Ask the Sigma: When is SSH Rank Determined

And what distinguishes Delta from Bravo

A few readers posed questions yesterday that required more in-depth answers than can be provided in a single comment, so I thought I’d address them here.

At what point in a man's life does his rank solidify? There are exceptions to nearly everything, but it seems unlikely you could accurately classify an infant or toddler--or even an older child. The pattern of behavior is established during childhood via environment and personal experience, is it not? So if a man is currently a bravo, for instance, when did his pattern of behavior manifest? Puberty? His first LTR? First team sport? First sex? When he left home? First job?

The solidification of a man’s behavioral pattern is a process that begins in the womb. Ask any mother about the personality of her unborn child, and it’s remarkable how much she can ascertain from the pre-natal baby’s behavior, much of which can be observed throughout the individual’s life. But if our behavioral tendencies are largely set by genetics and chance, they are shaped by our subsequent experiences, particularly in our most formative years, early childhood and adolescence.

However, experience tends to modify behavioral patterns for the worse. Few dogs are born with a tendency to cower before a human hand, but nearly any dog can be taught to do so by experiencing repeated physical abuse. A child whose genetics would permit him to be tall, or intelligent, might never realize his potential due to an inferior diet. Only binary thinkers wrestle with the fallacious dichotomy between Nature and Nurture; in SSH as in most things, both are relevant, but the rule is that Nature proposes and Nurture disposes. Or, if you are of a more spiritual mindset, Man breaks what God gives.

The social element of the SSH is usually established in early childhood. By the time a boy is ten years old, his personality is firmly established, his social tendencies are observable, and his potential is usually apparent to adults. I found it interesting when I heard from someone who had known me in elementary school, who informed me that he disliked me just as much back then as he does now. Apparently he saw me as “exactly the same arrogant little prick” that I was at the age of seven or eight, which is very informative given that his earlier observation necessarily preceded most of the factors that one would think were influential in this regard.

But being prepubescent, childhood observations can only establish the social half of the SSH, and even that only in part due to the way that sexual success, or lack thereof, tends to have a strong impact on one’s social status. The sexual component is established sometime between the ages of 13 and 18, although the full extent to which an man develops within his SSH status may not be observable for a few years after that. I was obviously and observably a Sigma by the age of 16, though it took another four years to reach the final pattern that has been in place for the last four decades.

One can often, though not always, see the Man’s potential in the Boy.

So, my answer to the reader’s question is that a man’s pattern of behavior and subsequent SSH rank is, on average, set in the womb, shaped by the age of 10, and cemented by the age of 18. Any development past that will be the result of conscious decisions that do not modify the underlying instinctual reactions that govern the larger part of our behavior.

What in your estimation is the epitome of what a delta can be?

A Delta can find himself in any situational role. I think a Delta can teach himself to function, over time, as an effective situational Bravo, but sooner or later he’s going to find himself naturally slipping back into his narcissistic tendency to focus solely on his own work at the expense of everyone else. I’ve witnessed this time and time again in multiple workplaces, on multiple projects.

I think the wise thing for a Delta who wishes to be the best he can be is to focus on refining his competence and his reliability rather than seeking to increase his responsibilities and thereby risking falling afoul of the Peter Principle. After all, doing great work and being respected and appreciated for it is what the Delta really wants, even if he can fulfill the Bravo role for a time, the lack of appreciation he’s going to get for policing others - indeed, the negative feedback he’ll inevitably receive from the resentful subjects of his policing - will wear more heavily on him than most.

On the sexual side, the Delta is only going to receive the sort of proactive attention from women that Bravos do from less attractive women. Bravos are high status men, they are in the 17 percent of men who are visible to women, but they tend to be reactive rather than proactive like the Alphas. So, in theory, proactive pursuit of the sort of third tier women who actively pursue Bravos might work for a sufficiently attractive Delta.

It can be quite comical to watch women chasing Bravos.

For those who are confused by what distinguishes High and Low Deltas from normal Deltas, the important thing to remember is that all of them share the same core behavioral tendencies and instincts. Women will tend to be more attracted to High Deltas, while a Low Delta will be more likely to have an occasional Gamma-style fit of rage, but their behaviors in any given scenario will tend to be very similar.

High, middle, or low, Deltas will Delta.