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> It was sort of like claustrophobia combined with the sense of multiple people touching me or something. Really bizarre. I think there's many layers to it, bu

> It was sort of like claustrophobia combined with the sense of multiple people touching me or something. Really bizarre. I think there's many layers to it, but the super sweet ambient music with suspiciously-happy people also made me very uneasy. One aspect of why could be because video fails to capture the actual atmosphere: for example we have no smells. Another one is because such scenery immediately reminds me of cult clichés: in mainstream media and movies when we're presented which something that looks so nice there's usually a plot twist coming up :)

the_other 5y ago
I visited a cohousing project in Leeds, UK[0], a couple of years ago. I experienced first-hand the “cult-like” and “suspiciously happy” vibes. My most generous interpretation (and the one I cling to because I hope to live in cohousing one day) is this: cults and many religions answer big questions for you, meaning you’re not background-level concerned with those things any more. Your stress goes down. They help you sync up your behaviours and world-views in a way that typically many of us struggle with in the “urban West”. I guess/intuit/hope that cohousing does the same. You’re (mostly) out of the housing market; you have (likely) had a hand in planning how you live; you know most of your neighbours and likely have built (or designed and managed) roads, drains houses and gardens with them; you have met or helped set guidelines about the neighbours who weren’t involved with the build; your outgoings are (hopefully) lower; your daily surroundings are (hopefully) nicer and you’re a (part-)owner of them, and have a rota for helping manage them. [0]: https://www.lilac.coop/ https://www.lilac.coop/
- JPKab 5y ago
  Good observations here. And if we're honest about this, the Amish in Pennsylvania (and a few other states) have had this nailed a lot longer than these folks.
  - the_other 5y ago
    Right. The “suspiciously happy” thing is (I hope) a tell that the current defaults are off.

the_other 5y ago

I visited a cohousing project in Leeds, UK[0], a couple of years ago. I experienced first-hand the “cult-like” and “suspiciously happy” vibes. My most generous interpretation (and the one I cling to because I hope to live in cohousing one day) is this: cults and many religions answer big questions for you, meaning you’re not background-level concerned with those things any more. Your stress goes down. They help you sync up your behaviours and world-views in a way that typically many of us struggle with in the “urban West”. I guess/intuit/hope that cohousing does the same. You’re (mostly) out of the housing market; you have (likely) had a hand in planning how you live; you know most of your neighbours and likely have built (or designed and managed) roads, drains houses and gardens with them; you have met or helped set guidelines about the neighbours who weren’t involved with the build; your outgoings are (hopefully) lower; your daily surroundings are (hopefully) nicer and you’re a (part-)owner of them, and have a rota for helping manage them. [0]: https://www.lilac.coop/ https://www.lilac.coop/

JPKab 5y ago
Good observations here. And if we're honest about this, the Amish in Pennsylvania (and a few other states) have had this nailed a lot longer than these folks.
- the_other 5y ago
  Right. The “suspiciously happy” thing is (I hope) a tell that the current defaults are off.