Justin Sweet, King Kull
Observations from what turns out to be an unusual number of Alpha friends. An earlier post on Gammas noted how the SSH connected characters that seemed superficially different at the time. It’s the same with Alphas. During my pre-family phase, I always had a couple of extremely close friends and an extended circle of acquaintances of varying size. I tend to refer to both as my “best friend” because the bond strength was different but equal enough that it’s hard to distinguish. And the gulf compared with anyone else huge. At the time it was [kids or guys I’m drawn to] + knowledge of the individual. In hindsight, applying the SSH shows patterns I wasn’t aware of. One of which is always having a close Alpha friend. The scenarios that came with that are probably a big part of my own. status awareness.
It can help to visualize hierarchical relations. There can be big personality differences between men of the same profile. But they all have certain base traits in common.
Applying the SSH in hindsight is a great way to see how individual personality and profile substructure relate. Looking back from K-adulthood, five Alphas stand out. Two are grade school memories, so personality assessment is limited to childhood. No idea where they are now. But even so, all of them are superficially very different. Some similar qualities in the [X reminds me of Y there] sort of way. But those were chalked up to [character traits that attract me/are attracted to me]. The type of guy I’ve historically been friends with. The SSH shows those common traits were aspects of the Alpha profile. And realizing that brings more things in common to light.
Elihu Vedder, Memory, 1870, oil on mahogany panel, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The problem with hindsight is that it’s limited to what did happen. I only know what I thought/felt at the time. Friendship was organic and refreshingly unconscious. Once in a while that guarded ORR process would hit someone I clicked naturally with.1 The sudden unusual shift to organic socialization could be very powerful. If the other person clicked with me, extremely intense friendship bonds could form. So I got to know them really well, but there was no analytic process in developing the friendship. In general, I’m very capable and self-aware behind my uninstinctive reserve. Alphas are competent and ambitious. You only have talk to me for a few minutes to realize I present no social threat to anyone. And a congenial peer or near peer is as refreshingly appealing for them as dropping filters is for me.
Ahmed Mater, Magnetism IV, 2012, Diasec Mounted Fine Art Latex Jet Print
Best Friend B was a pressure release for Alpha social presence. All my Alpha friendships were intensely close. The Alpha enjoying operating on a higher level. But the social needs of a young Alpha are insatiable and broad. And their social persona can be tedious because it’s pitched at the idiot fringe group level. It’s pointless to whine - part of being a friend is accepting your friends. And an Alpha is never going to change. So a more demure alternative was needed when [retarded mass event A] simply wasn’t happening.
The first observation. Alpha charisma is magnetically powerful. In youth contexts it’s mass popularity or fascination. In adult ones it’s presence. Socially or vocationally. And it’s independent of other skills and aptitudes. Like a non-romantic crush. Even a self-contained outlier finds it hard to resist.
From the outside, there is no apparent way to simulate or learn that. The childhood Alphas indicate that it’s there as early as 6. And it’s a big piece of ingraining leadership instincts. From the jump, the charisma draws everyone’s attention. Anything said is more likely to be heard. And people want the Alpha to like them, so they’re more compliant. If the Alpha has a strong attraction to you, that charisma is applied directly. You’re attractive to them because you can hang - keep up and not act like an infatuated retard or lickspittle - so they expect you to hang. It can be exhausting. It’s also totally unconscious.
The next observation is Alpha unself-consciousness. Because of the charismatic attraction and instinctive leadership, they tend to assume reality is just like that. Of course people follow. That’s what people do. “No” can be a little cognitive dissonance inducing. But it’s good for them. The effect is self-confidence to the point of self-certainty. It’s a symptom of the next observation. Alpha competence. They tend to be good at stuff from an early age. All five were above average to highly intelligent and plus athletes. They tend to be coordinated early and avoid most of the awkwardness of growing up. There’s a feedback loop where charisma, self-assurance, and competence continually reinforce each other until a social ceiling is hit.
