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We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

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Re: We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

#11

Post by scubbo »

maxbond wrote: post #7

I was waiting for the part that would make it clear what was being satirized, and it never came? I feel like I'm missing context?

My reading is that the very fact that it's so abstract and general is itself the point. What could the cult be? Politics? Religion? A particular professional mindset or focus? Many could fit. Apart from the reference to "promise of godly exaltation or gift in a theoretical afterlife" (which nod towards religion), you could apply a lot of this to many social groups.

Re: We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

#13

Post by eulo__ »

maxbond wrote: post #7

I was waiting for the part that would make it clear what was being satirized, and it never came? I feel like I'm missing context?

I think it's whatever you want it to be. Country, religion, politic, 9-5 work ethic, capitalism, family, etc etc

Just a fun joke on the societal norms around you.

Re: We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

#14

Post by friend_and_foe »

maxbond wrote: post #7

I was waiting for the part that would make it clear what was being satirized, and it never came? I feel like I'm missing context?

I think the idea is to craft a cult sales pitch framed as a support system for cult members that want to leave. The premise of the article is, of course, that we are all in some type of cult.

Re: We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

#15

Post by bbor »

msla wrote: post #6

Aside from all the content-free "Everything I Don't Like Is A Cult" chuntering I already see, what is the point of this? I thought it was a dig at how cult-like the "anticult" deprogramming stuff was back during the last big scare in the 1980s, but it isn't that, because the victims of deprogramming sessions weren't free to leave. That was rather their big problem: They kidnapped people and held them in motel rooms a…

I don’t think it has a point in that sense? Perhaps I’m lacking critical reading skills but this seems more like creative writing than social commentary.

Your response to all the other comments is very on point though. Cults are real, and I think this story repeatedly interacts with some very scary aspects of real cults - aspects not found in an Agile coach or middle manager, in my uninformed opinion.

Re: We are sorry to inform you that you are in a cult

#18

Post by tbrownaw »

maxbond wrote: post #7

I was waiting for the part that would make it clear what was being satirized, and it never came? I feel like I'm missing context?

It feels a bit vintage.

On a cloudless night, go to the last rest stop before Furnace Creek. There you will find...

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