The question of falling in love is tricky for everyone and the PUA is no exception. He
is however less likely to develop a pathetic and desperate fixation commonly associated
with falling in love. It can happen, but its effects (jealousy, depression etc) are far
less severe. They just don't have any room to develop and aren't given enough time to
reach their full potential. The word polyamorous has been coined which is probably the closest match to describing
how a seducer is in love - he is simply in love with many women at once. Being in love
with one girl at a time, especially if it is a one-sided feeling, has you fixated on this
one girl, thus giving off vibes of desperation, paralysing your ability to think clearly,
feeling constant fear of being rejected and lowering your self-esteem when your feelings
are not returned - all of which will repel a girl even further away from you thus forming
a self-reinforcing downward cycle. Being in love with many girls at a time (or at least
interested in, if they've not yet given you cause to reward them by showing any deeper
affection and making them your girlfriends:) has the effect of letting you keep your
thinking more coherent, remain confident because you acknowledge and understand that there
are more girls than just this "one", all the while being able to guide her
feelings for you - to match and even exceed the intensity of feelings of those being in
love if you choose to. And your confidence and coolness about these matters attracts girls
(as opposed to desperation, which repels) thus forming another, but this time a positive
self-reinforcing cycle. Some say that the ideal is still a one-on-one relationship full of complete and
unconditional love. I agree with the latter part of the assertion - complete and
unconditional love truly is an ideal. But I have to disagree with the assertion of
one-on-one situations being the ideal. The biggest argument in support of the one-on-one
ideal is that a family needs both a mother and a father for the children to be able to
model the world through them and be supported financially. Should one of the parents be
led astray by some parallel relationships, this could end up with the family being broken.
So to protect the integrity of the family, all relationships should be strictly one-on-one
and no polyamorous relations are to be allowed. But inherently it shows the weakness of
the one-on-one ideal - for it is exactly this very same ideal that forces one of the
parents to choose, which on of his/her relations to make that ideal one-on-one
relationship, and should he/she opt for a new one, the old one will be broken, and thus
will also be broken the very values which the one-on-one ideal was supposed to protect. Ok, this example was the extreme of the extreme - marriage, family, children -
something that most of you probably don't want to be associated with quite yet:) Notice
however how the exclusivity of love ideal fell fat on its face in it:) The other argument is, that the exclusivity of someone's affection is supposed to give
added value to that affection. The truth is - yes, exclusivity will bring added
value
for a while, but soon enough, this added value will subside into routine and
being taken for granted and will eventually degenerate into boredom. Whereas
non-exclusivity can help keep things fresh for a very long time indeed:) A one-on-one relationship is actually more a matter of comfort and traditions - after
years of fruitless pursuits and painful rejections, you've finally found someone you like
and someone who likes you back, a companion, with whom you can have your needs of giving
and receiving love fulfilled. You sigh a sigh of relief and settle in. You're an AFC
headed for marriage:) One more argument defending the one-on-one relationship is that love in its nature is
exclusive and you cannot for example be in love with two different people at a time. (I do
admit, that loving and being in love with somebody are not quite the same, but neither do
the proponents of the one-on-one relationship seem to notice a difference - they force
their standards upon everybody). This is one truly weak argument and can only derive from
either such people's lack of experience, denial of having felt that way or simple
inability to feel that way, which they then extend and attribute to the whole world. But
sooner or later even they shall have to acknowledge the possibility of being able to share
love with many people, at least to some degree. Or do they love their parents just one at
a time? Or do you plan on loving their children one at a time? Of course not. They feel
love for all of them - maybe more for some and less for others, but definitely not
"only one at a time". They might of course argue, that that kind of love is
"different", but I'd say its' different on just three aspects - more empathy,
less intimacy and no choice in who the objects of your affection are. Other than that, it
is love nevertheless. I want to stress, that there's nothing wrong with monogamous relationships, falling in
love in the classic, desperate way or getting married. Too often however people do these
things because they don't think they have a choice. But then, when it turns out, they
could actually have had a choice and there were even better options available, they close
their eyes and start preaching on the benefits and superiority of their choice over other
options and the supreme and divine wisdom of the choice they actually made in ignorance. So either seduce to your heart's content or fall in love and get married or become a
munk to lead a life of celibacy - just know your options and make a knowledgeable choice:) Epilogue As for why I even bothered to discuss the relative benefits of being a
"player". Life's too short - not that you should taste as many girls as you can,
but at least you shouldn't waste your time with the girls you can't have. Being a player
let's you see that and move on, being an AFC however has you banging your head against the
wall until one of them crumbles (well
walls have been known to crumble from time to
time too:). An excerpt from "Dumb and Dumber" to illustrate this:) Jim Carrey: So
waddaya think? What are the chances of the two of us being
together? HB: (silence) Jim Carrey: One in two? One in three?
One in five? HB: Um
rather
one in a million. Jim Carrey: (with a big smile:) So
ya'r saying
. THERE'S A
CHANCE:)))???? See also: Managing many relationships at once |