"Incels are right in regards to their theories, but they are incredibly negative and defeatist; if they were to exercise positive thinking, while immersing themselves in self improvement strategies, they would be able to reverse their incel state and see positive results in their lives."
A bit long-winded, but you get the point.
His beliefs almost come across as a mix between contemporary self-help strategies and principles related to the "law of attraction", the type made popular by figures such as Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, etc., as well as business coaches such as John Maxwell, Brian Tracy et al. For his efforts, Mr.Happy has been derided by the users on this forum, who have made sport of calling him a "blue pilled cuck" for his efforts. However, perhaps it's the contrarian in me that has led me to conclude that - despite his obvious dismissal of objective facts and well cited research on the part of incels/looks theory, there is a kernel of truth to some of his claims...
A very small kernel.
Like many of you, I was raised religious. In Christianity, there are many charismatic denominations that have a very large emphasis on positive thinking, coupled with faith-based assertions. A popular scripture among Prosperity gospel Christians is Mark 11:23-24:
The idea is that if you believe hard enough for something (even bad things), and pattern your speach around acquiring said things, you will attract those things that you desire. Of course, I'm not religious, nor am I trying to suggest that Mr.Happy is either. But this idea of "positive thinking" has been the hallmark of many ancient religions and schools of thought.
Another religious example is Buddhism. Recently, the legendary @MayorOfKekville has expressed an interest in Buddhist philosophy, going as far as to establish his own
The point is that this idea of positive thinking has been around for centuries, so it's no surprise that this belief would spill over into Western thought, albeit in a secular, watered down fashion.
In the short time that I've been on this forum, I have come across many posts of incels who are trying to "Ascend", meaning that they intend to improve themselves to the point where they can achieve the highest possible level of looks maxing possible, or to even attract a woman and lose their virginity. To them, I can only wish them luck. However, when I ruminated over my own incel state, it became clear that my biggest shortcoming was not the angst of being undesirable to women, but wrestling with the ennui that stems from lacking purpose.
Women motivate men to do great things (and distract them from getting it done, as Oscar Wilde accurately observed), but once I decided to find another form of motivation, I kept drawing a blank. One of my first posts was inquiring how some incels found meaning, and the responses were - for the most part - as unhelpful as I predicted them to be.
Many incels were in the same boat as me; they too lacked a purpose, a fact that brought them great melancholy, while others admitted to distracting themselves with entertainment to avoid thinking about it, while others expressed their angst in written form here on this forum (Peter Wessel Zapffe, in his essay The Last Messiah, labeled this latter action sublimation).
I started reading "Man's Search for Meaning", by Viktor Frankl, and he spoke about his imprisonment at Auschwitz. He was forced to strip naked, and after working hard and being starved, he realized that happiness came from the very fact that he was still alive; he even claimed to have visions of his wife as he marched to the work site, albeit unaware that she was already dead.
His original plan was to shut out the voices and retreat into his own "little box"; a desire to become numb. This leads him atop an apartment building, where he vows to commit suicide. However, the existential angst - the "Will to Live" that Schopenhauer talks about in "The World as Will and Representation", overwhelms Yuu, who backs out at the last minute. Seeing that he wasn't strong enough to end his own life, he instead buys a book on boxing and teaches himself how to punch, in order to avoid getting hit. After learning a one-two combination (after throwing 5k punches a day, Yuu ventures into the arcade-ridden rough parts of his local downtown prefecture, where he uses his martial arts skills to fend off thugs who underestimate his weak appearance and seek to give him a shakedown).
Anyways, I promised @Raiden that I wouldn't spoil the manga. Nonetheless, the author himself reveals that this was similar to his own experiences. And then it had me thinking, which is what inspired me to write this in the first place...
This manga is one of my favorites, but not because of it's superb story telling. In fact, the story telling elements defy conventional manga aimed at young men and boys. Most male youth protagonists in manga/anime are over ambitious, cocky, adventurous, and highly determined to achieve a very clear-cut goal (find one piece, become the next Hokage, find the Net Terminal Gene, etc). However, Yuu is overly timid, cowardly, impulsive, and is plagued with regret after getting himself or his friends into trouble. As a result, he is always tempted to quit roaming the streets and disappear back to his room forever. Yet each time that thoughts come in, he quickly repels it by reminding himself that if he goes down that route, he'll end up right back in the abyss he was in before.
Thanks to @FACEandLMS, I now know that my failure with women was due to my sub-par looks. I can't make myself a male model. I can't raise my IQ to be as smart as Stardusk. I can never become many of the things that I once aspired to become, and even though I've found enjoyment recently in learning music, I don't expect it to find a sense of meaning in a meaningless world. I now know what Zapffe meant when he described the man who was "Naked under cosmos; homeless in his own body".
And now that I know all of this, I've just realized that this is the best position to be in. I lost the genetic game, and I'll never win. And yet, I despite this, I feel like acting just like Sisyphus; pushing that boulder up that hill, even though the hill is just a base on Olympus Mons. Not to attract women, or to find a sense of purpose, or to amuse myself. But to just be. I've been stripped bare, and I now know that I nothing I do will give me a place of meaning. There's no goal to be reached.
But like I said, all beliefs must be falsifiable. I might be wrong. Sure, I could LDAR - and I respect all the people who've chosen that route - but I know my body will do that on it's own. The last thing I want to is to die knowing I never even tried to be the best I could be. Not for women, not for raising my IQ, not for impressing others, not for anyone. Not even to find meaning. But to at least know - in my final moments - that even though I'll die, but to know - for myself alone - that I was truly alive. And that, as odd it may seem, is what I want to live for. It's what I want to be strong for.
That is my Holyland.
