Specifically: foster a distrust of what outsiders say, quotes a lot of stuff by a self-appointed charismatic leader, and emphasize a single solution (rationality) for a large number of problems.
Notable also are the large number of cultish things LWers don’t do, such as aggressive recruiting (or really, any recruiting at all).
quotes a lot of stuff by a self-appointed charismatic leader
I wouldn’t exactly call Eliezer a self appointed leader. The community basically accreted around him. If he disavowed being the leader, I think we’d say he was being dishonest or fooling himself.
Not that this is a distinction from cults, the same would probably be true of most of them, I just think it’s not quite accurate as a characterization.
Oh, also I think most cult leaders probably have more charisma off the internet.
Oh, probably. I hear Luke has more real-life charisma… Though he kind of kills the “fosters a distrust of outside sources” with the amount he cites outside sources.
Oh, probably. I hear Luke has more real-life charisma… Though he kind of kills the “fosters a distrust of outside sources” with the amount he cites outside sources.
Quite a lot of charisma, but nothing near the level a cult leader would need to pull off a personality cult. (Although he could probably make up for this if he really wanted to by spending a few weeks reading up research on cult formation then applying it systematically as a ‘how to’ guide.)
Quite a lot of charisma, but nothing near the level a cult leader would need to pull off a personality cult. (Although he could probably make up for this if he really wanted to by spending a few weeks reading up research on cult formation then applying it systematically as a ‘how to’ guide.)
I would like to see Lukeprog post an article on that topic. It would be fascinating.
LWers do many cultish things, but I think it’s safe to say that’s not one of them.
How many?
At least 3:
Specifically: foster a distrust of what outsiders say, quotes a lot of stuff by a self-appointed charismatic leader, and emphasize a single solution (rationality) for a large number of problems.
Notable also are the large number of cultish things LWers don’t do, such as aggressive recruiting (or really, any recruiting at all).
I wouldn’t exactly call Eliezer a self appointed leader. The community basically accreted around him. If he disavowed being the leader, I think we’d say he was being dishonest or fooling himself.
Not that this is a distinction from cults, the same would probably be true of most of them, I just think it’s not quite accurate as a characterization.
Oh, also I think most cult leaders probably have more charisma off the internet.
Oh, probably. I hear Luke has more real-life charisma… Though he kind of kills the “fosters a distrust of outside sources” with the amount he cites outside sources.
Quite a lot of charisma, but nothing near the level a cult leader would need to pull off a personality cult. (Although he could probably make up for this if he really wanted to by spending a few weeks reading up research on cult formation then applying it systematically as a ‘how to’ guide.)
I would like to see Lukeprog post an article on that topic. It would be fascinating.
Fascinating but suboptimal signalling.