

Cult phenomenon game builds confidence, creates opportunities - twelch
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/27/MN841GBAR6.DTL&tsp=1

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bh42
Cult phenomenon?

When I was a teenager me and my friends called it "rolling in the mud"

Often a lot of us kids were very nervous going to clubs and quite scared to
talk to girls. So then the more experienced kids, you know those in their late
teens, would give the following advice.

Just get out there and hit on everything that moves, accept rejection just
roll in the mud for a few hours, that will get rid of the shakes. And it
works. Over time you stop being so nervous and have less need to start the
night by rolling the mud.

Now the pick up master movement has re-branded this to something which sounds
much more glamorous: "Nexting" They're not rejecting you, you're "nexting"
them! This is a brilliant sales strategy if you're in the market of selling
advice and therapy to shy and nervous guys.

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David
"And it has become a cult phenomenon as the idea spreads through Facebook,
Twitter, _the Hacker News blog_ and other social media."

HN is a blog? Who knew?

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arkitaip
HN is like a community blog, like Metafilter (it's even in their tag).

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David
Well, I'll buy it. If other people use blog to mean linksharing with
discussion, I'll amend my mental definiton. =P

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yummyfajitas
I haven't looked closely at rejection therapy, but here is something I don't
get about it.

Hasn't every man (Brad Pitt and George Clooney excluded) already done this?

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thomas11
You can only be rejected if you ask for something. Many do not do this in the
first place, out of fear of rejection. That's what rejection therapy
addresses.

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sh1mmer
I've experienced this in my professional career too. When I started being a
full time technology evangelist I hardly applied to speak at conferences.
Rejection was hard and I just assumed I wouldn't be able to get into a large
conference.

It turns out the best approach is just to apply to lots of conferences and
build your confidence and skills. Out of the many rejections will come some
opportunities to improve and build confidence. After a while the confidence
and experiences start to show in your work and then people recognize that.

Two years later I get invited to conferences. All because I overcame my
hesitation to try.

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ph0rque
To take this to the next level of abstraction, the game could be developed
into two parts. The first part would help you identify what your worst fears
are, and the second part would have you go through the corresponding
therapies.

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AndrewDucker
You might find this interesting:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_%28psychology%29>

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sh1mmer
I know it's SF Gate and all, but it's surprising to me that Hacker News is
listed above sites like Reddit and Digg.

I think it says a lot about how our little (but obviously growing community)
is seen.

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rapind
Yeah I noticed that too. More than once recently. I think it's the name that's
going to blow us up. "Hacker News" is way too sexy.

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stucksimon
This could probably get real old, real fast for the people around you. If I
kept asking all my friends to fold my laundry I'd get some pretty annoyed
looks. This game needs some moderation!

