scijessreads

I’ve always been a bit fascinated with the idea of cults. Not sure why, but it may stem from my early days being Catholic and having A LOT of questions about things and never really getting answers that seemed to actually answer anything. Honestly, for the most part I was fascinated that people could so completely believe in something just because someone else told them it was true. Again, maybe this is my (very lax) religious upbringing, but I always had questions about how man (and it is almost always a man) could claim to know the true word of anything, let alone a god. Because that word has been passed along in the most inaccurate game of Telephone ever. With a lot heavy editing by those that thought they knew more about what people could understand of God than they would be able to understand themselves.

OK, maybe I have unresolved issues from growing up a sorta church kid.

Either way, Cultish by Amanda Montell was fascinating. It was a delve into the ideas of cults, using language as a means of entry and control. And it quickly became evident that the langauge used has been used for centuries by those trying to grab onto and hold onto power, even the tiniest sliver of it. Because those in power control the narrative. “Words are the medium through which belief systems are manufactured, nurtured, and reinforced.”

When it comes to cult leaders or cult-like leaders, “they’re in the business of selling the transcendent promise of something that doesn’t actually exist.”

Once you hear the language, the creation of this sense of belonging and the idea that anyone on the “outside” is less than worthy, you can see how much of this has been part of human history for a very long time. And this idea of belonging to a group has spiraled out into all facets of life – politics, fitness, sales, work… there is this idea that if the language is pretty enough and selective enough, you can overlook a lot of things, or at least let yourself get pulled so far in that it is 10x more difficult to get back out again. “When repeated over and over again, speech has meaningful, consequential power to construct and constrain our reality.”

Definitely recommend this one.