I heard Yarvin call it the Cult of Overton, and I think that's a very fitting name.
It's clearly a cult.
They are fully brainwashed NPCs, only able to think within the confines of the dogma, an ever narrowing space.
In 2010 they were largely able to think for themselves. Thinking requires uncertainty, it requires openness - the building blocks of which are premises, hypothesis, theories, hypotheticals, etc.
But the cult demands conclusions. Whether that's "the word of God" or "settled science", appeals to authority or "common knowledge", "scientists agree" or "our priest says".
Like cancer the brain virus spreads. The cult demanding an ever increasing list of conclusions. And as the list grows, the space to think shrinks. Until eventually, all that is left is an NPC who just seems to know everything, have a rehearsed answer to everything; an answer that's repeated by all the other cult members. The metamorphosis is complete.
The change since 2010 is due to two things. Firstly that mass psychology, aka propaganda, is a new field barely over half a century old. There have been significant advances in the last few decades. The methods of the clergy class and the brainwashing itself are far more effective. Analogously, the field advanced from blood draining leeches in the 60s to echocardiograms and hip replacements in 2010 - and from that to laser surgery and crispr today. Reminds me of this text that u/Assassin47 shared here yesterday: https://files.catbox.moe/nv38ye.jpeg
And secondly it's social media. Brain viruses need a medium to spread through. Long ago that was conversations in the tribe, then through organized events the city, through the printing press the nation or the empire, and through radio and TV the world. But conversations, sermons, or books; none of it was nearly as effective as social media. Now people are plugged in from they wake up till they sleep, completely sequestered from opposing views, under huge group pressure, in a panopticon that scrutinizes their every word, surrounded by indoctrination on every side.
We're seeing the results and it's remarkable. The complete annihilation of the self - the total transformation of the individual into the redditor.
I heard Yarvin call it the Cult of Overton, and I think that's a very fitting name.
It's clearly a cult.
They are fully brainwashed NPCs, only able to think within the confines of the dogma, an ever narrowing space.
In 2010 they were largely able to think for themselves. Thinking requires uncertainty, it requires openness - the building blocks of which are premises, hypothesis, theories, hypotheticals, etc.
But the cult demands conclusions. Whether that's "the word of God" or "settled science", appeals to authority or "common knowledge", "scientists agree" or "our priest says".
Like cancer the brain virus spreads. The cult demanding an ever increasing list of conclusions. And as the list grows, the space to think shrinks. Until eventually, all that is left is an NPC who just seems to know everything, have a rehearsed answer to everything; an answer that's repeated by all the other cult members. The metamorphosis is complete.
The change since 2010 is due to two things. Firstly that mass psychology, aka propaganda, is a new field barely over half a century old. There have been significant advances in the last few decades. The methods of the clergy class and the brainwashing itself are far more effective. Analogously, the field advanced from blood draining leeches in the 60s to echocardiograms and hip replacements in 2010 - and from that to laser surgery and crispr today. Reminds me of this text that someone shared here just yesterday: https://files.catbox.moe/nv38ye.jpeg
And secondly it's social media. Brain viruses need a medium to spread through. Long ago that was conversations in the tribe, then through organized events the city, through the printing press the nation or the empire, and through radio and TV the world. But conversations, sermons, or books; none of it was nearly as effective as social media. Now people are plugged in from they wake up till they sleep, completely sequestered from opposing views, under huge group pressure, in a panopticon that scrutinizes their every word, surrounded by indoctrination on every side.
We're seeing the results and it's remarkable. The complete annihilation of the self - the total transformation of the individual into the redditor.