Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism

In a social media–centered society, we’ve all been rendered at once cult leader and follower.

“Meaning-making is a growth industry,” said ter Kuile.

To MLMers, the word “entrepreneur” represents not just a career but a “morally superior way of being in the economy,”

Hassan says that groups toward the destructive end use three kinds of deception: omission of what you need to know, distortion to make whatever they’re saying more acceptable, and outright lies.

Like most destructive “cults,” they’re in the business of selling the transcendent promise of something that doesn’t actually exist. And their commodity isn’t merchandise, it’s rhetoric.

Starting in the 2010s, America’s fastest-growing companies in general became the ones that offered not only desirable products and services, but also personal transformation, belonging, and answers to big life questions like: Who am I in this increasingly isolated world? How do I connect with people around me? How do I find my most authentic self a

I once had a therapist tell me that flexibility without structure isn’t flexibility at all; it’s just chaos.

That’s because, juxtaposed with the dark elements, there’s a certain sexiness surrounding cults—the unconventional aspect, the mysticism, the communal intimacy. In this way, the word has almost come full circle.

To MLMers, the word “entrepreneur” represents not just a career but a “morally superior way of being in the economy,”

No “cult leader” takes advantage of our psychological drives quite like The Algorithm, which thrives on sending us down rabbit holes, so we never even come across rhetoric we don’t agree with unless we actively search for it.