7 ms·
The Psychology of Cults
- imperio59 3y agoAh yes, the "it's not bigotry because it's taught at Harvard" garbage. No thanks.
- DiggyJohnson 3y agoWhat? What do cults have to do with bigotry?
- pfannkuchen 3y agoWell, in a way, it doesn’t seem to encourage any evaluation of whether the cults had a point or were positive, it just assumes they are negative. That is technically bigotry (though so is a gazelle being afraid of all lions).
- what-no-tests 3y agoPlot-twist: our entire society is essentially a cult, parenting and education is simply indoctrination, and the same psychological glitches which are exploited in order to produce compliant citizens are also exploited by would-be cult leaders to control their unfortunate members. Can't fix the problem because doing so would unravel everything we call society.
- kdmccormick 3y agoWhy would you say something so controversial, yet so brave?
- voisin 3y agoCult and society being one and the same: a shared delusional thinking that one’s value system is the one true answer. Cult being just a minority with particularly (in the majority’s view) extreme positions.
- mdanger007 3y agoI think we can all appreciate the flexibility of language when defining the word cult. But in practical terms was the Branch davidian the same as, say, the Mormon church or your nan's knitting circle?
- sidlls 3y agoThe difference between Mormonism (or any other religion) and a cult is one of degree, not kind
- jwally 3y agoThe joke is the difference between a cult and a religion is 100 years.
- mdanger007 3y agoI like the definition: myths are religions people no longer believe in. Cults are far more exclusive and demanding of their members
- mdanger007 3y agoThat is not true. A defining characteristic of cults is a sense of imminite danger from government or status quo and a willingness to lay down ones life in defense of it. To say that is a few degrees off of what major religions think means your compass is waaay off!
- maxfurman 3y agoThis would have described the Mormon church not long ago. That's why they went to Utah!
- mdanger007 3y agoYou got a point: new religions are cult like but you got to agree that fleeing religious persecution and loading up stockpiles are also kinds, not degrees!
- colechristensen 3y agoUh, the word is culture. Yes. Indeed. Thoughts and behavior are inherited in ways exactly the same as evolution but transmitted through various forms of learning and writing, etc. instead of through genetic material. Saying it with a sneer does not really add anything.
- dilawar 3y agoI find zero-, positive-, and negative- sum games classification more informative. I guess the negative sum or zero sum cult are oppressive while the positive sum cults are tolerable? Rich are definitely getting richer and it is not so bad as long as poor are also doing a little better?
- themodelplumber 3y ago> and the same psychological glitches which are exploited in order to produce compliant citizens are also exploited by would-be cult leaders to control their unfortunate members. That's only true in part. Cults typically play on combinations of specific aspects of psychology, and generally a given cult will only "work" on certain people. The same is true for parenting and education. Not all children can be effectively parented (or cultily-parented to take your view for a moment) by their specific parents, and certainly not all children can be indoctrinated, let alone educated as intended in a given environment. Further, I think it's wise to add in these cases that a thing can be systematic and be explained in an organized manner to appear as if it's organized and systematic on purpose, and even designed by specific individuals, when none of that is actually the case. Otherwise we only-humans tend to start looking for someone to blame, effectively hallucinating. And in many cases the problem you describe can be fixed without unraveling society and _already is being fixed automatically in many ways_. But that also requires going into lots of details to discuss; the generalities alone, while exciting or fear-inducing in isolation, tend to resolve down to too much hand-waving. A lot of good people are out there working their @$$ses off helping people work together to improve society, bringing the best parts forward while leaving this unwanted stuff behind us.
- jychang 3y agoMeh, he discovered why the word “culture” and “cult” share the same root. Or “cultivate”. That’s not some grand observation, any middle schooler can see the obvious reason why they’re similar.
- ke88y 3y ago[flagged]
- colechristensen 3y agoYou know those two things aren’t the same, being hyperbolic does not help and no one should be impressed by the snark.
- swayvil 3y agoI think it's a pretty good comparison.
