I get extremely suspicious of people when I discover that there's some guy whose work they're super into and have made the foundation of their personal philosophy. I do this even if the guy is someone whose work I like, and even if they're someone I like personally.
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(Theoretically I would also get extremely suspicious if the person whose work they were into was not a guy, but in practice the object of intellectual fixation usually seems to be a guy)
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I've been seeing this with David Deutsch a lot recently - a lot of people are super into him and whenever I find a new one I have a very strong "Oh gods not one of you again" reaction.
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Replying to @GeniesLoki
I agree with this re the Critical Rationalist community (with one exception who I hope knows I am subtweeting her) but am too polite to say so :) “How do I avoid starting a cult” is something I occasionally worry about but it doesn’t seem imminent yet
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Replying to @Meaningness @GeniesLoki
Do you have any ideas why cultishness hasn’t popped up around you, David? I wonder if meta-rat’ism having no fixed frame helps. CR does have this IMO, but everyone tends to interpret it as having a practical ideology that is True and Follows from the Laws of Epistemology.
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Replying to @reasonisfun @GeniesLoki
Turning the question around: Cults are rare enough that there must be fairly stringent preconditions for formation. I’ve got a reasonably good idea of what those are and don’t meet most of them.
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It might get tricky if I started producing finished works, made them more accessible, provided concrete exercises, taught in person, had a YouTube series, etc. All of which I’ve intended to for ~5 years, but circumstances have prevented.
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None of that seems very culty! If you're teaching therapeutic techniques in person, the teacher-student boundaries probably needs careful thought; "transference" and what not. As long you're not claiming supernatural abilities and infallible knowledge, you should be all good!
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Well the examples cited upthread did not invoke claims of omniscience or supernatural abilities. In a slightly loose use of the term, you can build a cult around almost anything. It’s the social dynamics more than the content
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Replying to @Meaningness @Podge_G and
Your invocation of transferrence is well-taken imo
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