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

labskausleben.bearblog.dev

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

#31

Post by dang »

smaudet wrote: post #24
webkike wrote: post #20

Every now and then an article gets to the front page of this website that completely baffles me as to the reason it got there. Could someone explain this one to me?

Could be in part bot activity. I've seen a couple other weird things rise up on here. The blogging platform for this one is interesting, if you follow the rabbit hole a bit you'll find e.g. https://herman.bearblog.dev/building-software-to-last-foreve... I don't see that many posts, but it appears to have some interesting traffic on it at present. Worth holding on to perhaps? https://github.com/HermanMartinus/bearblog…

I looked at the data; the upvoters are ordinary HN users—not bots, unless someone created bots 7 years ago to comment about monorepos and upvote Haskell blogs.

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

#32

Post by tjr225 »

dmix wrote: post #29
scubbo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> One of the hallmark tactics of a cult is to isolate you from the rest of the world. They make you depend solely on others within the community for your every need, thus making it extremely difficult to leave. This line stood out to me and seems very apt in these days. For ex, how it's now normal to go after people's jobs directly via social media pressure tactics or business's revenue (and subsequently their employ…

No post body was provided.

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

#33

Post by lazyeye »

partiallypro wrote: post #4
clouddrover wrote: post #2

Take the cult test. Apply it to a company you work at. See how you feel: https://cult-escape.com/cult-test/

Honestly, apply it to your political party. I've come to see both parties can be very cultish as of late. If you leave the herd, you are immediately attacked even if it's for the smallest topic. People leave their families over it. When you start to think about it...it's starts to fall a bit into that. I think that is a more compelling argument than saying family itself is a cult, which is at the human core more than…

A good indication of a cult is that there is a shopping list of specific core beliefs (say 20) you are expected to believe. And you believe 19 of them but on the 20th you have a slightly different view.

If this causes you to be banished and ostracised, then it's probably a cult.

JK Rowling would be an example of this.

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

#34

Post by kelseyfrog »

webkike wrote: post #20

Every now and then an article gets to the front page of this website that completely baffles me as to the reason it got there. Could someone explain this one to me?

Cults (and cult-deprogramming) rely on socio-psychological hacks. So it's definitely related to hacking, though maybe not in the way most tech folks default to.

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

#36

Post by rhacker »

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?

Its just funny, it's basically saying your country/politics/church/society is a cult. And then it kind of invites you to join a different cult.

So it's funny x 2

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

#37

Post by etchalon »

lazyeye wrote: post #33
partiallypro wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, apply it to your political party. I've come to see both parties can be very cultish as of late. If you leave the herd, you are immediately attacked even if it's for the smallest topic. People leave their families over it. When you start to think about it...it's starts to fall a bit into that. I think that is a more compelling argument than saying family itself is a cult, which is at the human core more than…

A good indication of a cult is that there is a shopping list of specific core beliefs (say 20) you are expected to believe. And you believe 19 of them but on the 20th you have a slightly different view. If this causes you to be banished and ostracised, then it's probably a cult. JK Rowling would be an example of this.

"I completely agree with the core tenants of Buddhism, but I think I should be able to eat babies."

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

#38

Post by Kamq »

msla wrote: post #28
friend_and_foe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> The premise of the article is, of course, that we are all in some type of cult. Which is precisely what a cult leader would want their victims to think: "Nobody is free, so stay in the group!"

No, a cult leader would say that nobody outside the group is free. Only the group is free, and the freedom comes from the cult-leader in some way (flavor that last part to the kind of cult).

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

#39

Post by TaylorAlexander »

smaudet wrote: post #24
webkike wrote: post #20

Every now and then an article gets to the front page of this website that completely baffles me as to the reason it got there. Could someone explain this one to me?

Could be in part bot activity. I've seen a couple other weird things rise up on here. The blogging platform for this one is interesting, if you follow the rabbit hole a bit you'll find e.g. https://herman.bearblog.dev/building-software-to-last-foreve... I don't see that many posts, but it appears to have some interesting traffic on it at present. Worth holding on to perhaps? https://github.com/HermanMartinus/bearblog…

I read the featured article and found it interesting. Maybe just a difference of opinion?
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