BortimusPrime
Ostrich
I think I can make a good argument that there are only three personalities not six, and gammas/deltas/sigmas aren't real. Leonard pointed out on the Owen thread that a lot of the socio-sexual archetypes just differentiated between successful and unsuccessful. I thought about it for a bit, and realized it's really more that the differentiation comes down to whether or not you like/respect the person you're categorizing.
Can you think of an unsuccessful alpha, or an alpha for whom you lack respect? Sounds like a gamma, right? But look at the personality overlaps between alpha and gamma: both are vindictive, both want to be in charge, both are narcissistic. Vox Day also contradicts himself by claiming Gammas are conflict avoidant but also will argue and debate relentlessly far past the point where they've been beaten. Maybe he just means that gammas will retreat from a physical confrontation they'd be certain to lose, but wouldn't a status-conscious Alpha also attempt to save face by avoiding a fight he'd certainly lose? Think about how you would react to a guy like Steve Jobs if he had been working in a genius bar instead of as CEO of Apple. Is there really a transformative nature to success or are we just applying the term Alpha to aggressive people we respect and Gamma to aggressive people we don't respect?
What is the difference between the beta and the delta? Both are sociable people no one seems to have a problem with, but who wants to be a delta? As much as Vox proclaims the delta is supposedly happiest, how many guys would enjoy being described as a nice stolid everyman who takes orders well and doesn't try to rise above his position? A good dog. Doesn't sound like deltas are much respected, and it's also telling that Vox insists the best all the archetypes he dislikes could ever hope for would be to achieve the status of Delta. I would also enjoy it if everyone who disagreed with me or called me a fat racist shut-in would go through an intense course of self-help and come out of it willing to do my laundry. In comparison the beta is a nice guy as well, but somehow he ends up with more pussy and gets to sit at the bottle service table with the alpha for his trouble.
Finally look at the sigma and the omega. The observable existence of omegas is indisputable thanks to the internet, but how many sigmas are there really outside of movie protagonists and internet forums? The closest real life example I can think of was a friend from high school who decided to put his Physics degree to work living as a train hobo. Some folks did view his rebellious lifestyle in a romantic light and would have called him a sigma, but I also had an alpha friend who wanted nothing to do with the guy. Vox claims that alphas hate sigmas because they don't respect the hierarchy and alphas just can't handle the iconoclastic rebellious spirit. In practice my alpha friend's primary objection to the sigma vagabond was that he smelled.
Looking at this, I think there's really just alpha/beta/omega personalities. We're only applying the extra categories as a way of insulting people we dislike or puffing ourselves up as the case may be. If you like your boss he's alpha, if you hate him he's gamma. When you're in a good mood your buddy's a beta wingman, if you're in a bad mood he's a delta sniffing around you for pussy scraps. When I write a dissertation on an obscure internet forum late at night I'm a maverick-thinking intellectual sigma, definitely not an insomniac omega with camwhores open on the other browser tabs.
Now if you'll excuse me someone just tipped Chantrelle 500 tokens to show feet.
Can you think of an unsuccessful alpha, or an alpha for whom you lack respect? Sounds like a gamma, right? But look at the personality overlaps between alpha and gamma: both are vindictive, both want to be in charge, both are narcissistic. Vox Day also contradicts himself by claiming Gammas are conflict avoidant but also will argue and debate relentlessly far past the point where they've been beaten. Maybe he just means that gammas will retreat from a physical confrontation they'd be certain to lose, but wouldn't a status-conscious Alpha also attempt to save face by avoiding a fight he'd certainly lose? Think about how you would react to a guy like Steve Jobs if he had been working in a genius bar instead of as CEO of Apple. Is there really a transformative nature to success or are we just applying the term Alpha to aggressive people we respect and Gamma to aggressive people we don't respect?
What is the difference between the beta and the delta? Both are sociable people no one seems to have a problem with, but who wants to be a delta? As much as Vox proclaims the delta is supposedly happiest, how many guys would enjoy being described as a nice stolid everyman who takes orders well and doesn't try to rise above his position? A good dog. Doesn't sound like deltas are much respected, and it's also telling that Vox insists the best all the archetypes he dislikes could ever hope for would be to achieve the status of Delta. I would also enjoy it if everyone who disagreed with me or called me a fat racist shut-in would go through an intense course of self-help and come out of it willing to do my laundry. In comparison the beta is a nice guy as well, but somehow he ends up with more pussy and gets to sit at the bottle service table with the alpha for his trouble.
Finally look at the sigma and the omega. The observable existence of omegas is indisputable thanks to the internet, but how many sigmas are there really outside of movie protagonists and internet forums? The closest real life example I can think of was a friend from high school who decided to put his Physics degree to work living as a train hobo. Some folks did view his rebellious lifestyle in a romantic light and would have called him a sigma, but I also had an alpha friend who wanted nothing to do with the guy. Vox claims that alphas hate sigmas because they don't respect the hierarchy and alphas just can't handle the iconoclastic rebellious spirit. In practice my alpha friend's primary objection to the sigma vagabond was that he smelled.
Looking at this, I think there's really just alpha/beta/omega personalities. We're only applying the extra categories as a way of insulting people we dislike or puffing ourselves up as the case may be. If you like your boss he's alpha, if you hate him he's gamma. When you're in a good mood your buddy's a beta wingman, if you're in a bad mood he's a delta sniffing around you for pussy scraps. When I write a dissertation on an obscure internet forum late at night I'm a maverick-thinking intellectual sigma, definitely not an insomniac omega with camwhores open on the other browser tabs.
Now if you'll excuse me someone just tipped Chantrelle 500 tokens to show feet.
