101 Comments

These pictures are awesome. Gamma rage volcano!

Expand full comment

They act like effeminate Eunuchs.

Expand full comment

I have a question not really related to this post.

Is there any blending between the categories? Like it is a spectrum more than hard and fast categories?

Situational for example; maybe a guy is a Bravo in his professional life but a Delta in his personal life.

Or transitional. Say a Gamma realizes his position and tries to improve his game. So he is not quite Bravo yet but no longer really Gamma. Or a Bravo going through Officer Training at West Point and gaining many Alpha qualities, but is one or the other depending on the crowd he is around.

Just something I've been wondering.

Expand full comment

West Point is a Bravo factory, and not a very good one either.

Because of coed integration, "leadership" trainings in general are fairly messed up for more than 20 years. They mix up Bravo skills with Delta skills. They're more about "followership" than how to Bravo. That has also confused people into thinking that the male hierarchies are more fluid than it is.

Expand full comment

Situational to an extent and transitional to an extent.

Example 1: a delta could become bitter, developing bad habits that make him show Omega or Gamma characteristics. The same Delta could also learn lieutenant skills that turn him into something that looks a lot more like a Beta/Bravo, particularly in the context of work, school, or club activities.

The same Delta will never be a natural Alpha nor Sigma because his brain just isn't wired like that.

Expand full comment

Ran across this at Stilton's Place today: His commentary on the death of a rageaholic lawyer who targeted the comic writer's career, his family, and made a pest of himself "for no discernable reason". "Hell hath no fury like a gamma scorned", yes?

So just in time for this post, "The Party of the First Part" a catchy tune about said lawyer's funeral. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/VXlokEA1ebo?si=Y3dyvJDQP7gX0Edm

Expand full comment

They can’t stand it! I refused to engage with a gamma at work. Every time I would have to talk in meetings he would use his middle finger to scratch his face.

Expand full comment

Refused to engage - how common it is in that company? Did other workers know about your move? If not common, and if it "goes viral", his status could go down and - simultaneously - he might consider this as insult. You know how it works clubs - one visable rejection and men are fvck up.

Expand full comment

"This, I suspect, is why women react to Gammas with horror, contempt, and disgust, and why they are so drawn to men who are cool and indifferent." This is spot on. With the workplaces having more gammas and women, I seem to get along with women more often than the men. Somehow they are more fun to be around on average than the men. Putting your boys in team sports and showing them the social hierarchy will help them.

Expand full comment

What percentage of world’s problems are caused by Gammas?

If the true number was known, the rest of the general population would probably vote to have them taken out back after graduation from high school…

Expand full comment

> What percentage of world’s problems are caused by Gammas?

Less than you might expect.

A lot of our current problems stem from deltas being elevated above their station.

For example it is delta men who have let women invade all male spaces.

Expand full comment

Even if a plurality, too many got access to the keys to the tech companies and won't or can't stop with all their axes to grind.

Expand full comment

I think nothing happens except those things that Deltas and their women permit - as a cultural center of gravity.

Expand full comment

Liberal Bravos too.

Expand full comment

‭‭Proverbs 16:32

[32] He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

Expand full comment

Can you all not conflate temperament, which you are born with, and persobality ( character) which is how you routinely deal with things. The SSHitemperament. You show your character bydisciplined for your weaknesses and honing your strengths.

The problem is many people have an aversion to discipline, particulate if you are a sanrr boy who was told the world cares.

Hence rage colcano.

Expand full comment

GBFM lives!!

Expand full comment

No blind keruru mispelling words before put contact lens in.

Expand full comment

Their supposed intelligence, it's all they really think they've got. It's their best quality as perceived by themselves. If you dismiss their intelligence, you dismiss the basis of their self-worth. You dethrone the Secret King. They feel cornered. No wonder they get so mad.

Expand full comment

Accursed by the standardized test.

Expand full comment

This is true even when they have what most people would consider other valuable skills or characteristics. I've known a few gammas who are physically fit or good at something most people consider admirable, but any criticism of that they can shrug off. Say something about their intelligence or even just imply they don't know something about something they clearly don't know, and heaven help you. Since they know everything about everything, it usually only takes a minute to get the full treatment.

