Alpha IQ was created to help alleviate mental anxiety and stresses when dealing with social interaction. The primary goal is to help men who are struggling to break out of their shell and approach life with confidence.
Once this matter of approach is perfected and consistently practiced, they will experience more successes in interpersonal relationships via the suppression of their “limiting beliefs.” Developing a Alpha IQ will not only help men succeed with conquering themselves, but they will in turn find relationships with others easier to build while establishing greater traction in their professional lives as well.
By providing a curriculum of this nature, Alpha IQ aims to guide people who feel helpless and forgotten into behaviours and thought processes that will surely help them get more out of life.
Social Problem
Problem Worth Solving
Every man is seeking the answer to the eternal question: “How do I become confident?” There may be some areas of life where men feel confident and others where they do not. Maybe they are confident with one or two close friends but not with strangers. It may be that they are confident with animals or children but not with adults. They may be able to cook but unable to sing. However, our research shows that one of the most devastating confidence issues for men arises in their interaction with women. Men's level of self-confidence can be seen by women in many ways; in their body language, in their behaviour, how they speak and how they react to different situations. Men with low self-confidence often have negative thoughts about themselves and their ability, which then leads to a downward spiral of under-achievement, disappointment and eventually "Panic Attacks".
These panic attacks can occur whenever young man with low self-esteem does or says something (especially to women) that he afterwards deems to have been inappropriate, stupid, rude, obnoxious, off target, or inaccurate. At that time, the person may experience immediate remorse, excruciating anxiety, his heart racing, his face turning red, a sinking feeling of embarrassment, depression and/or devastation. Wishing he could sink into the floor or disappear he may immediately look for a way to escape. He may feign illness, sneak out without saying anything, or just become totally silent, hoping not to be noticed. He will believe that she saw his blunder and is thinking poorly of him, maybe even laughing at him. This full blown panic attack that may last for minutes, hours, even days during which he berates himself, can drive him to become fearful of seeing anyone who was in attendance at the time he made his "mistake," potentially triggering a length bout of social anxiety disorder and/or depression. Young men who suffer from issues with low self-esteem can have these attacks occur from time to time although they may vary in degree and in length depending upon how serious the person judges his gaffe, how highly he values the opinions of those in attendance, and what he surmises the repercussions will be. Experience shows that as people become desensitized to social situations these attacks gradually become less frequent, less severe in their intensity, and shorter in duration.
Becoming desensitized requires frequent exposure to the social situations and encouragement to change the way a young man thinks, feels, and behaves. The Alpha IQ program aims provide that external help and support via a more practical non-medical method.
A Distinguished Opinion
The Alpha IQ program agrees wholeheartedly with the findings Dr. Philip Zimbardo and his colleague Nikita Coulombe present in their recent book “Man Interrupted– Why young men are struggling & what we can do about it”. Our worldwide obsession with technology is gaining speed, and we need to learn how to coexist with it so that we don’t lose our autonomy or humanness. The Alpha IQ program seeks to do just that by utilizing the tech and entertainment strategies of today to create a system that will shape the world of tomorrow into a better place, creating real-life hero’s via a virtual platform.[1]
~ Dr. Philip Zimbardo
The Alpha IQ program wants to provide real hope and inspiration for young men by creating a new social expectations that more productive for young men and for society. When it comes to some of the more salient theories in “pick up artist” theory and the attraction arts – we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bath water. Staying in touch with certain concepts of masculinity and what captures the minds of young men around the world, Alpha IQ aims to refine certain behaviors in order to create a man in the end that is more articulate and communicative man, who is confident, secure and comfortable showing and receiving respect. Taking a look at the numbers from a TED survey conducted in 2011 by Dr. Phillip Zimbardo and his esteemed colleague Nikita Coulombe, it was revealed that 63% of males we’re having trouble processing conflicting messages from media, institutions, parents and peers about acceptable male behavior. 74% of young men were looking to get taught more practical subjects and skills (i.e. communication, critical thinking and personal finance). Finally, what was most revealing to others and me within my subculture, 73% revealed that they would prefer video games and porn to avoid the sting that comes with risk or rejection.
There are record numbers of young men who are flaming out academically, wiping out socially with girls, and failing sexually with women. [2] The irony is that society is not giving the support, guidance, means, or places for these young men even to be motivated or interested in aspiring to these goals because of the new difficulties facing young men in this changing, uncertain world, many are choosing to isolate themselves in a more rewarding place, a place where they have control over outcomes, where there is no fear of rejection and they are praised for their abilities – the internet. [3]
