TOTAS

Excerpt from Chapter 4 of Helen Joyce's excellent book "Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality" which covers how the politicization of academia around gender science has influenced the studies and publication of research dealing with gender and trans issues. Read the full text: https://www.amazon.com/Trans-When-Ideology-Meets-Reality/dp/0861540492

Some people who have gone down the pathway of detransition later decide that it is not a good match for them. There is a growing movement of "detransitioners." As they start to unpack and deconstruct what led to their decisions they find alarming parallels with the sort of groupthink, undue influence and social pressures that play a role in other high demand groups. In this interview one such detransitioner, Michelle Alleva, shares her own experiences having gone down that pathway, including hormones, double mastectomy and hysterectomy - only to later find her self conception and worldview were distorted in ways that she did not understand until coming out as a detransitioner and learning about the BITE model. Michelle's story is specific to her own journey - but other detransitioners have related similar experiences. Not every one will have the same experience, but understanding how aspects of undue influence may be present in a decentralized online community built around strongly held beliefs can help people maintain their own agency as they navigate the world of transition. To help identify and quantify how her own experience in the world of social media Trans Activism may have matched this pattern of Cultiness, detransitioner Michelle Alleva goes through the IsItCulty.com online assessment and shares her thoughts on what she experienced. Being aware of some of the mechanisms of undue influence as they may appear in the trans activist community can help individuals avoid such forces intruding into their own agency and decision making process as they navigate the world of transition. In Part 3 of this assessment we review the mechanisms of Information and Thought control according to a form of the BITE model of cultiness. We look at the final total score for the Is It Culty assessment and compare it to other high demand totalistic groups. Part 2 - Information and Thought Control Chapters: 00:00 - Bumper 02:17 - Intro 02:46 - Milieu Control 08:45 - Confession 12:54 - Unaccountable Leadership 32:52 - Deception 41:19 - Sacred Science 42:54 - Spying and Reporting 47:30 - Mystical Manipulation 52:01 - Propaganda Saturation 53:16 - Black and White Thinking 55:52 - Totalism 01:01:03 - Transformed Identity 01:14:31 - Doctrine Over Self 01:18:17 - Totalist Reframing 01:22:13 - Emotion Over Intellect 01:24:31 - Loaded Language 01:30:49 - Thought Terminating Cliches 01:32:15 - Identification and Example 01:34:17 - Us Vs Them Thinking 01:37:48 - Dispensation of Existence 01:39:40 - Final Total Score 01:45:04 - Outro 01:45:33 - After Credits Scene Part 1 - Intro & Behavior Control Control - https://youtu.be/Fkr9jazqevo Part 2 - Emotion Control - https://youtu.be/oUI6-cRUfBM Part 3 - Information and Emotion Control & Final Score Do your own assessment here: https://isitculty.com/ Find Michelle on twitter: https://twitter.com/somenuancepls Michelle on Substack: https://somenuanceplease.substack.com/ Michelle Alleva Detransition Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLevx2DAlF-YAJgSpONjAzdQwx1IufIwpa

Some people who have gone down the pathway of detransition later decide that it is not a good match for them. There is a growing movement of "detransitioners." As they start to unpack and deconstruct what led to their decisions they find alarming parallels with the sort of groupthink, undue influence and social pressures that play a role in other high demand groups. In this interview one such detransitioner, Michelle Alleva, shares her own experiences having gone down that pathway, including hormones, double mastectomy and hysterectomy - only to later find her self conception and worldview were distorted in ways that she did not understand until coming out as a detransitioner and learning about the BITE model. Michelle's story is specific to her own journey - but other detransitioners have related similar experiences. Not every one will have the same experience, but understanding how aspects of undue influence may be present in a decentralized online community built around strongly held beliefs can help people maintain their own agency as they navigate the world of transition. To help identify and quantify how her own experience in the world of social media Trans Activism may have matched this pattern of Cultiness, detransitioner Michelle Alleva goes through the IsItCulty.com online assessment and shares her thoughts on what she experienced. Being aware of some of the mechanisms of undue influence as they may appear in the trans activist community can help individuals avoid such forces intruding into their own agency and decision making process as they navigate the world of transition. In Part 2 of this assessment we review the mechanisms of Emotion Control according to a form of the BITE model of cultiness. Part 2 - Emotion Control Chapters: 00:00 - Bumper 02:12 - Intro 02:42 - Elitism 17:26 - Dissociative States 38:40 - Guilt & Shame 44:40 - Love Bombing 56:13 - Social Pressure 59:15 - Induced Phobias 01:07:53 - Blame Reversal 01:20:25 - Euphoria Induction 01:24:35 - No Honorable Exit 01:33:11 - Double Bind Part 1 - Intro & Behavior Control Control - https://youtu.be/Fkr9jazqevo Part 3 - Information and Emotion Control & Final Score Do your own assessment here: https://isitculty.com/ Find Michelle on twitter: https://twitter.com/somenuancepls Michelle on Substack: https://somenuanceplease.substack.com/ Michelle Alleva Detransition Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLevx2DAlF-YAJgSpONjAzdQwx1IufIwpa

