Winning, redefined

LR sends a very helpful email which helps demonstrate that the Gamma delusion is considerably worse than the average non-Gamma grasps:

Being somewhat Gamma myself, I recognized something in the course of reading your posts that may be of interest to you.

Gammas think they are Alphas.

It sounds insane, but it's true. A man who knows his place and sticks to that place is usually left to his own devices. Pay tribute to those above, demand tribute from those below, and if a man should disagree with either his own or your relative position in the hierarchy, then conflict will ensue to determine who is correct. It's a simple enough formula and it occurs frequently, if not daily, during the course of a man's life. Men tend to be very diligent about ensuring the proper order of things, but once that order is established, there is an element of stability. The victor may be magnanimous to the defeated. In turn, the loser is expected to acclimate himself to his new position.

Gammas introduce instability to this hierarchy. They refuse to accept their station, nor do they propose to increase it through deeds and experience. Like women, they come to expect a certain station in life and feel wronged when it is not provided for them. A common Gamma thought would be "why should he be the leader and get all the glory for himself?"

How many individuals come to your blog saying they are this or that? Maybe they claim they are half Sigma and half Beta or some such. But this is usually a Gamma thing. Those with high SMV don't need the validation of blog comments to determine their position in life. They know it, even if they lack the words to describe it. Even many with low SMV come to understand this.

Nor is this a new phenomenon. In the course of following the advice you have relayed to us, I have read The Meditations. While extremely helpful, and I would be remiss if I did not thank you and the original poster for it, I craved more. So I read Xenophon's Anabasis, and I recommend this to other Gammas also. It is instructive in matters of hierarchy. In that, it was clear that some of the soldiers were Gammas, talking behind the backs of their betters, plotting to gain power in the manner of women. One complained about the weight of his shield, and so Xenophon took it upon himself to carry the man's shield, and yet that man was angry with Xenophon for having done so. Very Gamma. And if they had achieved power, the army would have been annihilated. Indeed, whenever they grew restless and did things on their own, those men came to ruin.

Gammas think they are Alphas, but Alphas [and Betas, and Deltas, and Sigmas - VD] know that to let a Gamma have power is to court disaster. Perhaps that knowledge wove its way into instinct over the centuries, such that the hostility is now innate. The species wishes to preserve itself and Gammas are in the way of that. They should be beaten down until they acknowledge that they are the lowest of the low, even beneath the Omegas, for at least the Omega has opted out of the regular course of human affairs. At least the Omega knows his station.

I now know, having read Anabasis, that I am unfit for leadership. This is critical knowledge for any Gamma who wishes to improve his lot. I have at last acclimated myself to my station in life. Once you know your place in the hierarchy, you may endeavor to change it, to rise as a man as you gain knowledge, experience and skill. But you have a solid basis for knowing yourself, and that is good. Gammas must be broken, their notion of Alphahood expunged, their character, such that they possess, destroyed utterly. The survival of our civilization, like that of the 10,000, depends on this.

I found this hard to credit. I mean, what planet does the Gamma have to be orbiting to understand that his lack of popularity and female companionship means that his socio-sexual status is low?

I asked LR and he attempted to explain:

Willful blindness comes to mind, but that doesn't get at the root of the thing. Underneath the surface, the Gamma thinks himself a king, so anything that is preventing him from ascending his throne must somehow be unjust. Since the Alpha, in the course of his normal affairs, constitutes an obstacle to the Gamma's advancement, the Alpha must somehow be cheating the Gamma. It never crosses a Gamma's mind that he is no king, no superior being, since this has already been established as fact. Nor does the Gamma consider how the Alpha obtained his status. Since Gammas are prone to cheating their fellows, it is easy for him to suspect his opponent of the same behavior. Doubtless, thinks the Gamma, the leadership position was earned through subterfuge and oppression since that is how he would obtain it. This is why, even in the midst of intentional debasement, Gammas still possess that self-righteous smugness. Contrary to all wisdom, he believes he just demonstrated his status as a superior Alpha. He has exposed your game and dealt you a terrible blow, or so he thinks.

That's interesting, especially in light of the one Gamma of whom we know who did become a leader position of sorts, Mr. Gamma Rabbit himself, John Scalzi. He literally built his SF career on subterfuge (2 million monthly pageviews!) and oppression (the mallet of loving correction).

The Graduating Gamma author had a few thoughts on this as well:

Not all Gammas, but some absolutely think they are Alphas of some type and will redefine Alpha to suit their needs. Since they are never wrong = Alpha.

The majority of Gammas aren't this delusional though simply due to the fact that they can't reconcile being an Alpha with their mysterious lack of female companionship. It's too much for even a Gamma to deny. There are limits to the delusion for most. The real crazies are the ones which retreat to insisting that all women are being conned by dude-bros etc., which means they are the True Alpha and would be if everyone played fair or some other such fiction.

This explains some of the more bizarre notions I've come across from various individuals since first introducing the socio-sexual hierarchy. And it also explains why some Gamma males have resisted even the most obvious and observable aspects of the hierarchy so bitterly and have literally attempted to redefine Gammatude as winning.

"Gamma Rabbit likes people as they are, fears no one no matter how they live their lives, and is comfortable with himself and his own personal values of kindness, tolerance and diversity. Sure, there are some who look down on him and his ways, but you know what? Gamma Rabbit knows that those people are kooky, silly, wacky racist sexist homophobic dipshits, and aside from looking forward to the day when they might pull their heads out and join the rest of the human race, lets them alone to do their own thing. Because Gamma Rabbit has other, better people and things to think about."

Fantastic! What a masterfully inventive reframe of the entire human socio-sexual hierarchy. All so one Gamma male can continue to convince himself that he's on top.