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The night burns bright ross barkan5/10/2023 Montell asks how charismatic leaders exploit people’s fundamental needs: “How do they cultivate that kind of power?” She tells us, “The real answer all comes down to words. Cults are not necessarily destructive, but where there’s power, there’s often abuse.Ĭults we’re familiar with may have featured “a dangerous undercurrent … psychological and sexual abuse … forced fasting and sleep deprivation, threats of violence toward anyone attempting to leave the group, suicides, even an unsolved murder.” The author tells us when she compared such groups, “the methods used to assert such power - to create community and solidarity, to establish an ‘us’ and a ‘them,’ to align collective values, to justify questionable behavior, to instill ideology and inspire fear - were uncannily, cultishly similar.” Montell explains that the most basic traits of cults are a “distinctive vernacular” and a charismatic leader (usually male, often called guru, master or father). “Our behavior is driven by a desire for belonging and purpose,” she tells us. But in the captivating book “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism,” author Amanda Montell shows how we are all susceptible to the power of cults. I think it’s human nature to be fascinated with cults - maybe because we think we’re too smart to be pulled into the net of a cult leader.
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