Cracked wrote a great article explaining the psychology of radicalization

prometheangambit · 2016-02-10T07:47:07+00:00

Anecdotally, the one main difference between TRP and the other cult movements, drawing from the article, is that it didn't really confirm my moral code, or make me feel better. Hell, I actually hated the Red Pill for it's ability to fit the data my experiences.

Redpill didn't solve my problems. It created more of them. It demands way too much upfront effort (go to the gym and lift!), they don't promise happiness in the long-run, and they demolish idealism in favor of pragmatic success. They constantly remind everyone that they're being amoral when advocating blatantly questionable tactics so they can't even take the moral high ground.

This is very unbecoming of a proper "cult" or "ideology," and yet the Red Pill grows. It's almost like they don't want followers and yet more show up. So I don't think labeling Redpill as an ideology or "stupid" will help discussion, especially with their blatant terrible recruitment strategy.

You'd have a better case if you claimed that the Red Pill says "All men are alpha!" Then again, what's the most common advance put forth by the mainstream media?

"Just be yourself," because someone will love you for just the way you are. Uh huh.

prodigy2throw · 2016-02-09T19:35:12+00:00

Exhibit A: the "pro rape rally fiasco"

Interversity · 2016-02-09T22:12:51+00:00

Solid article, but one issue

Then if you, as a cool, rational person, butt in and say, "Actually, yoga is just engaging the endonomic nervous system and reducing cortisol levels," all they're going to hear is you replacing a very easy-to-understand explanation with a very complicated one that sounds like gibberish.

endonomic nervous system

Jesus fucking christ, this made it past Cracked's editors? I thought they were better than that.

edit: sounds like something we know

Wait, wouldn't that imply that each group is actually feeding membership of the other, and that there's a weird symbiotic relationship between any two opposing "sides" that actually ensures the survival of both? Yep!

Oh shit, he linked to slate star codex

Admit it: You're secretly sure that if you'd been a white man in the Jim Crow South, you'd have been one of the non-racist ones. You'd have been one of the young Germans who didn't get sucked in by Hitler. When imagining ourselves transported to another time and place, we always assume our Default Moral Setting will somehow travel with us, because we can't conceive of a life without it. It is the one thing that makes it almost impossible for us to truly understand one another.

And when you try to get someone to actually deviate from her default, well, that's when every other item on this list assembles itself into a single Voltron to oppose you. You're asking her to A) abandon what has worked for her so far, B) let those evil bastards on the other side win, C) betray her friends, and D) embrace (what she sees as) immorality.

Many people would literally rather die.

This is what we're trying to do on PPD. The debate over whether this actually ever occurs, rages on.

firstpitchthrow · 2016-02-10T03:11:50+00:00

Cracked wrote something good? They have done that in years.

chazzALB · 2016-02-10T14:46:23+00:00

"Cracked wrote a great article.."

I never thought I'd see those words together.

FirionDarklight · 2016-02-09T21:23:53+00:00

Archive please. I don't give cracked clicks.

Xemnas81 · 2016-02-09T23:16:45+00:00

Also Google 'this video will make you angry'

Same issue.

disposable_pants · 2016-02-10T19:37:10+00:00

You can argue that anything you don't believe in fits each of these criteria. All shit like this lets you do is call those things a cult and further distance yourself from critically engaging them.

LordFishFinger · 2016-02-10T23:03:39+00:00

But here's the key: When a Scientologist (or Muslim, or Christian, or yoga enthusiast) says it works for them, this is what they're talking about. The mythology isn't important -- if these rituals have saved your life and later on a teacher says, "Yeah, this technique works because of the ancient thetans that live in your asshole," you're going to shrug and say, "Sure, sounds good." If you tell the lady in yoga class that the reason she feels better afterward is because negative spiritual energies tend to pool in the hip joints, you'll get the same reaction.

Holy shit, #5 sums up the criticisms against TRP perfectly. I will be copying and pasting this from now on, thanks OP.

Cracked wrote a great article explaining the psychology of radicalization

5 People care only about "what works"

4 It's all about fear

3 Friends matter more than politics

2 People tend to have similar morals; radically different conclusions come from believing radically different sets of 'facts'

1 Most people end up in their group of accident.

Comments

Title	Cracked wrote a great article explaining the psychology of radicalization
Author	redpill_kurious
Upvotes	5
Comments	20
Date	February 9, 2016 7:03 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/44ya8e/cracked_wrote_a_great_article_explaining_the/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/cracked-wrote-a-great-article-explaining-the.276347 https://theredarchive.com/post/276347