Reciprocal Awareness

Organic socialization only getting more important. A case study study in what not to do

Edward Hopper, Soir Bleu, 1914, oil on canvas, Whitney Museum of American Art

Socialization posts can be amusing, but they aren’t mainly for comedic purposes. The point is to share basic practical interaction patterns at a time when they’re likely to be needed. The logic isn’t that complex. The House of Lies inverted normal behavior like everything else. But as it enters a collapse state and its coercive power wanes, what follows is uncertain. I’ve seen no reason to stop assuming whatever will pass for acceptable life is going to require more personal responsibility.

Hardly a stretch. It’s already happening. And personal responsibility includes handling organic socialization. Being expelled from an online microculture may be a momentary drag. It’s more serious when physical comfort or safety go with it.

George Barbier, Fashion Pochoir: La Gourmandise, 1924, hand-applied Pochoir Colored Lithograph

Fortunately, basic social behavior is not that complex. A lot of the patterning is consistent. Balance the self and situational awareness and the rest follows. The pairing of these two actually needs a name because they’re so central to navigating situations like a real-time feedback loop. Call them reciprocal awareness. Self and situational awareness working together. Psychology does do a good job of twisting this into knots though. The modern era encourages it too. Internet anonymity comes with internet irrelevance.

There’s some continuity between online and IRL socialization. A lot of the same patterns can still come through. Group dynamics. Some things can be practiced. A big one is appropriate social distance. Thickening skin and emotional self-control. Observing others. Actually considering if the next utterance is retarded. The point is [cluster-B d-bag] or [member of a loose social group] has a lot of choice in it.

One thing easy enough for anyone to do with a big impact is just paying attention. It’s right there in reciprocal awareness.¹ Or any other kind of awareness.

It may be easier in some ways online. There’s less information to track and postings can be read at leisure. Exits are easier for any reason. The thing is though, stable types have a hard time imagining how unhinged innocuous-looking NPCs can be. Most people have some degree of instinctive reciprocal awareness. Who and where they are. It’s so basic, it’s hard to imagine not having it. Like being blind. Intellectually it’s easy enough. I just wrote it out. But actually imagining what it would be like. Unless the right trainwreck pops up as a sort of living primer/village idiot.

John of Calcar, frontispiece to Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica (Of the Structure of the Human Body), woodcut, Johann Oporinus, Basel, 1555

Some might question the value of performing this kind of dolt’s anatomy. There’s a sameness to them that offers diminishing returns. It’s pretty much a personal anecdote, except current events, not oral history. Some readers were there. But they’re both accessible or relatable examples of something. Meaning the same self-indulgence rules apply. Personal anecdotes have to have a point - an illustration, a hook, an allegory, whatever - beyond [see how cool or special I am]. So dolt’s anatomies have to have a point beyond cruelty as amusement.²

In this case, it goes beyond even the usual value of socialization in a collapse phase. How fundamental dishonesty destroys reciprocal awareness. To what is functionally a sub-moron level. With a mirror lesson for anyone in a social group graced with such a turd. Observe how dishonest, toxic, and psycho-socially abrasive this creep is. Then imagine any real social context for them.

Self-Control

The self-control post noted runaway emotion is a problem regardless of how well framed. We can tell the creep was disordered by the level of deception involved in making an internet comment. This is pointed out for a reason. The lunacy is only fully appreciable when cross-referenced against a stable person’s relationship to reality. Most of us have dropped a comment on social media or a website. Probably put some thought into it the first time. It’s human nature to want to present well and social anxiety carries over online. And then didn’t think about it. Because it’s an internet comment.

Most normal people are too unself-conscious online. Once used to it, they blather away like on phones or IRL. So imagine the mind that obsessively strategizes before depositing a brief, tepidly emasculate, text box. Unfortunately, maintaining a site means actually having to do stuff if I want any content. A post like this means reading through the whole performance to make sure I’m being fair. My initial hostile read was absolutely on point. Consider the necessary logic process.

1. Cultivate animus for a group of disconnected strangers.

• Low-status people spend too much time in their heads unproductively. I think it’s because timidity & ineffectiveness → not actually doing much.

• Higher status people are preoccupied with what they’re really doing. That means interacting with and solving things that really happen and change over time. Can’t develop monomania when there’s always something new.