Expand full comment

You may have already covered this-- My family and I re-watched "The Princess Bride" together yesterday. An SSH breakdown of the characters therein would be a treat for me personally but also may be helpful as an illustration of the ranks. Here's my shot--please correct me where I'm wrong.

Sigma--Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley-- Does his own thing, attractive, solely focused on one mission and uses cohorts to accomplish said mission. Not interested in the thoughts of the Prince.

Deltas- Fezzick-- Brute, team player, gets the job done

Inigo-Bravo or Delta-- Could likely find success with women, well accomplished in swordsmanship, does well under Westley's leadership while accomplishing their short-term goal

Gamma--Vizzini. In love with his own intellect, wants to be the secret king through covert means of staging a false flag. Obviously repulsive to women

Alpha?--Prince Humperdinck-- accomplished in hunting, men answer to his orders, crumbles at the words on Westley to Sigma, gets the woman initially if only for status and appearances

Omega--The albino-- no further explanation needed once you see him

Expand full comment
Mar 4Edited

I would think the prince is a gamma as well? Situational alpha maybe?

What of the six-fingered man? I hate to say there are so many gammas in one movie but he seems to fit. Crafty Omega/Gamma?

The rest is spot-on I would say.

The Inigo character seems Bravo - takes initiative, looks for opportunities, and is seeking a mission/leader. Not as passive as I would assume a Delta would be.

Expand full comment

Right-- the prince seems to feminine to be an alpha. Maybe a gamma who found himself in the Prince's chair by birth.

6-fingered man, maybe gamma in a position of power by birth too?

Expand full comment
Mar 4Edited

As our host would likely admonish us, what is the behavior?

The prince exhibits gamma behavior, as does the six fingered man.

Outwardly, the prince is a situational alpha, in that he possesses an alpha's checkbook, literally and figuratively.

If a gamma who found themselves in situational alpha status could somehow contain their impulses, they juuust might be able to live the alpha-life fantasy they have always dreamed of. My suspicion, however, is that even an alpha reality could not live up to a gamma's idea of what it SHOULD be. And as has been pointed out by others, the innate person will eventually reveal itself.

I remember a rare moment of situational alpha status I once enjoyed. It lasted about 20 minutes. But wow - what a moment! The best a Delta like me could hope for is to keep that momentary instability alive a little longer. May as well pick the fruit when it's ripe.

Expand full comment

Prince--Gamma upon further review. Deceptive behavior-- lies to the princess about sending ships on a search for Westley, lies to her about letting him go free without harm. Tortures the man that his bride to be loves instead of him.

6-fingered man-- Does the bidding of his gamma boss by torturing the "better man," Westley. Shows cowardice by promising Inigo anything that he wishes for moments before his death.

Expand full comment

> Deceptive behavior-- lies to the princess about sending ships on a search for Westley, lies to her about letting him go free without harm.

Subterfuge and deception are not inherently gamma.

Remember Trump, a greater alpha, lies all the time.

Expand full comment

Also-- he created his own torture chamber to hunt animals and torture people. Literally creating a gamma bubble where he's in charge.

Expand full comment

Good point--thanks. Cowardice is probably the more gamma indicator in his case

Expand full comment

Gamma lies tend to be about maintaining their delusion bubble.

See Vizzini.

Alphas, bravos, and sigmas all lie more strategically.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Mar 5
Comment removed
Expand full comment

Yeah, I think you're right.

Expand full comment

Over time the more I recognize Gamma behavior (and writing in "modern" pop culture), the more I am ashamed for and humbled by my undiagnosed Gamma-ness. Sucks to realize the nature never completely dies, although behavior can change.

Thanks so much to VD and the SG community, SSH awareness (and a focus on emotional testraint) has made a huge improvement in my quality of life, especially when dealing with my daughters and ex-wife. And other men in live poker games.

