I make fun of Mark Cuckerberg constantly, because he is the literal epitome of the low-value Gamma sperg-nerd who managed to get very lucky with a product and an idea, and has since managed to strike it very rich. (Faceborg is a terrible product from a terrible company that hates you and everything you stand for, and if you are still using it, then you need to stop that shit right away.)
Nonetheless, when we see an example of a Gamma trying to work his way out of that position – for whatever reason – then we, as men, can and should encourage our fellow men to take that hard road.
The Gamma Giveaways
Zuckerberg is the very epitome of Gammatude. While he is not a social reject, he is a sexual reject. Zuck built that based on code that he and his friends wrote in university to figure out a way to sperg on girls that they found attractive, and yet, the best he could do in that department, was this:
Based on appearances alone, his wife is more of a dude than he is. This is the very epitome of the Gamma Male – the kind of man that these pages in The Agoge exist to help you avoid becoming.
One Button Combo!
It would appear that Zuck has taken some of that advice to heart, at least, though I assure you that he did not take it from me. He has picked up mixed martial arts as a hobby – and, based on the evidence, he’s getting to be sort of decent:
One of the world’s wealthiest men Mark Zuckerberg showed that he certainly isn’t one to be trifled with after the Facebook founder released a clip online showing the progress he has made in the MMA training room.
Zuckerberg, whose list of business assets includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, all of which fall under the umbrella of his ‘Meta’ technology conglomerate, began training in mixed martial arts during the Covid-19 pandemic – and unlike some other business magnates who might take up the sport to pad their egos, it actually appears that Zuckerberg possesses some decent skills, at least judging by the brief video he released to social media.
Zuckerberg, 38, has previously stated that he finds the ‘primal’ nature of the sport very appealing, and that he has recruited several of his friends to join him in his voyage into the sport.
Here is some footage of him training:
To those who are not experienced with actual full-contact sparring, this may look impressive. I can say that, in terms of a beginner’s level of skill, it actually is impressive. But, I have engaged in martial arts training and full-contact hard sparring for long enough that I can recognise when a training partner is basically “being nice”. And I assure you that Khai Wu is being very nice in that video above. The strikes are clearly telegraphed and choreographed, with the trainer off-camera telling Zuck what to throw and where.
It is play-fighting with a friend, not real sparring designed to push you to level up.
None of that changes the fact that Zuck has chosen the hard road out of Gammatude. For this, he deserves praise and congratulations
The Kings of Their Own Minds
Gammas have a severe ingrained inferiority complex that comes from DECADES, in many cases, of failure in dating and life. They seek comfort from the pain of these failures and retreat into a fantasy world of Secret King status, whereby they never lose an argument or fail in their own minds.
Some of them do meet with great success in the real world, because they came upon a great business idea or product and managed to find a way to market it to the world. Whether through having the right connections, being in the right place at the right time, or just plain luck, they manage to make it into the big leagues. Silicon Valley is full of such stories, of high-IQ (as in, somewhere within the 120-140 range), low-status Gammas becoming gazillionaires in a very big hurry.
However, core socio-sexual status does not change in direct proportion to money – witness the sad ongoing saga of Harry and the Half-Blood Princess. It merely masks the deep insecurities and problems experienced by Gammas and lands them with much more attractive women than they could manage on their own. Those women inevitably end up leaving those men, or maltreating them, over time.
In such situations, a Gamma has but two choices – suffer, or improve. Most choose to suffer. They surround themselves with toys and bought-and-paid-for “friends” to ease the pain of that suffering, but make no mistake, the life of a Gamma is a Hell largely of their own making.
The Hard Road
The few that choose to improve, can do so in a number of different ways. All of them involve hard work and fundamental changes to one’s habits, mindset, wardrobe, and even diet and social circles, if necessary.