A growing number of young people have adopted the ascendant set of beliefs about gender identity and queer theory and have taken social and medical steps to transition in accordance with those beliefs. A subset of these transitioners have found that their particular situation isn't a compatible match with that pathway and have undertaken a journey of detransition. These de-transitioners have started to share their stories and frequently find the reaction of the Trans Activist Community has been marked by demonization, erasure and gaslighting. Seeing themselves now in the positions of "Apostates" of a strongly held set of beliefs has caused some, upon reflection of their experience, to find many more parallels with high demand groups that use mechanisms of groupthink, psychological pressure and manipulation of the sorts that people describe in decentralized social media cults of ideology. To help identify and quantify how her own experience in the world of social media Trans Activism may have matched this pattern of Cultiness, detransitioner Michelle Alleva goes through the IsItCulty.com online assessment and shares her thoughts on what she experienced. The views and experiences shared here are unique to Michelle’s own journey, however other detransitioners have related similar experiences and the reality of detransitioners points to a process whereby some individuals are not a good match with the transition process, yet make their way through irreversible medical interventions with little counterbalance to the affirmation only pathway which we are learning does not serve everyone optimally. Being aware of some of the mechanisms of undue influence as they may appear in the trans activist community can help individuals avoid such forces intruding into their own agency and decision making process as they navigate the world of transition. In Part 1 of this assessment we review the mechanisms of Behavior Control according to a form of the BITE model of cultiness. Part 1 - Intro and Behavior Control Chapters: 00:00 - Bumper 05:23 - Intro 09:40 - Michelle Alleva 12:00 - IsItCulty.com 15:29 - Demographics 20:15 - Relational Control 36:17 - Time Control 47:28 - Demand For Purity 01:07:13 - Material Control 01:15:33 - Imposed Dependency 01:19:29 - Destabilization 01:44:08 - Belief Follows Behavior 01:52:25 - Public Commitment 02:07:26 - Proselytizing 02:12:43 - Financial Pressure 02:21:08 - Indirect Directives Part 2 - Thought Control Part 3 - Information and Emotion Control & Final Score Do your own assessment here: https://isitculty.com/ Find Michelle on twitter: https://twitter.com/somenuancepls Michelle on Substack: https://somenuanceplease.substack.com/ Michelle Alleva Detransition Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLevx2DAlF-YAJgSpONjAzdQwx1IufIwpa

The story of a mother and father who are confronted with their son's indoctrination into a high demand religious ideology. Daniel was introduced to the new religious framework which exploited his religious upbringing and his need for acceptance and moral validation. His indoctrination into this new way of thinking took him from being a college student with a promising future to a religious zealot captured by a fringe ideology which manipulated him into cutting himself off from his family, taking on a new name and remaining in physical and mental isolation with the group known as the The Brethren or the Garbage Eaters. In this excerpt from the 2010 documentary "God Willing" Daniel's parents recount their efforts to try to rescue their son from the mental control of the group, only to discover that their son would fight back against his own parents to remain among the brotherhood. This is a remarkable example of the hold that such groups can have on even college educated adults, such that they are willing to completely cut off the friends and family which were an integral part of their identity and life prior to indoctrination. This group is one of the most striking examples of how a high demand ideology will cut off outside influences by alienating members from their family of origin and the identity tied to their upbringing. This creates a greater dependence on the group and shields the member from any information or influence which could free them from its hold. Red flags to notice in this regard from any group or ideology are: - Teaching that if you family doesn't agree with the ideology - then they are bad. - Teaching that you should not listen to any family who try to cause you to doubt. - Teaching that other members of the group can be a substitute for your family of origin or a "found family" - Framing normal family concern or disagreement with the teachings of the group as "Abusive" so that cutting off ties to the family can be justified - Teaching that a new name should be taken to go along with a new identity in the group which may also include reframing the old identity as "dead" or bad in some way. - Isolating members from contact with or access to their family of origin. Check out the full God Willing Documentary for the complete story: http://godwillingmovie.com/