• Inefficacy comes with the same amount of time. Just disconnected from anything practical and free for endless spinning and cultivating fixations.

2. Repeatedly claiming to be unfamiliar with the site despite demonstrating clear familiarity

• An active claim shows investment, not misconception. Declarative intent to lie.

• Repeating the same disingenuous “what’s going on here? questions, calls attention to the disingenuity.

3. Consistent post editing. Everyone makes the occasional correction. But consider.

• Even a perfectionist isn’t editing almost all their comments. They’d copy, delete and repost clean. More perfect that way.

• Overly excitable types get fired up typing. cortisol and adrenaline that higher status men experience IRL.

• Only correcting when then compulsively smelling your own rereading your own posts. Reliving the drama and missing that perfect golden nugget…

The prevalence of edited posts speaks to this. Obsessive self-absorption and ham-handed image curation over natural interaction. Neither are part of the sincere conversationalist acting in good faith value pack.

4. Smarming up to the same site host you repeatedly slander as “Dear Leader” minutes later. So witty. So edge.

Q

• It’s cool when someone else is being spoken to bluntly. Maybe even get to point and laugh. Feel “in”. It goes both ways.

5m The whole pre-loaded cult accusation. This is a big obsession among low-status losers that’s especially revealing and typically inverted.

• Socially. When’s the last time you showed up somewhere for the first time - IRL or online - and immediately started flinging weirdly specific accusations at everyone there? Never? It’s not reality-facing behavior. It’s preconditioning and projection pre-triggered by projected hatreds and cloaked in lies. Everything about it is fake and anti-social. Tolerating such creatures destroys social contexts.

• Logically. Just think for a moment. What’s the big danger with cults? They trap people. That means trying to pull you in. Not drive you off while you cling white knuckled to the railing, shouting about never leaving. Especially not right on arrival. Exclusivity is the opposite of cultic. It’s exclusive. High status.

What is legitimately sad is that the idea of an organic group of people repelling the unfit isn’t even thinkable. The basic notion of pro-social bonds doesn’t register as a possibility. Deception and coercion are the only imaginable reasons people might be together. No matter how practically illogical.

Thomas de Keyser or Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy, The Osteology Lesson of Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertsz, 1619, oil on canvas, Amsterdam Historical Museum

It’s natural for a reality facing person to wonder what would motivate someone to dwell on a place they hate. The problem is that’s a why question. And the only person that can answer those is the person doing it. Otherwise it’s pointless speculating about something not worth the time. What matters is to observe the pattern. See why the skeevy Gamma liar is way more socially harmful than just being obnoxious. Why hard purging is necessary. Entropic forces apply to everything material. Anything not actively maintained erodes, dissolves, and collapses into gray goo. Including social groups. Paying attention really isn’t hard.

Since the point of this post is to illustrate, all names and avatars have been changed. Status can require a cruel hand for the sake of the group. This encounter cost me a couple of followers. What we call ancillary benefit in these parts, for reasons readers likely know. If not, you’ll see why soon.

Let’s meet the subject. The parody part isn’t a joke. Seven obvious Gamma tells in a four line post is impressive.

For brevity, just focus on the dishonesty. Not just the specific content. The whole package. And sarcasm is a form of humor based on saying opposite - lying - for comedic effect. As for the Entish references. The commenter who noted the absurdity of posturing as a native American intellectual on the blog of a native American intellectual is too perfect. Self-pwnage is stock-in-trade when lying this hard while trying to appear kingly.

Here are six easily spotted lies.

And sometimes people wonder why I find most social interaction transparently tiresome. Anyhow. It’s not exactly single data point pattern recognition when there’s that many tells. To be fair, I saw the above post later. The initial contact wasn’t quite at that level although readers should spot a few flags. but understand, there’s no place for this degree of dishonesty in any social group.

• “seems” + total misrepresentation is a perennial favorite

• Claima of perfection and accusations of psychological disorder are complete non sequiturs. The smarmy tone and edits on such garbage are conclusive.

For some, coming in hot is upsetting. We all have our own thresholds. I found the Low Status Weirdo’s descent into blasphemous perversion a wee bit more troubling. More seriously, any worthwhile social space on the internet will attract the unfit. And they will degrade what makes it worthwhile. The less perspicacious prefer to politely engage for a bit. There’s nothing wrong with that. The wall o’ texts are informative in their own way. But I know what it is, and my antipathy for them comes from knowing, what they do to a place.

