State Pumping. a HOWTO guide

[Deisama]

I wanted to give back to the community, so I decided to write all I learned about state pumping, and hopefully some time next week, I'll write all I learned about Direct Game.

State Pumping
The video game Metal Gear Solid 4 came out recently, and one of the things I love most about it, is that even though it has a very very dark and serious plot, it has some moments in it that are absolutely ridiculous. One of them is if you get a special gun, than you can make the character throw his arm in the air and scream "SUNLIGHT!"
YouTube - Metal Gear Solid 4 - SUNLIGHT!!!
This cracked me and my friend up so much that whenever we hang out, one of us will yell "Sunlight!" and the other one will yell "Sunlight" back. And we'll go back and forth until we're gigling. Its awesome because even if we're kind of bummed about something or tired, it always cheers us up.
Thats what state pumping is.


The most important thing about state pumping is you don't state pump others, you state pump yourself
State pumping is very Alpha. You lead, they follow. People will naturally try to match the person with the highest energy.
Only say lines that are amusing to you. You shouldn't care at all how the person responds, only be grateful that they gave you the context to say your line.

This distinction is very important. One of my hot friends visited my place, and started teasing me about all the computers I had, so I said "wait, you knew I was a geek right?" and she giggled. Obviously it felt good to have a hot girl giggle at my joke, so for a while after that, I would try to use that line on other people. This is not a state pumping line. Its a funny line, but ultimately, its not much good, because I'm waiting for their response. I'm seeking validation.


Practice
State pumping is outside of the model, so you don't need to wait until your approaching a girl to work on it. You should get in the habit of trying to state pump everyone. Tease everyone you see. Friends, family, coworkers, random strangers, guys and girls. Definetely get in the habit of making jokes to random strangers.


State pumping lines
try to get state pumping lines out there as soon as you can. You don't need to know this person, they don't need to "get" your humor. Your body language will take care of letting them know its a joke.

Teasing
I know some of these can be considered "Negs", but in this case the goal is very different. You're not trying to disqualify yourself, you're just amusing yourself. So try to find something stupid or irrelevant about her and tease her on that. Call her a Mac girl, or a dog person. DO NOT tease them about stuff that they really care about or that bothers you. Saying something obnoxious while you smile doesn't make it any less obnoxious.

"oh my god, you're an east coast girl? I can't even talk to you now"
"you're such a liar, how can I even trust you"
"you and me would so not get a long"
"you're a little bit evil aren't you?"
"you suck, I hate you"
"you mac girls are sooo MEAN"
"Suck it up woman!"
(if they say no to something) "Wait, it's cause I'm Jewish, isn't it?"
"We are so breaking up"

(when listening to their stories, I like to look for plotholes or inconsistancies) "Are you a spy or something? You really need to work on your cover story"
"Are you just making this up?"
(talking to friend) "Does she always lie like this?"


Mistakes
These lines are my favorite! I literally go around hoping someone will make a mistake or do something wrong so that I can use these. I live for these lines!
"Oh my god, I can't take you anywhere! Go wait in the car!" credit goes to Approach Anxiety Blog Archive She Needs To Be Punished
"See, this is why we don't have nice things" (Braddocks line)
"That's it! You're out of the group!"


Quotes
In general these are funny one liners from your past, movies, tv, or even a favorite part of a song you like.

Quotes are great for inside jokes, but they're also great internal state pumping. A lot of the times, thinking of saying the line is just as good as actually saying it. Instead of doing warmups, I like to imagine yelling "Sunlight! " to my friends. I'll do it over and over until I'm in a silly fun mood.

"Whats up motherfuckers!"
"Sunlight!"

Traps
traps are things where you try to bait them. If they respond appropriately, than they've just given you material to tease the crap out of them. The trap itself wont state pump you, but the result will. They should think your serious for the bait. A lot of the opinion openers and gambits are traps.

try singing "Its getting hot in here" and see if she follows with "So take off all your cloths" Than look shocked, like you dont know why the hell she just said that. (not field tested, I just find the idea amusing)

"Wait, its cause I'm Jewish right?" and if they looked shocked and say "No!" than you can (jokingly) accuse them of being racist, or later on if you give her a compliment shake your head and say "its to bad you hate Jews"

Sometimes, you can go for the number way to early so that you'll get the boyfriend defense. Once the boyfriend card is raised than theres a number of funny threads you can go with.
"What? Just one? Thats no good, let me help you out. You see any cute guys, I'll hook you up" (Theme stolen from Approach Anxiety Blog Archive Her: “I have a boyfriend” Me: “Just one?”)