The Brotherhood (AKA The Garbage Eaters) are a high demand totalistic religious group which targets young college aged adults and exploits their vulnerabilities around identity, piety and scrupulosity. Using the bible to justify their teachings, they are most known for two major factors - first for scavenging for food in dumpsters (leading to the name "Garbage Eaters") and secondly, and most tragically, for compelling their members to take on a new identity and a new name and cut themselves off from their family of origin. The young students who get swept up in this movement will suddenly tell their family that they should not expect to ever see them again and then disappear with the group, moving frequently and changing appearances which make it difficult for the family to locate their loved ones. As a result, a network of concerned parents has been formed to try to locate their lost adult children. They have to balance their efforts to make contact with their loved ones with the sensitivity that the group has to family contact which would cause them to flee. In the 2010 documentary "God Willing" there are several accounts of family members discovering the location of their lost children and attempting to make contact. One of those stories is about a mother of "Brittany" who has not seen her daughter for 7 years. A possible sighting of her daughter is reported to the parents network and she makes the trek across country to try to catch a glimpse of her loved one and see if there is any hope to reconnect with or rescue her daughter. These clips from that documentary provide a harrowing account of how powerful the psychological hold on a mind can be - even turning a young adult against their family. It also shows the power of a mother's love and dedication to the wellbeing of her daughter. Typical strategies to alienate the family from the member are employed: - demand for purity - us vs them thinking - relational control - elitism - Reformed identity and new names - spying and reporting - physical isolation By giving the members a new name which is tied to the teachings of the group, rather than the family of origin - the group is able to better cut ties and reliance psychologically from the family and bind the member to the group more closely. They believe they are doing this to serve as a high path in life which is more righteous and above the wicked ways of the world - appealing to the young person desire for goodness and validation. You will notice that the members travel in pairs so that if one of them is confronted by a parent there is always someone watching who may report or help to keep the person on the path of devotion to the group. This group is one of the most striking examples of how a high demand ideology will cut off outside influences by alienating members from their family of origin and the identity tied to their upbringing. This creates a greater dependence on the group and shields the member from any information or influence which could free them from its hold. Red flags to notice in this regard from any group or ideology are: - Teaching that if you family doesn't agree with the ideology - then they are bad. - Teaching that you should not listen to any family who try to cause you to doubt. - Teaching that other members of the group can be a substitute for your family of origin or a "found family" - Framing normal family concern or disagreement with the teachings of the group as "Abusive" so that cutting off ties to the family can be justified - Teaching that a new name should be taken to go along with a new identity in the group which may also include reframing the old identity as "dead" or bad in some way. - Isolating members from contact with or access to their family of origin. Check out the full God Willing Documentary for the complete story: http://godwillingmovie.com/

ABC Prime Time, USA Mar. 25, 1998 Diane Sawyer, Reporting Transcript: https://www.religionnewsblog.com/13548

The assessment at IsItCulty.com takes you through a series of 40 methods that cults may use to control the behavior, thoughts and emotions of their followers - allowing you to rank each one according to your experience. We would expect the tool to give a high score for high demand groups that effect a great deal of control over their members - but it is helpful to see how the tool would rank something that could be an important force in your life but still allows you a great deal of personal autonomy with minimal undue influence over your thoughts and choices. A member of a community theater group has volunteered to run us through her own experience in that group using the Is It Culty assessment. Lets see what it looks like to rate something that isn't a religion and doesn't have a support groups for survivors (generally). you can take the assessment yourself at: https://isitculty.com/

Social (In)justice: Why Many Popular Answers to Important Questions of Race, Gender, and Identity Are Wrong and How to Know What's Right: A Reader-Friendly Remix of Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose (Author), James Lindsay (Author), Rebecca Christiansen (Contributor) Virtual Bookclub reading and commentary. ------------------------------ Chapter 2: Applied Post-Modernism - Part 3 ------------------------------ Summary forthcoming. I invite you to order a copy of the book for yourself and follow along as we go through each of the ten chapters of the book, one at a time and uncover how those ideas are taking shape in the world around us! Order the book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Social-justice-Important-Wrong-Reader-Friendly/dp/1634312236/ Helen Pluckrose's site: https://counterweightsupport.com/ James Lindsey's site: https://newdiscourses.com/ TIMESTAMPS: TBD LINKS: Chris Hanna is a product of the academic pedagogical engine which produces the "woke" but in his case the indoctrination didn't take. He discusses classical liberalism, the perils of new illiberalism and atheism/religion/spirituality on his YouTube channel. Chris Hanna: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk0L0ZZSOmJHyNR-xVKufjw Jared Higdon is a regular contributor and cohost at the "My Spiritual Life" Youtube channel. My Spiritual Life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGm61vMUzmNa0o2_GD8GQIA REFERENCES: Forthcoming

A.I. Upscale of a cold war era cartoon warning of the divisive ideologies which pit people against each other.

A review of the concept of idea laundering.

