What is an Alpha Male?

[Responding to a question on Airchat about masculinity]

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Full Transcript:

It may be helpful to think about masculinity by asking yourself, what is an alpha male?

What is the hyper example of masculinity?

And when you look at that definition, whatever it is for yourself, then you will realize what you aspire to be and how you can be your most masculine.

In my value system, an alpha male is like that gorilla who, when crossing the street with the gorilla tribe, makes sure that all the women and children and smaller gorillas get across first. He blocks the road with his body as the rest of them make the crossing.

An alpha male is an alpha male because he takes care of the tribe. In times of war and famine, he eats last. In exchange, in peacetime, he gets to eat first. But that's not the goal. The goal is he is built to do his duty. He is built to take care. He is built to be the protector. He is built to do the right thing for the largest group of people.

And he does it because it's in his nature. He doesn't do it for recompense. So you have to look deep inside your nature and find out what do you want to take care of? What is more important than yourself? What do you want to give to without any hope of return? Is it God? Is it children? Is it society? Is it family? Is it your nation? What is it that you care about more than you care about yourself? That you will defend, that you will protect, that you will uphold and that you will promote.

For example, today I would argue that people like Elon Musk, who even though they're businessmen and they make money, sure, they are trying to advance the tribe. They're trying to do what's best for the species. They're trying to get us off planet. They're trying to get us into electric cars. They're trying to get us advanced AI. And if it is done in a mostly selfless way where it's about taking care of people, then I think that is an alpha male.

And that is an expression of masculinity. It is showing that you're so strong, that your shoulders are so broad, that you can carry others with almost no effort. You can carry others as part of what you do. And the stronger you get, the more you carry.

So the best way to find your masculinity is to ask yourself, what is my duty? What am I duty-bound to do? What do I want to do to a level where it involves taking care of something outside of myself?

And it has to be genuine and it has to be heartfelt and it has to be done without hope of reward or recognition. So it cannot be something that is given to you by society. It cannot be something that is inflicted upon you by books, by your parents, by movements, or by something that's going to make you popular with the people around you. In fact, if it's a true core value, it's something that you will do even if and when it makes you unpopular with the people around you.

Good luck with everything and don't listen to other people.

As a footnote, one thing that's become popular recently is men who attract other men by showing off jewelry and cars and how many girls they have. They've gotten pretty big on social media, but those are essentially perverted, almost a caricature of feminine behaviors that they're doing to attract other women and to attract young men. But no true alpha cares what car they drive or how much jewelry they have or how many girlfriends they have, and they certainly don't use that as the way to signal their alpha. It signals exactly the opposite. It signals status-seeking, desperate, attention-seeking behavior. So don't go down that route.

[ChronosBlaez]

harambe was so misunderstood
he was just trying to help the kid
he was the real alpha male

[SHANONisRegenerate]

True Alpha wants as much of his family safe and happy as possible 🎉

[TSAONGAF]

It's unfortunate that the best people on earth don't want to be politicians otherwise humanity would've evolved to nearly perfection

[vancityakash]

It's different than Ranbir Kapoor's Animal defination

[mkjyt]

this was massive breakthrough. Thanks.

[t.j.]

Funny. I was going to define an alpha male as a leader who is making more sacrifices than the people around him. Willing to suffer more in the moment, but Naval kind of said it in another way. Nice!

[thecodebrief]

The Intelligent mans response to Andrew Tate.

[chijiokeegbo]

Alpha is about responsibility and sacrifice at all times.

[devanshagarwal]

no andrew tates were harmed in this video

[futurenotion]

I’ve never really considered about alpha males/masculinity. But, I will definitely be thinking about Marcus Aurelius with your questions regarding what is my duty.

[Monas]

Wow- this is the best definition of masculinity I've heard- thank you Naval! I shared this video with some of my friends, which is exactly the opposite of Andrew Tate, which doesn't put a woman's interest above himself. I hope more men listen to Naval, not Tate for their own betterment and advancement in life and that of humanity.

[opensocietyenjoyer]

i don't think that elon musk was a great example here

[APERTURE_SC]

why everything has to go so fast, even speech now.
Im sure you would prefer if the world would go slower to really digest and appreciate all things.

[smlorrin]

Elon Musk doesn't seem like an alpha male to me, at least lately. He seems to have an extremely fragile ego and does everything necessary to protect it.

[bahaanaldo]

"You're going to die. In service to what? You decide." -Jordan Peterson

[munchingtiger]

that felt very unhuman, the transcript doesnt match the video subtitles, was this generated in some russian shed farm?

[globalc]

Why is the audio so AI like? This doesn’t sound like Naval.

[hckrdwg]

I wonder if Naval is nodding his head or shaking it, listening to an AI generated version of his wisdomspeak. I think these videos are a warning.

[DrRussell]

Thank you for this wisdom. When the going gets tough and we keep asking ourselves why, even when we don't feel like carrying on, why do you think we should? I have my reason, but I'm asking for the collective.

[srghma]

Alpha gorilla eats last at times of famine, first at times of peace. But will he die first in times of famine or last