Tl, dr. Status social spaces require maintenance. If this is a bridge too far, The Frozen Gene thanks you for your service. And unsubscribing maintains the quality group we’re fortunate to have here.

The other is cowardice. The Gamma is at heart, a coward. He would wet himself before an exchange like this IRL. Once the cortisol fades, the fugazi routine seems ill-advised. And guess what our warped little perv goes and does.

Just the thread with this exchange though. Smell its fear. Seriously though, it’s the follow-up behavior that makes things worse. At this point, lord knows how many deceivers, Gammas, and assorted losers I’ve dusted on the internet. One more is quickly forgotten. Unless there’s a reason not to. The blasts of perversion, the compulsive editing, and the pussing out all add to a rancid package. The lesson there would be to be mindful that appearances are deceiving, even after Gamma tells.

Prior to the centralized beast system pro-social sorting was the norm. I just reviewed Vox Day’s paradigm-breaking The Frozen Gene, a book that explains the terminal effects of negative mutational load on organisms.

Storytime's End

From a realism perspective, applying TENS to the social sciences is nonsense squared. Like “evolutionary psychology”. But scientific analogies can make good metaphors for other processes. And terminal effects of negative mutational load fits social group collapse to a tee. It’s basically what the convergence process does.

Joan Seed, Sludge Land, Mixed Media Collage

Any system has a finite capacity to absorb negative mutation. And the initial impact can be immediate. Like any good metaphor, the insight is deeper than surface tier. Negative mutations fall on a continuum from strong to weak. So do social toxins. The mumbling blackpiller who doesn’t say much has a limited impact. A raving loon or perverse subverter can do a lot worse. Any socially pleasant environment applies selection pressure on all of it. The alternative is lose what’s good.

Note how the House of Lies pathologizes the pro-social forces that create higher-status environment. Objective sorting processes all become “hazing” or cultic ritual when organic social fitness is inconceivable. But status is as status does. The low status have it backwards because they can’t exit their own heads. Not “you think you’re…”. It’s “we are…”. It’s where the old term “quality” came from.

Jacques Callot, L’Envie (Envy), From Les Péchées Capitaux (The Deadly Sins), 1620, etching and engraving, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Who people will like or respond to is largely pre-set. It’s basic SSH and not controversial unless a situational moron. It’s interesting how this still triggers irrelevant passing randos. More pathetic the more time passes. But if basic nature is what it is, social impact can be maximized. Better social circles are still accessible. Just not the role you’ll play in them. Which is a major problem for the low status. Gamma males in particular. Where the need to be king slams into social fear and laziness. Internet circles are larger and less personal, but the patterns hold. Only it’s easier to fit in. There’s no physical dimensions.

SG in particular is a site run by Vox Day that focuses on topics related to his SSH. The loose community around it is made of people interested in the theme. Commentary is wide-ranging, but it’s not hard to see the value of the site. The SSH is a social theory, and social behavior has a lot of venues and quirks. Open discussion offers examples, sparks ideas, exposes problems, and all the other things a theorist wants. The community gets a place to congregate around generally good quality discussions around a common interest. One that happens to be important as well. Internet organic community 101.

The thing about quality or status or whatever is that it’s in the eyes of others. By the fruits. Accomplishments. From the formative deeds that create community to enriching the social experience. And anything in between. It should also be obvious that any group, even a loose internet comment section, has norms. A social ethos. Acceptable behaviors. Your house, your rules is hardly a tricky logic puzzle. But one of the biggest practical dividers between high and low status is what happens when those norms and rules are broken.

Gamma eruptions are bizarre. An early post here made some sport of one, but the real value is illustrative. The delusion bubble creates a weird sort of NPC. It’s the whole secret king + IRL loser conflict. One compels while the other precludes. And it all roots in dishonesty. And an inability to process information so acute it reads like parody. Probably should have just been honest. And stayed off sites it hates.

1. It works. As someone who isn’t socially intuitive, I have to be objective about my interactions and consciously learn empirically. Trial and error sometimes.

2. Not that cruelty can’t be situationally amusing. It is. It’s that my responsibility to my readers rules it out as a viable topic.