A pertinent question

A commenter at Susan's asks what is a very useful question, given that women have a much harder time detecting players than their fellow men do:

What are some strategies for women to weed out men who have had many partners? How can you tell?

First, ask him. If he’s smoothly evasive and doesn’t actually mention any quantity while changing the subject or flipping the frame onto you, he’s almost surely a player of some degree. If he’s not that experienced, he’ll generally be awkward and overly explanatory, going into strange details about this and that girlfriend, trying to determine what counts and what doesn't. In general, if you’re left feeling halfway embarrassed for the guy, you’re safe. If you find yourself realizing half an hour later that you never got an actual answer, you’re screwed. So to speak.

Perhaps the best example of this sort of non-answer was when Charles and Diana were asked if they were in love. She said: “Of course!” He said: “What is love?” and smoothly deflected the interviewer. If you get a “what is love” sort of philosophical answer, you’re probably in over your head. If you’re really unlucky, you’ll run into a Dark Gamer who will pull a Yohami on you. “Love love love, let’s bring this dream home.” Nothing you can do about that.

Second, ask your male friends, particularly those you are confident are not interested in you. Men's radar for these things is vastly superior to women's; we tend to see right through the sorcerous BS that so enthralls women.