the guys who are. So yeah, she may have 99 options, but she's pining for the one guy who four other chicks pine too. That guy probably has enough options that he's a little "whatever" about her, which makes her like him even more, leading to a feedback loop... in which she thinks there are "no good guys" out there, because she disqualifies so many good guys.

Women perceive themselves as having very few options because they want to date and marry "up." As a woman nears the top of the beauty and mental sanity pool, that becomes hard. The average man is attracted to the average woman, while the average woman is not attracted to the average man (Mate by Tucker Max and Geoffrey Miller discusses this, and so does a hidden RP book called Dataclysm). By default, except for the very top guys, most women are not going to be attracted to a given guy. Guys must get used to rejection, early in the process (later in the process, it's more common for a guy to reject the chick).

This 80/20 rule is why every guy doing online dating needs to learn basic photography. If he learns basic photography, he sets himself far apart. I've looked through chicks's online dating matches with them. Chicks are right that probably 90% of their matches are hideous. Hot chicks have it worse. If you have not tried this, I recommend you do with your next plate or FWB or lover. Most chicks have online dating profiles, though they don't want to admit it.

Guys further don't understand that for women, perception is reality. For guys, reality is reality. Guys are more like engineers and chicks and more like marketers. To a woman, the desirability of a man is probably based less on his underlying traits than on how much other chicks like him.

To some women, I've been in the top one percent of guys; to others, I've been, if not in the bottom ten percent, then sexually invisible or repulsive. In a man's life, he has the opportunity to play many roles. If he works hard and learns about human sexuality, he may have the opportunity to get in that top 20 percent (given how little most guys try, this is easier than it may seem). It may be very hard for him, but overcoming difficulty is how we grow. School presents too few difficulties, and difficulties of the wrong sort, to let us grow.

To chicks, "good" men by definition already have girlfriends. If they don't have girlfriends, they must not be that good. I've been somewhat successful over time because I usually have a backup reserve of possible girlfriends; when one leaves, I immediately hit up any and all plausible replacements for dates. I'm going to try going on a date with one of Bike Girl's friends this weekend. It may not work. But she's been flirting with me for a while, so it might work. Having loose connections with potential future girlfriends is the main exception to the "don't have female 'friends'" rule.

I also made a move on a 22-year-old I know, loosely, through work, and I think she was attracted to me because she knew about my sex-positive disposition and interest in sex parties and non-monogamy (done well, this is powerful pre-selection). Probably one of the hottest women I've ever seen, although with a weird, introverted personality that works for me. Very introverted, but I failed: she has a girlfriend (?) and the night we met, we first met in a coffee shop, and I thought that was going to be it.

But it was "on," so I moved her to a bar to get drinks, though I had no good logistics in place. She had a (probably true) time constraint as well. I'll write a longer post about her, but for now know she says she's bisexual and mostly dates women. For a guy who wants to get laid, "bisexual" is one of the best things he can hear, because it codes as "likes sex a lot" and "easier to get in bed." We talked yesterday and she said she wants to ice us. Too bad, because I've got a horrible crush on her. It's been a really long time since I've had a real, honest-to-God crush. In retrospect I shouldn't have moved on her when I did, but I thought the follow-up would be a layup. Nope.

The only thing I can do now is withdraw attention and wait. I know intellectually that's the right move, but when you've got it bad for a crush that's hard to do. I have to fight my own instincts.

I think I'm writing right now out of the pain of not getting, and likely losing, her. It's been a long time since one hurt. It's probably good for me. Reminds me of what the typical guy is feeling. I'm trying to think of the last one I had it this bad for and can't think of any. I want to get her out of my mind, but I can't.