The philosophy of seduction according to Mark Manson (Models or the Subtle Art of Seduction). 1. Sovereignty (non-neediness) What is the essence of seduction? A sign that the question is difficult: the answers we hear are absolutely divergent and have no kind of coherence. Manson wants to find a criterion that is both very clear and unifying, which allows us to bring diversity back to unity. Manson says that the seductive man is the one who presents an absence of dependence. This is the first sentence of the book: "The power of seduction of a man is inversely proportional to his neediness." What is a needy man? He is a man who is obsessed by the image he sends to others. The seductive man is someone who is driven mainly by his desires, his wishes, his values. And he is not going to compromise on that because he has met someone. This encounter is not going to alter his own vision of himself. "Paradoxically, the man who does not seek affection or admiration from others arouses these feelings around him." But here comes a very important thing to understand what follows, it is that this sovereignty cannot be counterfeited. You cannot pretend to be sovereign. Because sovereignty is played out in intention and not in performance. You cannot simply affect it, it must be you. Because by affecting sovereignty, you are already submitting. And this is what separates Manson from all the literature on seduction that tells you how to perform sovereignty. For Manson, all these techniques are extremely clear manifestations of submission. Because we will adapt and manifest exactly the emotions and actions that we think will make us win points. And so there is nothing more needy than a man who performs non-neediness, there is nothing more submissive than the one who pretends to be sovereign. 2. Honesty Seduction equals sovereignty, sovereignty equals honesty. To be seductive is to be honest. A misunderstanding of Manson would be to think that we are going to play the honesty card. To be brutally honest whenever we have the opportunity. But that would be a complete misinterpretation, again. Because we would be affecting honesty to achieve our ends. And the whole question now is, when am I being honest? It is so easy to lie to ourselves and manipulate others. How do you know? Honesty, Manson says, is always linked to vulnerability. 3. Vulnerability Vulnerability is actually exposing yourself to the possibility of rejection. “Making yourself vulnerable doesn’t just mean being willing to share your fears or insecurities. It could be putting yourself in a position where you might be rejected, making a joke that might not be funny, standing up for an opinion that might offend other people, introducing yourself to a group of people you don’t know, telling a woman that you like her and want to go out with her. All of these things take persistence, courage. In this way, vulnerability represents a form of power, deep and subtle. A person who is able to make themselves vulnerable is telling the world, “I don’t care about the repercussions; this is who I am, and I refuse to be anyone else.” The person who makes themselves vulnerable is showing that they are non-needy, independent, and high-status. So being vulnerable is daring to be yourself, even in the ways that might get you rejected. Few people are as attractive as those who let you know straight up, without cowardice, simply, that they like you. Not only does she tell you that she likes you, but she also shows you that she has a high enough status, enough self-confidence not to be afraid to say it. Seduction is not an art of appearance. Because to appear is to perform, and to perform is to submit. Can we learn to seduce? No, in the sense that there is no technique for learning seduction that would not contradict the essence of seduction. But yes, we can learn seduction, if by that we mean the complete development of ourselves. Learning to build a world of our own, a universe. And building it from our own funds, without authorization, without asking permission. Being a poet of our life, as Nietzsche said. Nothing is more seductive than those people who have a universe. Learning to seduce is learning to know oneself, it is embodying one's own difference, it is accepting to displease, it is accepting to polarize, it is accepting rejection. Not seeking affection makes affection possible. He who wants to secure the blow by manipulating, ends up losing everything. He who gives himself up, who exposes himself, who takes the risk, wins, because one must be sure of one's strength to expose oneself to danger.