I think you’re reading more into the OP than is there. Family relationships were not the particular subject; no relationships of any specific sort were the subject. Relationships with “everybody who he doesn’t consider to be a rationalist” were not the subject. The last may have been suggested by the context of the Columbus Rationality Meetup, but is there anything more here than “other people persuading each other of things I disagree with”? That does not make a cult.
The social default is that you don’t cut of relations with members of your family even if you don’t draw value from those relationships.
In some of the more unpleasant parts of the world, perhaps. A better default is “you don’t cut off relations with members of your family unless for very strong reasons.” Some people do actually have such reasons.
With the inside view you always can find reasons.
I spy invalidation! A telling sign of a cult, undermining the members’ ability to trust themselves!
Indeed, family relationships as such were not my subject. My point was relationships in general, and the benefits of being intentional about our relationships of all types, family, friends, and romantic alike.
On a separate note, I very much agree that in some cases, with “very strong” reasons, it is appropriate to cut off relationships with family members. I myself had to cut off a relationship with a very close family member who reacted very suboptimally to my wife’s mental health crisis this summer, and put a lot of stress and pressure on her and myself during a time of great stress for the two of us. The “domains of agency” model of thinking helped me make that process of withdrawing from the relationship less painful and more intentional.
I think you’re reading more into the OP than is there. Family relationships were not the particular subject; no relationships of any specific sort were the subject. Relationships with “everybody who he doesn’t consider to be a rationalist” were not the subject. The last may have been suggested by the context of the Columbus Rationality Meetup, but is there anything more here than “other people persuading each other of things I disagree with”? That does not make a cult.
In some of the more unpleasant parts of the world, perhaps. A better default is “you don’t cut off relations with members of your family unless for very strong reasons.” Some people do actually have such reasons.
I spy invalidation! A telling sign of a cult, undermining the members’ ability to trust themselves!
Indeed, family relationships as such were not my subject. My point was relationships in general, and the benefits of being intentional about our relationships of all types, family, friends, and romantic alike.
On a separate note, I very much agree that in some cases, with “very strong” reasons, it is appropriate to cut off relationships with family members. I myself had to cut off a relationship with a very close family member who reacted very suboptimally to my wife’s mental health crisis this summer, and put a lot of stress and pressure on her and myself during a time of great stress for the two of us. The “domains of agency” model of thinking helped me make that process of withdrawing from the relationship less painful and more intentional.