It also makes movie watching a deeper and richer exerience -- I recently viewed The Green Mile and it has a few clear Bravos, and one huge painful to watch Gamma; all well-written (I shudder to imagine a "remake").

Expand full comment

Person says - To raise your SSH value, get control of your emotions.

Gamma whines - But, what about artists and guitar players!?!?

Not realizing that, in order to express emotions in an artistically appealing way, one must have control of them.

Expand full comment

I would think skilled writers are more likely to cunningly manipulate others' emotions, rather than be merely slaves to their own.

A key problem with that mindset is that the low-status guy thinks women are attracted to displays of emotion, love, affection and vulnerability.

Well, yes, from a very high-status guy. When Elvis sings "love me tender", they swoon.

An alpha showing a moment of emotion = hawt

Everyone already knows that the low-status guy is a portrait of vulnerability, and further affirmation of that fact just turns the cringe up to 11.

Expand full comment

Agreed. It's the 'Be yourself' advice women give, that Vox linked to in a comic.

What a woman really means is, 'Be attractive, then be yourself.'

She just doesn't say the first part, because she doesn't notice men -unless- they're the first part. So her advice is good, if you can interpret her advice to something usable.

The same with emotions. Women want to feel your emotions in a relationship. She just only wants to feel the ones that are attractive to her - the ones that are masculine, in your control, and get her those romantic, emotional roller coaster highs/lows she needs. She literally won't notice anything else, and won't give any advice otherwise. Or, any advice otherwise will be about the gamma advice, and no in-between.

So, unless you can parse that, her advice is worse than useless. It will lead you astray.

Men will have... somewhat more respect for other men's emotions. As long as you're not a whiney man child. Because we get the trials we go through. But, after you express it, you also have to be able to put up with the advice of how to deal with your problems, man up, and move on. If you can't do that, then shut up and move along. We can't deal with your crap and our own, if you can't deal with the advice that comes with belonging to the tribe that will support you.

Expand full comment

The gamma in question I was dealing with had a very strong "internal script" (can't recall who defined that back in the day).

His script is not open to debate. His world is one giant mess of what "should" happen. He's probably right about much of it. But he's willing to destroy his own life and progress as some sort of living sacrifice to how the world "should" work.

Expand full comment

Yeah, people that get caught up in 'should' instead of 'does' can be miserable. It's a huge gap, and something that some never get over.

Expand full comment

For those that have been either in leadership positions or the parent of children will know that there's no real changing of a human's stripes. Behaviors can certainly be modified, but that's a different thing. For those that are less fortunate on the SSH, especially Gammas, and are hoping to 'move up' to a Delta or Bravo, you can learn to curb your rage or practice the behaviors of others, but you'll always be what you are on a fundamental level. You'll never truly sit atop the SSH no more than a man can remove his penis and become a woman. Vox didn't invent the SSH, but rather observed that it is. It exists for a reason and should be embraced. I think the true wisdom for all of us is in not trying to become something that you cannot be, but rather is in honing your positive qualities while blunting the negatives inherent in our respective natures. Be all that you can be, as the old slogan goes.

Expand full comment

I think this is right, but what is the best version of a gamma? Is the best gamma still secretly an envious secret king at heart, despite being a useful subject matter expert?

If so many never grew out of it, I might think gamma behavior was more a pit that would-be deltas fall into when they become envious, entitled, lacking in virtue, bitter, etc. Something just seems precarious about telling gammas to be the best gammas they can be.

Expand full comment

Best version of Gamma = Delta

Expand full comment

Be the best version of yourself.

For men, that means putting yourself through suffering as much as possible so you practice exactly what you describe: hone the positive, blunt the negative.

Part of this involves constantly evaluating your actions and behaviors, and giving yourself actionable feedback for next time.

Expand full comment

I've seen real changes in SSH during puberty. So if you have a 10 year old gamma son there is still hope.

Expand full comment

Or even sometimes later well into their adulthood, given how society is structured these days. Omega to Delta (at least sometimes via a Gamma metastate), or Gamma to Delta, are under normal circumstances the most common transitions. They're common enough that they appear in stories, such as the Gamma-to-Delta Eustace Scrubb in C.S. Lewis' Narnia books.