"Thats cool, I don't mind." after whatever response, "No, it'll be fun, we'll all hang out. I mean it might be a little akward for him, but he'll get used to it."

Waitresses are the funnest to do this too. Because for the rest of the dinner you can tease them. I did it to a waistess in front of my female coworker, and when she came back I said "My friend here is seriously offended that you didn't think we were together" "I mean I'm hitting on your while she's right next to me, and you don't say anything? What the hell?"
"So what, now you're saying she's too good for me too? Way to pour salt on the wound"

Repeatable lines
A lot of state pumping lines you can only use once per person, but occasionally, you'll find one that is repeatable. "Sunlight!" is one, and for a long time me and my friends said "Thats it! you're out of the group!" all the time.
Repeatable lines are the best, because you don't have to be clever or creative, but you can still be funny. Theres nothing wrong with being a little predictable, and you'd be suprised at how many people looked forward to being kicked out of the group.
These lines are GOLD and you should treat them as such. As long as you let them, they'll state pump you, and people will enjoy it. But as soon as you start thinking stuff like "Maybe I'm using it to much" or "Maybe its annoying people" than the line will die.

Escalate
There are three reactions to a state pumping line.
Resistance. Person doesn't get the joke and gets defensive. (girls never do this, but guys do it a lot) State is reverted
Accept. Person gets that this is a joke. New state is accepted
Escalate. Person counters with state pump. Higher state.

a couple examples
"you're like my arch rival!"
Resistance: "No we actually have a lot in common!"
Accept: "I know, but somehow we get along"
Escalate. "I know, you suck, I hate you!"

"stupid line from movie"
Resistance: frown, look disapproving, "What the hell was that"
Accept: laugh
Escalate: "Another stupid line from same or different movie"

You should state pump as long as the other person escalates. Once they accept, you can't state pump that thread anymore
me: Sunlight!
friend:Sunlight!
me: Sunlight!
friend: laughs

now that he's stopped escalating, it would look try hard and uncomfortable for me to say "Sunlight!" again
Accepting instead of escalating kind of ends the fun, so try to escalate whenever you can. If you get with the right person you'll be laughing so hard you can barely breath.


Resistance
Here's a random story that should probably be in another section, but I'll put it here anyway.
I was at a circuit city, and I noticed two guys who were purchasing a DVD of the Golden Girls. I started teasing them about it, and made a bunch of jokes. Both of them always laughed at the punch line, and by the end we were having a great time. Before we had to go, I realized one of them hadn't said anything at all. I just thought he was shy.
Turns out he was deaf.
He didn't understand a word I said, he was laughing because my body language told him too.

When you state pump, the words don't matter. That means that anyone who's laid back, and can go with the flow will respond favorably to your state pump. Regardless of wether or not it makes sense to them.

Resitance either indicates that that person does not like you, or that they are very concerned about what other people think of them. Its a very bad sign when someone resists being happier.

I've almost never have a girl resist a state pump, but guys do it all the time.

So, don't ever resist a state pump. Do everything you can to get out of the habbit of being defensive or judgemental. Don't try to be cool, or be alpha, or try to establish that you have the power. People who have those qualities don't need to prove them.

Don't try to think of clever comebacks. the ones that make the other guy look like the fool. When you talk ideally, everyone should be a little happier.

If a girl (or guy) teases you, than you should assume their trying to state pump and counter with a state pump.
"you mac girls are sooo mean"
"oh I know, why are you even talking to me?"
"baby, thats what high heels are for"

If you can't state pump, or they really are being aggressive, than just go along with it as though they're not teasing you at all.

Sometimes its all about frame control. If he's going with the "asshole" frame, and you've put the "funny guy" or "friendly guy" frame on him instead. Which do you think he'll stick with?

One guy tried to tease me about my hair. He was like "I love your hair, I used to have that same style! High five!" and than after the high five, he said "yeah, I had it back in the 5th grade" and he and his friends tried to laugh like it was an insult.

I just said "yeah, back in the 5th grade, I had the pony tail, did you have that too?" and than we all had like a 5 minute conversation about the bad hair cuts we had.

It doesn't make for a very cool or clever story, but thats the point.

This is inner game stuff. People who like themselves don't care what other people think of them.



