Which of the three photos in this series of the same man taken at different times in his life strikes you as the face of a hard alpha? A soft beta? A man who has checked out?
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20130601060926im_/http://heartiste.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/lalagesnowwearethenotdead2.jpeg?w=500&h=311)
How about the man in this series?
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20130601060926im_/http://heartiste.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/lalagesnowwearethenotdead3.jpeg?w=500&h=311)
And, finally, what about this man?
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20130601060926im_/http://heartiste.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/lalagesnowwearethenotdead13.jpeg?w=500&h=312)
Make your guesses, then go to the original link to read the details. Are you being duped by manipulative lighting? Or does a man’s face really change to reflect the burdens and the expectations of his life?
If the latter, what you are seeing here is evidence that a man can become more alpha or less alpha, in disposition and even in expression, when circumstances intrude and decisions, sometimes life or death, have to be made. Maybe a man can’t go from 100% beta to 100% alpha on a dime, but he can increase his alpha at the margins. And the margin is all the edge you need, whether the situation you are in is firing at a nest of insurgents or walking up to a girl and capturing her imagination for a night.
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