- worrycue 3y agoThe relationship between the worker and the organisation is different. With Amazon it’s purely transactional. Amazon isn’t promising anything but money to their warehouse workers. With Moon’s cult, the cult defined their follower’s world view.
- colechristensen 3y agoThen you are stupid. Not being able to tell the difference between brainwashed sleep deprivation working for starvation rations and a mediocre warehouse job is why we still have problems with major labor issues. You have to be able to recognize the degrees of things and accurately measure problems and improvements. Hyperbole means nobody that disagrees with you will even spend a second paying attention to you and the people who are on your side are weakened substantially because it’s easy to dismiss them by comparing them to you. You are not helping. You are the problem.
- swayvil 3y ago>...you are stupid... The argument of somebody who is heavily invested.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- swayvil 3y agoYou gotta ask, "am I in a cult?"
- dylan604 3y agoAt this point, I think most tech companies are a cult. So, on this board, a large number of people should be replying "yes".
- DiggyJohnson 3y agoBut labor is fundamentally transactional, and genuinely so. A cult is not.
- dylan604 3y agowow, if that's what you think defines a cult, then I'd venture you haven't spent too much time around cults.
- DiggyJohnson 3y ago1. I haven't spent a lot of time around cults. 2. I didn't claim this defines a cult, I'm pointing out a key difference.
- ke88y 3y agoOr as a laborer. (See: literally any thread about RTO, or grad school, or starup culture vs corporate culture, and so on.)
- it 3y agoFinal research project: start your own cult.
- B0073D 3y agoCalm down L Ron Hubbard
- stickfigure 3y agoThese are the 2020s. It's "L-Ron".
- pfannkuchen 3y agoThis would be a reasonably clever name for a rapper.
- initramfs 3y agoI also recommend Don Delillo's Mao II, which covers the Moon cult and the deprogramming of one of the ex-followers. And Ted Patrick! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlNrWlakmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlNrWlakmA Cults are fascinating- some appear to be by opportunists, and others true believers, but all are dangerous. I feel that the word cult is sometimes given a bad name, and it is overlooked in the word culture, yet I think it is a great way to examine modern-day dictatorships and nuclear powers, which still use some some of that power (maybe not so much in the west) to broadcast a cult of personality.
- stOneskull 3y agoi wonder about the boundary lines. is believing that moses got ten commandments on a mountain like a cult?
- initramfs 3y agoI guess it depends. I've always liked this phrase, and it's not exclusive to the Christian Bible- it's in other Abrahamic faiths: "“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them… But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” – Matthew 13:11-14, 16" Though I have to say, what is in the ten commandments isn't the most terrible advice. :)
- stOneskull 3y agoit's good advice. it's what i'd direct my tribe with. that's what it is. the tribe leaders writing what is what for the ordinary people. that becomes their truth. it is a brainwashing, and i think, is basically what cult means.
- distortionfield 3y agoIf you agree with the BITE model then yes. Yes it is.
- GartzenDeHaes 3y agoMind Control Made Easy by Carey Burtt (HQ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJfm71I0OyU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJfm71I0OyU
- what-no-tests 3y agoBut...don't you WANT to be a cult leader?
- mvncleaninst 3y agoFeel the need to post this fantastic read: https://www.thecut.com/article/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-students.html https://www.thecut.com/article/larry-ray-sarah-lawrence-stud... > His primary conversational tactic is to overwhelm. He can go on 20-minute unbroken monologues, especially if the subject turns to his victimhood. Everyone in his past, from his defense attorneys to his own mother, is “corrupt” or “biased.” He firmly believes that he, Felicia, Isabella, and Talia have been poisoned — and are still being poisoned. “We’ve suffered so much, and we’re still suffering so much,” he says. Has anyone here met anyone like this irl?
- spicymapotofu 3y agoI no longer speak with my neighbour, but she introduces herself quickly to everyone that moves into the building. When she speaks like this, I suspect it's part of a manic episode.
- spiderfarmer 3y agoYes, an angry, orange one.