Pickup artists

In his 2005 book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, Neill Strauss described his experiences with the pickup artist community in Los Angeles. He explained the various techniques they use to pick up women — in particular the Mystery Method, which he apparently used to great success.

But do pickup artist playbooks actually work? Neill Strauss says they do, but he had a book to sell.

The female perspective

A couple of female friends have been on the receiving end of pickup artist attempts, and they described the experience as odd.

Normally when a guy tries to chat them up, he plays it by ear. He subconsciously reads her body language, gauges his chances, and cuts his losses if there's no interest.

But with pickup artists it was different. It felt as though they were reading from a script — which they probably were — and they didn't pick up on the hints. Because they were executing a playbook rather than relying on their instincts, they didn't pay much attention to the women's reactions.

One friend got fed up and politely told the guy that he wasn't her type, and could he please go away. The other gave out a fake phone number. Reading between the lines in The Game, fake phone numbers are a common problem for pickup artists.

The pickup funnel

For a man, picking up typically follows these steps:

1. Of the women he sees, he finds some of them attractive.
2. Of those, he speaks to some of them.
3. Of those, he gets a date with some of them.
4. Of those, he has sex with some of them.

Because a number of women drop out at each step in the process, you can think of it as a funnel. Pickup artists will have you believe that their strategies improve the conversion rate at each step, but I'm not convinced, based on anecdotal evidence. If anything, their conversion rate is probably worse, because they override their instincts and approach women who are out of their league.

Where the playbooks do make a difference, however, is by widening the top of the funnel. A guy following a pickup playbook will talk to way more women than he would normally. His conversion rate may be terrible, but at least he's in with a chance. That's better than the alternative for most of these guys — sitting on the couch playing computer games — where their chances are zero.

So maybe the best option for men is to mix and match strategies: to follow a playbook by dressing to impress and going where there are lots of single women, then following their instincts and playing it by ear. It would be a more pleasant experience for all involved.