Risk in pick up art

Gladwell's New Yorker article [1] on entrepreneurs who avoid risk got me thinking about the so called naturals of the pick up art. Is the behavior or strategy taught in the pick up community successful when it is less or more risky?

I think one who reads this article lightly may think that no risk is best, but maybe that is not the point. I think the misunderstanding may be that not taking a risk is the key to success in life. This is not an appropriate generalization. Maybe it is better to say that success comes from both chance and taking that chance, while maintaining that you should minimize your risk. This is a tricky concept because it does not leave you at either end of the spectrum.

There is a good Chinese proverb on the tip of my tongue. Hmm a search recovers these:

- "you cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind" (author unknown)

- and I rember this from a Hamlet soliloquy I had to memorize: "a thought which quartered , hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward, I do not know why yet I live to say, 'This thing's to do' ."

And there are so many quotes on perseverence, that one could fill a few pages.

"men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm" ( Sidney J Philips )

And from the world of Security, I remember a friend saying that really many things in life can be compared to talking to a woman in a bar. There is very little personal risk, but the possibilities are there only for those who try and they are many.

And more from among my other favorite quotes on and related to the pick up art: "there is no growth in your comfort zone and no comfort in your growth zone". That is, you cannot grow personally, without leaving your comfort zone.

Then we have to combine the business risk article and the world of taking a chance when the opportunity arises, along with the teachings from the world of pick up and so many other realms that you cannot really wait for things to happen. You have to make your own opportunities.

Essentially, you must do as John Paulson, the money analyst did, per the Gladwell article. You must do your homework, but also before everyone else does. And to enter the world of the 20-80 rule or the 5-95 rule or the 1-99 rule, you must do what no one else would. Most people are perhaps not aware of what a risk which is not a risk looks like. Talking to an attractive woman in a bar is, again, something which could make most people lose their bladders, but in reality it really is not something akin to going to war or investing your life savings to start a business (not advisable).


References
[1] "the sure thing", jan 18th 2010 New Yorker issue