Inside the Psychology of Cults

I'm Jeremy Sherman, PhD, a strategic consultant since 1997 specializing in dealing with jerks and doubts. For a free trial session, email me at [email protected] 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤: facebook.com/jeremysherm DEALING WITH JERKS jerkology.net BLOG: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/jerkology BOOK: What's Up With A**holes? How to spot and stop them without becoming one. https://a.co/d/6QDQwrY AUDIOBOOK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLerthdU4Jw&t DEALING WITH DOUBTS adaptivestrategies.net BLOG: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ambigamy BOOK: Negotiate with Yourself and Win: Doubt Management Skills for People Who Can Hear Themselves Think: https://a.co/d/brJpNli Though informal, I'll argue that my approach is more scientific than what passes for science. It is really abstract engineering researchers claiming we've got this or that add-on feature without explaining how we got it. That makes for excellent engineering, but it's no more rigorous than supernatural explanations. For 27 years, I've worked closely with Harvard/Berkeley biologist/neuroscientist Terrence Deacon on developing fully scientific explanations for phenomena assumed by other researchers. Some examples: LIFE'S STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE: DNA and natural selection don't explain it. We have an entirely natural explanation for how self-regenerating beings (like us) could emerge from chemistry and evolve (by natural selection) the capacity to use DNA molecules. MOTIVATION: Psychologists just assume it. When they see effort, they assume a motivation, which is like assuming a "soul." We have an explanation for what effort and motivation physically are: Not something added to chemistry but the way chemistry can limit itself by channeling energy into work to regenerate itself. NARCISSISM: Psychologists say that if you've got these symptoms, you have a thing called Narcissism. I explain how humans, having evolved language, can imagine the ideal, see where we fall short, and self-idealize to compensate. It's something we all do. I study how it gets out of hand and becomes addictive. My book on our research: Neither Ghost Nor Machine: The Emergence and Nature of Selves (Columbia University Press, 2017) https://a.co/d/9ZNyT7E My PhD is in decision science. I'm a soulnerd with a deeply connected heart and head. This stuff is my non-spiritual path. I live and breathe my work. It's not some abstract intellectual exercise. Nor is it art. Science is a campaign to find natural explanations for all natural phenomena – natural, not supernatural, about which you can believe anything. Still, I try to make this stuff fun, intuitive, and useful. I've written over 1,100 blog articles for Psychology Today on practical decision-making and everything we all go through (11 million views). Their editor-in-chief calls it, "Mind candy for people who aren't afraid to think." 00:00 My Cultish Experience 02:24 Solved reality! 03:21 Empathy for cultists 0426 Heart Purging 05:14 Logic & Cults 07:24 Craving Completeness 08:03 Paradox 09:02 Hypocrisy vs. Irony 09:54 Humor vs. “We Glee” 11:18 Robo-Envy 12:08 Prognosis 14:10 Invite