Who are the unspecified “people who have any real knowledge of these matters”? PUAs, or actual scientists? I acknowledge that the former are very talented and effective at finding willing participants to hold still while they put their penises into them, but I don’t find that particularly relevant to grown-ups seeking relationships.
This kind of prejudice is unwelcome (not to mention ignorant). I don’t believe lesswrong is the place to insult groups of people based on dubious caricatures and wouldn’t appreciate it even if were directed at, say, evangelical Christians.
I have no problem with teaching and learning about status signalling, projecting confidence, good social skills, etc. I’m happy to stop referring to PUA as if it were about convincing people to have sex with you as soon as they take the part that means “convincing people to have sex with you” out of the name.
The name is unfortunate. In fact, a lot of the people who are labelled “PUA” do disavow that acronym. There is a reason that Vladimir used a real language description “people who have any real knowledge of these matters” rather than the label that you moved to even though the categories referenced overlap dramatically.
I try to avoid that jargon as much as possible—it’s inaccurate and an easy target for abuse. Avoiding it requires more typing and somewhat more awkward phrasing. “Social dynamics” is often a useful phrase. I think I would accept nearly any alternative, even something arbitrary.
This kind of prejudice is unwelcome (not to mention ignorant). I don’t believe lesswrong is the place to insult groups of people based on dubious caricatures and wouldn’t appreciate it even if were directed at, say, evangelical Christians.
I have no problem with teaching and learning about status signalling, projecting confidence, good social skills, etc. I’m happy to stop referring to PUA as if it were about convincing people to have sex with you as soon as they take the part that means “convincing people to have sex with you” out of the name.
The name is unfortunate. In fact, a lot of the people who are labelled “PUA” do disavow that acronym. There is a reason that Vladimir used a real language description “people who have any real knowledge of these matters” rather than the label that you moved to even though the categories referenced overlap dramatically.
I try to avoid that jargon as much as possible—it’s inaccurate and an easy target for abuse. Avoiding it requires more typing and somewhat more awkward phrasing. “Social dynamics” is often a useful phrase. I think I would accept nearly any alternative, even something arbitrary.
I’d support that. Social skills are a tool; tools don’t have moral value themselves so much as the purposes they’re wielded for do.