Gil Kane and others, cover to Avengers 127, Sept, 1974
They’re not good at everything. But always good at something and usually many things. They never seem to be the terrible one at ridiculous stuff like mini putt. They don’t lead from the rear. And they gravitate to areas where their strengths shine. They don’t have to be the best, though as youths they often are. They need to be good enough so that their instincts and charisma can come into play. They’re also extremely competitive in a reflex way. The assumption is things will work as they want, so they’ll escalate against resistance to whatever degree is needed. Self-assurance and determination as courage. Good Alphas can be supportive, empowering, gracious, and whatever else is needed to keep all the parts humming along. But that changes quickly when they’re challenged.
George Wesley Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo, 1924, oil on canvas, Whitney Museum of American Art
Personal anecdote. The only time I’ve ever been clean KO’d in boxing or a martial art was sparring my apex Alpha best friend. Instantaneous reactions and retarded durability make that hard to do in-class. KO’d as in - [oh #@&$] → [silent red & black explosion] → [looking up from my back at a circle of concerned faces] with no apparent time elapsed. A friendly NUC debut of my new post-college physicality had escalated until we both had to know. And we found out.
But there’s also an Alpha bigness of spirit. Not a hint of that pinched Gamma need to preen. Afterwards he was blathering about what an awesome scrap that was, and how hard I pushed him, and the change since high school. While I just felt a little nauseous for the rest of the evening and my face hurt. Order was demonstrated. Nothing else need be said because it was always as obvious as sunrise and something just got into John. His take away was an increased assessment of my tenacity and power. Which mattered to him when socializing on the early 90s NUC bar scene2.
Photoplay vol. 59, #2, February, 1961
The quality of the Alpha in adulthood is the quality of the leadership instinct. That’s the last observation. Leadership instinct. The Alpha intuitively takes charge. Confidence, charisma, and competence assure it. But not all all leaders are Alphas, which is a big problem. And not all Alphas have great judgment. They can make terrible choices or lead you off a cliff. The same self-certainty that puts them there makes it hard to course correct sometimes. Good Alphas do - they’re agile. An Alpha whose judgment matches their charisma, confidence, and competence will go as far as class and status allow him. But bad ones can be retardedly stubborn. Even self-destructive. Treating contextually inevitable failure or obvious flaws in the master plan as a personal challenge.
From the outlier perspective, good Alphas are awesome. There is a personal friendship bias towards Alpha traits, but everyone wants to get close to them. It’s not something that skews understanding of their impact. They make things happen. There’s boundless energy. That self-crippling pessimism that’s so prevalent isn’t there. Every organization or group runs better with one. And socially, they’re in and around the most interesting places and people. It can be irritating to get dragged somewhere. But they will then spend the evening introducing you and talking you up.
Dan Bates, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, 2004, bronze, Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
The contact status is immense. “Oh, that’s X’s buddy. He’s cool.” People really are that unreflective. But access to different circles with higher status friends raises personal status. The Alpha chaperone stops being necessary and you become a higher value friend in return. Girls/women flock to Alphas like the swallows of Capistrano. Obviously NAWALT. But enough are that it was an Irreplaceable opportunity for me to meet and ORR. Keep your mouth shut and assess. I literally can’t imagine what having Alpha social instincts must be like. But you can learn Alpha carriage. And the dark brother isn’t a bad role. Being with pretty girls is something else that snowballs upward. All together, these associations put me in a different league from my other friends. Just by luck of association. An observant nature was inclined to recognize and take advantage of opportunity. But it’s not worth much without access.
Odysseus kills Penelope's suitors in the palace of Ithaka.
The lesson is they’re going to do what they’re going to do and people are going to want to go along. They rise in big organizations. Sometimes absurdly fast when their vision fits the culture. Status stops being an obstacle once you let them in the door. Literally [doorman to international corporate through internal promotions only] in one case. The classic self-made men fit here. It’s different now where clown tickets are needed for admission to the very top. But there are plenty of sub-cloud person elites that still fit the mold. Socially, their choices tend to prevail. There’s no sense arguing in front of a group. Sometimes you can talk them out of a terrible idea privately. But if you can’t, the only other option is Best Friend B.
Tani Bunchō, Two Chinese Scholars, before 1800, ink and color on silk, Minneapolis Museum of Art
Observe, read, and react. How a socially unintuitive outlier learned to socialize effectively.
Non-urban continuum of normal American life in the late 70s-early 90s in rural, small town, small city, and outer exurb life.