LESSWRONG
LW

This sort of things continue to give me cultish vibes. I don't know exactly what you are doing in these sessions, but the accounts I've read remind me of stuff like the "Synanon Game".

[-]fubarobfusco11y30

Can you imagine some piece of evidence you could hear about these events that would make them sound more "cultish"?

Can you imagine some piece of evidence you could hear about them that would make them sound less "cultish"?

What kinds of things might an aversion to "cultishness" protect you from? (Some I can think of: Giving all your money to the Church of Scientology; being sexually abused by a guru you trust; being alienated from your family and friends because they think you're a heretic or into scary weird shit.)

If you could take a moment to read Isaac Bonewits' "ABCDEF", does his effort to categorize some of the bad things about "cults" help at all?

[-]V_V11y10

Can you imagine some piece of evidence you could hear about these events that would make them sound more "cultish"? Can you imagine some piece of evidence you could hear about them that would make them sound less "cultish"?

Yes.

What kinds of things might an aversion to "cultishness" protect you from? (Some I can think of: Giving all your money to the Church of Scientology; being sexually abused by a guru you trust; being alienated from your family and friends because they think you're a heretic or into scary weird shit.)

These seem to be good examples of potential dangers. More include believing stupid nonsense, doing generally irrational things, being locked into an exploitative social network, etc.

[-]fubarobfusco11y00

These seem to be good examples of potential dangers. More include believing stupid nonsense, doing generally irrational things, being locked into an exploitative social network, etc.

I think I have a better image of your concerns, but it's still fuzzy. Could you go into more detail?

(This is on my mind a lot because I recently got in touch with an old friend who turns out to be deeply creeped out by LW and CFAR in a way I'm trying to understand better.)

Is "stupid nonsense" the same as "false beliefs"?

I'm unsure about "doing irrational things", too. I have acquaintances who consider pursuing intimate relationships to be "doing irrational things", and others who consider the same of playing board games. So I hope you can be more specific.

"Being locked into an exploitative social network" is a huge big scary serious concern. That's why I linked to "ABCDEF" above, since it's intended as a guide to avoid those, written by someone who has experience as a member and leader of a large number of nonconformist social groups (namely, neopagan religious groups). Did you get a chance to read that?

[-]therufs11y00

I don't know exactly what you are doing in these sessions

I don't know exactly; I wasn't there and it's possible Ben_LandauTaylor made everything up and brainwashed everyone into going along. This all said, have you read the writeup?

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Meetup : Boston - Schelling Day

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Discussion article for the meetup : Boston - Schelling Day

Discussion article for the meetup : Boston - Schelling Day