Unfortunately, nowadays, if the people involved are woke liberals, they tend to end up frozen where they are. Gamma boys remain Gammas as adults rather than being bullied into Delta.

Expand full comment

Eustace Scrubb is the original model for Gamma-to-Delta.

Expand full comment

I believe women with (an unfulfilled maternal drive and) a soft heart for any wounded animal (raises embarrassed hand) may also have a soft spot FOR gammas because they are like a badly 'raised' toddler who is incapable of self-control and concern for others. "Oh! That POOR little thing; he's hurting himself... and unwisely poking at masculine bears who don't care..."

Ten+ years in Vox Day land has shown me that wanting or worse TRYING to help the broken little boy grow up is neither successful, nor my 'place.' I recognize the flaw of wanting to protect and defend "the child" -- but he ain't a child and it's not my business and it's not possible.

I associate this natural desire to protect and nurture any "childlike mammal" with the destruction of our White civilization: women were our enemies' entre' to ... pretty much the WHOLE contagion. Put "child-like" races in our purview, and we respond (naturally: we're designed to BE maternal) AS IF they are children who just need a lolli and a diaper change!

Just as the old-timey neighborhood moms (in a White neighborhood) used to keep an eye on ALL the children -- our natural drive is a **strength** in an all-White society. And a huge detriment in one now filled with childlike races who are also predator animals. ALL the women in our normal neighborhoods were looking out for all the children. (Steve Sailer's 'extremely large, genetically related, family').

Expand full comment

If you catch a gamma's unwanted attention at a young-enough age, there's no way you'll develop a soft spot for them, anymore than you'd find the rattle of a snake calming.

Expand full comment

I tried to help a gamma friend of mine out of his toxic self-pity. All I got was crap. Coddling them makes it worse, trying to fix it brings rage.

I was close to his success and status level. Therefore I was insufficiently "higher" to speak with authority. Later, when my social / financial / personal success was higher, I was now too "detached" from his pains and sufferings to understand.

This guy is curating his own private museum of misery - cataloging every slight, polishing every pain and insult. This is what he wants, I guess.

Expand full comment

That's probably true, but it is also risky. Because even the woman who has a soft spot for Gammas still doesn't want to have sex with him. And he will confuse that pity with romantic interest every single time.

Expand full comment

Any normal woman doesn't want to have sex with a childlike human, regardless of its actual age.

And alas, MOST women don't recognize the "male-child's" romantic interest, cause, like: EEEWWWWW!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Mar 4
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Yup. An Omega may be perceived as cute if he comes across as a naive innocent child, but he'll only get actual sexual interest from Lambdas.

Similarly with the Gamma, so long as he's not getting one-itis for the woman in question and keeps his Gammatude in the closet. Gammas do in fact get in relationships, but only with women they don't really want.

In neither case is the woman he wants actually desirous of him.

Expand full comment

Rage volcano. Brilliant. Very insightful. Useful. In parenting today, there are a lot of models on helping children to self sooth to prevent shut down of the cortex and shift into brainstem "thinking"/reactivity. It is estimated that brain stem reactivity/cortex shut down decreases IQ by as much as a standard deviation. This is true in adults as well. The volcano model is literally used as a deploy against the overwhelm of strong emotional responses for helping a child and parent to determine bandwidth. When the child or parent sense the approach of an eruption or are in one, tools to self sooth are used. Ideally bandwidth increases and the child becomes able to manage himself. Like the Alpha, a calm parent can pace others. Mirror neurons. It makes sense that would be a magnet of leadership. charisma.

Expand full comment

Yes, there's a lot to this. We homeschool; one of the biggest challenges is when, for whatever reason, one of the kids is struggling with a concept and the emotions take over. Suddenly they can't focus, can't reason, can't think about anything except that it's too hard. The first step always has to be getting their frustration under control; they almost literally can't hear what you're saying until they do.

Expand full comment

Your kids are lucky to have you. Thank you for making them a priority.

Expand full comment