Scary and akward situations
You can't state pump while your uncomfortable. Don't try to use state pumping to ignore a problem. You have to at least acknoledge and hopefully deal with the problem before you can state pump again. Any attempts to do otherwise, will only make the problem worse.

When I'm bored, I like to think of things I could say in random situations that would make me feel more relaxed. It helps mitigate the fear of the unknown. Here are a couple example scenarios: (Obviously, these are not field tested)

If I try to kiss a girl and she pulls back.
"Oh my god, that looked so much cooler in my head!" "I call mulligan. Do over!"

If a guy ever threatens to punch me.
"Alright, but I should warn you, if you punch me, I'm TOTALLY going to cry like a little baby"

If I'm ever in mugging and they have a gun.
"Alright, but can you please put the gun away, its really fucking scary. Don't worry, ever since I stabbed myself in the leg I can hardly run at all"

Bank Robbery.
"how cool is this! I can't believe I'm part of a bank robbery!" (and if I'm there with my girlfriend) "You know what this means right, 'Thank god we're alive sex!' I'm so getting laid tonight!"



Learning to state pump is the best thing you can do for yourself
In terms of inner game, you're teaching yourself how to be happy. You don't need to rely on external influences to be in a good mood. Instead of being an introvert where people are draining, it'll make you an extrovert where you get more energy just from being around people.
It'll destroy your approach anxiety. Instead of dreading how it'll go, you'll look forward to talking to her and getting new material to tease her about.
Eventually it'll even help you understand that everyone really is the same. You can state pump a 10, a 2, your boss, or even that old bum on the street.

In terms of outer game, well, it is the very definition of charismatic. Everyone will enjoy being around you. It feels like theirs just this bubble of friends around me all the time. You get all kinds of social proof. Even complete strangers will feel like you "get them". While technically it would be labeled as "Attraction" stuff, I would actually consider it more "Comfort", because the people you talk to will feel like they can be themselves around you. That they can make their jokes without fearing rejection. It lets them really open up. I've even had a couple people say they've been waiting for a chance to say their comebacks for months.

It seems odd, but if I'm with a friend, especially those who don't know (or believe) what I do, and I joke with the cashier or the waitress, they say "Wow, she was really friendly". It doesn't look like I'm charming her or I'm doing anything special, it just looks like we've been friends for a while. Like we just clicked.

I know that this is a common argument on these forums, but your looks don't matter at all if you can state pump. As long as you don't care, they won't either. I was really stressed out about my hair for a while, because it looks pretty bad. I kept trying different things with it, but I was never happy with it, so I just gave up. I don't comb it, I don't put gel in it, I just don't care. I've had guys tease me about it, and I've had girls walk up to me and tell me that I seriosly need to see someone about it. But the people who never mention it are the ones who I'm hitting on.
At first, I though it was just because they didn't want to bring it up because that would essentially be blowing me off, and they didn't want me to leave. But actually, its way more crazy than that. It turns out those girls actually LIKED my hair.

Have you ever met someone who was really pretty, and coudn't help but like them even though they were a complete bitch?

Well, it works the opposite way too!

If they're attracted to your personality, than they will find you physically attractive. It would be mentally incongruent for them to like being around you but not like seeing you.

In much the same way trying to impress someone who's in a high state is a waste of your energy. The logic for them is this, if they like you, than you must be awesome. It would be incongruent for them to like someone who is not. I told a girl I was a bum once(because I don't have a job and I live on my friends couch), but before I could explain what I meant, you could litterally see her mind racing to fill in the details about why she should be impressed by that. Her eyes lit up, and she was like "Really? So you just live on the beach, and try to live on the land? Thats so cool!" And than she was disappointed when I told her what I actually meant. Like I almost lost this set because I wasn't really a bum!




Warnings about state-pumping
I'll tell you the advice that Braddock told me.
Be careful because states fade.
I can easily get a girls phone number, but when I try to call her, she won't have the high energy state that we had while we talked. She'll only remember the real stuff we talked about.

State pumping isn't real. Its razzle dazzle. It will not get you laid, it will not get you a girlfriend, and it probably won't even get you a day 2. People that I've only state pumped won't even recognize me the next time I see them.

So, don't forget the model. Don't forget to qualify, and don't forget to run comfort. Make sure you talk at a low energy state too. Make sure you get some kind of report going.


Alright, well I hope that helps. Go out there and have fun!

[starcraft]

it helped. thanks.