[juju]

In this thread, I want to enumerate all the various characteristics of cult-like behavior.

There's a certain mindset that people often fall into, and it seems to be a very common and dangerous thing. Often people who fall into this way of thinking have a reality and logic all their own. The process by which people are converted to this mindset often equates to mind control. I feel like I have a certain insight into this process because I've experienced it for myself. I've never written it all down before though, so I don't have all the points in my head right now. I always find myself recognizing certain ways of thinking whenever I see them, but I usually forget the point a short time afterward.

So, this thread will be a work in progress, and I'll add to it whenever I come across something that I recognize from my past.


Point #1: You have all the answers.

Many cults have a leader that seems to know everything. The all-inspiring divine entity. He's a prophet, blessed by God with eternal knowledge. Maybe he actually is Jesus himself. Maybe he or she has just had a near-death experience whereby they "crossed over to the other side", and that experience granted them great insight and a newfound zest for life. Or maybe they've just figured some really cool shit out, and noone else will admit that they have the answer. Yeah, that's it! It's a conspiracy! Those naysayers will eventually realize that we were right, when that 10-mile wide asteroid smacks them in the face!!

My point is that in all cults, there's a sense that they have all the answers on a certain topic. In many cases, this feeling is so strong that there is an actual person who is actually purported to possess irrefutable knowledge.

It's comforting to know that someone in an organization or group that you've just joined has all the answers. If someone's just becoming interested in a certain philosophy or way of thinking, they'll no doubt have a lot of questions. Most likely the very reason they sought out the group is because they had unanswered questions on a certain topic.

Curiosity seems to be one of the driving forces of humankind. It's almost as strong as hunger in some cases. We want to know what's going on, how things work. It kills us not to know. I think that's why we've come so far as race. The industrial revolution, the microchip revolution, science, religion. Or how about the search for a shorter route to India? Hell, even the mass migration out of Africa is an example of this. Who knows why Man decided to leave his home 2 million years ago? 4 million years ago, our ancestors developed the ability to walk upright. But then it took them 2 million years before they just up and decided to leave Africa. What, suddenly your home's not good enough? Did something happen in our brain? Was some sort of curious drive spawned just then? What was there 4 million years ago that wasn't there 2 million years ago?

I guess they were probably just chasing after food, but I like to think there was also certain sense of adventure and curiosity about the whole thing, too. Maybe they wanted to see what was out there?

Getting back to the hypothetical person joining the group, they're seeking answers. In some people's cases, it's not so much a quest for the truth as it is an attempt to get rid of that annoying feeling of doubt and uncertainty. Then, they pop their new friends all the big questions, and the answer comes back, "It's this way. No question about it. I know for sure".

This indoctrination process takes some time, as the student has to become convinced that their new friends' philosophy really is irrefutable. There's a certain euphoria that comes with being content in your knowledge. It's just like eating a big steak -- you don't have that terrible, aching hunger anymore, and it's so wonderful. Can't everyone have this feeling? But was what I just learned right? Stop asking questions! You don't want that aching feeling to come back, do you? Besides, we have all the answers, because it's ordained by God/I spoke to Jesus personally/the other scientists won't admit it/the bible isn't open to interpretation.

Undertoad and I both have a high regard for the philosophy of "sometimes I'm wrong". It's a very important thing to remember, because sometimes you are wrong, even when you're sure you're right. But this philosophy is important for more than just avoiding mistakes. Believing that there is an irrefutable source of knowledge somewhere can be very dangerous. It will suck you up, and encompass you in a world all your own. You'll live in the same world everyone else lives in, but you'll interpret everything you see through a thick reality filter. You'll only see your own reality, and it will reach the point where you'll develop blind spots around the truth just to protect your imaginary truth. The brain reaches this desperate state where it'll do anything to maintain the illusion of the world it's built up around itself. Drugs pale by comparison, because you can get so far gone that the brains' defense mechanisms are like second nature. It becomes more than a philosophy -- it's a way of constructing your thoughts. Once you're that far gone, the only way out of it is to completely re-do the skeletal architecture of your brain and re-think how to interpret reality. And that is a difficult task indeed.