Social (In)justice: Why Many Popular Answers to Important Questions of Race, Gender, and Identity Are Wrong--and How to Know What's Right: A Reader-Friendly Remix of Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose (Author), James Lindsay (Author), Rebecca Christiansen (Contributor) Virtual Bookclub reading and commentary. ------------------------------ Chapter 2: Applied Post-Modernism - Part 2 --------------------------—— Summary forthcoming. I invite you to order a copy of the book for yourself and follow along as we go through each of the ten chapters of the book, one at a time and uncover how those ideas are taking shape in the world around us! Order the book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Social-justice-Important-Wrong-Reader-Friendly/dp/1634312236/ Helen Pluckrose's site: https://counterweightsupport.com/ James Lindsey's site: https://newdiscourses.com/ TIMESTAMPS: TBD LINKS: Chris Hanna is a product of the academic pedagogical engine which produces the "woke" but in his case the indoctrination didn't take. He discusses classical liberalism, the perils of new illiberalism and atheism/religion/spirituality on his YouTube channel. Chris Hanna: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk0L0ZZSOmJHyNR-xVKufjw Jared Higdon is a regular contributor and cohost at the "My Spiritual Life" Youtube channel. My Spiritual Life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGm61vMUzmNa0o2_GD8GQIA REFERENCES: Forthcoming

It is very common for ex-Mormons to refer to the BITE model of high demand religions when they call the church a "Cult" What happens when you sit down with a believing member of the church and actually go through the components of the "Is It Culty?" assessment? Jacob Hansen from the "Thoughtful Faith" podcast is here to show us! Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 04:37 - Jacob Hansen 10:26 - Is It Culty Pre-test 20:00 - Demographics 21:06 - Relational Control 22:32 - Time Control 26:13 - Demand for Purity 34:19 - Material Control 36:40 - Imposed Dependency 46:08 - Destabilization 01:02:35 - Belief Follows Behavior 01:17:54 - Public Commitment 01:19:45 - Proselytizing 01:23:45 - Financial Pressure 01:54:46 - Indirect Directives 02:00:45 - Intermission - Mormon Doctrine? 02:06:22 - Elitism 02:11:53 - Dissociative States 02:19:20 - Guilt and Shame 02:41:33 - Love Bombing 02:56:25 - Social Pressure 02:58:58 - Induced Phobias 03:10:33 - Blame Reversal 03:21:37 - Euphoria Induction 03:26:19 - No Honorable Exit 03:43:00 - Double Bind 03:49:37 - Milieu Control 03:58:47 - Confession 04:10:04 - Unaccountable Leadership 04:29:27 - Deception 04:33:30 - Sacred Science 04:35:26 - Spying and Reporting 04:37:02 - Mystical Manipulation 04:46:06 - Propaganda Saturation 04:45:37 - Black and White Thinking 04:46:32 - Totalism 04:48:02 - Transformed Identity 04:49:17 - Doctrine Over Self 04:54:52 - Totalist Reframing 04:59:03 - Emotion Over Intellect 05:00:23 - Loaded Language 05:02:36 - Thought Terminating Cliches 05:04:40 - Identification & Example 05:06:40 - Us Vs Them 05:08:55 - Dispensation of Existence 05:12:49 - Final Score 05:15:20 - Closing Comments

Social (In)justice: Why Many Popular Answers to Important Questions of Race, Gender, and Identity Are Wrong - and How to Know What's Right: A Reader-Friendly Remix of Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose (Author), James Lindsay (Author), Rebecca Christiansen (Contributor) Virtual Bookclub reading and commentary. ------------------------------ Chapter 2: Applied Post-Modernism - Part 1 --------------------------—— Summary forthcoming. I invite you to order a copy of the book for yourself and follow along as we go through each of the ten chapters of the book, one at a time and uncover how those ideas are taking shape in the world around us! Order the book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Social-justice-Important-Wrong-Reader-Friendly/dp/1634312236/ Helen Pluckrose's site: https://counterweightsupport.com/ James Lindsey's site: https://newdiscourses.com/ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Intro 01:57 - Becoming Woke to post-modernism 04:28 - Reading 07:16 - Inherent Nihilism 10:48 - David Foster Wallace & sincerity 20:48 - Rick & Morty vs Nihilism 25:19 - The Acid without a container 26:22 - Double Standards 29:43 - Critical Constructivism & Structural Determinism 35:25 - Essentialism vs Determinism 38:25 - Demanding Proof of the Self Evident 39:44 - Determinism vs Agency 44:00 - PostModernism as a Virus 47:00 - PostModern Orchestrated Alienation 50:44 - Reading - The Mutation of Theory 53:45 - The New Left 55:17 - