4 ms·

It would be interesting to see a research on how pyramid schemes participants, political/religious extremists and cult participants show some really common trai

It would be interesting to see a research on how pyramid schemes participants, political/religious extremists and cult participants show some really common traits. They are always blind to the facts, rationalize and deflect everything. Always repeating the same arguments that were served to them "What about gold?", "What about financial market in general?", "What about Hillary?", "What about Islam?".... There is a strong sense of community, superiority and being enlightened. Always entrenched in their position, defending their situation and never ever admitting the most evident facts of the situation....

unsupp0rted 4y ago
> They are always blind to the facts, rationalize and deflect everything. Always repeating the same arguments that were served to them. That's true of most people about most things. It's not exclusive to extremists or cultists. In fact, all of the above is. I didn't used to notice when I was younger because I was always on the winning team by default.
alephnan 4y ago
So people who ask "What about Hillary?" are extremists, but people who ask “What about Trump” aren’t ? ( it’s very obvious what your leanings are ) You’re projecting a strong sense of community, superiority and being enlightened. Since you place an importance on facts, explain why a wide range of ethnic minorities shifted their vote in favor of Trump from 2016 to 2022, while white voters swayed the other way. Looking forward to the rationalization and deflection
- aww_dang 4y ago
  It isn't worth it to get into the weeds with the specifics of political movements. Agree that "cult like" devotion isn't seen as such when it is aligned towards the dominant narrative of a community. That is seen as normative. The reasoning or lack thereof can be equivalent in all aspects as long as it suits the bias of the viewer. Getting back to the topic at hand, the intense hatred, the half-baked misapplication of the word ponzi, could be described as cult like. I'm not sure "cult like" is especially meaningful as a criticism given this. It reads as more of a signal of affiliation to one tribe rather than a insightful critique.
- dang 4y ago
  You've unfortunately been breaking the site guidelines a ton lately. We ban accounts that do that. If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it. That means no more personal attacks, not using the site primarily for ideological/political battle, and more.
- dakial1 4y ago
  Quod erat demonstrandum.
coldpie 4y ago
There is a large body of research around this phenomenon. I think looking up "conspiratorial thinking" will get you started in the right direction. A major part of the "scientific skepticism" community is studying this kind of thinking, and trying to discover how to treat or prevent people from falling into that kind of trap.

unsupp0rted 4y ago

> They are always blind to the facts, rationalize and deflect everything. Always repeating the same arguments that were served to them. That's true of most people about most things. It's not exclusive to extremists or cultists. In fact, all of the above is. I didn't used to notice when I was younger because I was always on the winning team by default.

alephnan 4y ago

So people who ask "What about Hillary?" are extremists, but people who ask “What about Trump” aren’t ? ( it’s very obvious what your leanings are ) You’re projecting a strong sense of community, superiority and being enlightened. Since you place an importance on facts, explain why a wide range of ethnic minorities shifted their vote in favor of Trump from 2016 to 2022, while white voters swayed the other way. Looking forward to the rationalization and deflection

aww_dang 4y ago
It isn't worth it to get into the weeds with the specifics of political movements. Agree that "cult like" devotion isn't seen as such when it is aligned towards the dominant narrative of a community. That is seen as normative. The reasoning or lack thereof can be equivalent in all aspects as long as it suits the bias of the viewer. Getting back to the topic at hand, the intense hatred, the half-baked misapplication of the word ponzi, could be described as cult like. I'm not sure "cult like" is especially meaningful as a criticism given this. It reads as more of a signal of affiliation to one tribe rather than a insightful critique.
dang 4y ago
You've unfortunately been breaking the site guidelines a ton lately. We ban accounts that do that. If you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it. That means no more personal attacks, not using the site primarily for ideological/political battle, and more.
dakial1 4y ago
Quod erat demonstrandum.

coldpie 4y ago

There is a large body of research around this phenomenon. I think looking up "conspiratorial thinking" will get you started in the right direction. A major part of the "scientific skepticism" community is studying this kind of thinking, and trying to discover how to treat or prevent people from falling into that kind of trap.