Mr. Zuckerberg has plainly started making some of those changes, to his great credit. While we cannot be sure that he has shed his Gammatude yet and moved to the righteous and sensible path of the Delta, we can be sure that, as his skill and confidence grows, his overall demeanour will also improve.
Like all Gammas who go through the crucible that is contact combat, he will stand taller and straighter. He will lose that sallow, pasty-faced, robotic look that is so common to his kind. He will speak clearly and boldly, buoyed by the hard-won confidence and respect of his betters that he has earned through his own sweat, rather than through the sycophantic words of wormtongues seeking to wheedle their way into his money and good graces.
The respect of one’s peers, in particular, is a powerful remedy to Gammatude. When you have earned an invitation to a lunch or drinks with real martial artists, the kind who could break you over their knee with almost no effort, then you will immediately feel a great sense of accomplishment. I know – I’ve been there, and there is nothing quite like it. You know, deep down, that you earned your seat at the table – and NO ONE can take that away from you.
It wasn’t your money, or your family name, or your connections, that got you to that table. It was YOU. YOUR work, YOUR sweat, YOUR pain, YOUR effort, and YOUR sacrifices, put you in that position. It is a powerful and heady feeling, yet a humbling one at the same time.
This is the road out of Gammatude.
Conclusion –
True martial artists have a code, expressed in different ways and different forms, but always coming back to the same basic idea – that respect is earned, and victory is won, through hard work and effort to improve oneself. To become better, one must always approach life with humility, knowing that no matter how skilled and successful one becomes, there is always someone better, someone with something to teach.
The greatest martial artists that I have ever known, have always accepted that they do not know enough. To them, a punch is just a punch, a kick is just a kick, an armbar is just an armbar – but they always seek to perfect their craft. They know that they are not perfect, but that does not stop them from relentlessly pursuing that elusive perfection.
My martial arts teacher is one of a select few in the world to achieve the rank of Grandmaster in his art – the right way. He didn’t get there by awarding himself some silly title. He got there because his students acclaimed him to be what the entire martial arts world already knew him to be, and he received his belt, the only one of its kind anywhere in the world, from the hands of his top students, themselves exceptionally accomplished martial artists, some of whom have multiple black belts in karate, tae kwon do, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and other arts.
Yet, despite all of his skill and talent, he still seeks to become better, every single day. He once held pads for a muay thai fighter – a much bigger man than him – and held for a kick. The nak muay unleashed a kick so powerful and so shocking that even someone like my teacher, with all of his vast experience in actual street combat, was stunned by the force of the impact.
He was so impressed that he studied muay thai for FIVE YEARS based on that one kick.
Which is why, today, if he takes you a-Waltzing Matilda around the dojo, I assure you that you will feel it the next day.
Humility is the mark of true greatness. Hard-earned achievement is far better for one’s soul than any amount of public acclamation. This is the secret to getting out of Gammatude – hard work, perseverance, humility, and a willingness to learn.
The alternative is to stay in Gamma Hell. It might be comfortable – for a while. But eventually, the reality will sink in that your life is a pile of shit – and, worse, you put yourself there and refused to get back out.
1 Comment
I am probably misremembering this, but there’s a scene in my head-cannon from Dune where Duncan Idaho shocks a young Paul Atradies in training. Paul thought he was becoming something special with his sparring with his father’s men at arms. Duncan knows he needs to learn to lose to learn to be better, so he goes real speed with him, slow enough to knife through the shield but fast enough to pass Paul’s guard.
Zuckerberg looks to be living in both worlds. He has never been athletic in his life and he absolutely came to his training in a skinny-fat state of existence. But he’s taking some lessons seriously, those combinations were slow but smooth, and you don’t get to smooth without a lot of work beforehand.
He’s also sparring to feel good sometimes, like this video, as is the right of the king.
I do find it interesting he’s training with a guy who’s just making his UFC debut, he didn’t go grab some past champion marquee trainer or some current ham-and-egger, he found someone hungry and on the rise. Or at least, his staff did. Good for him.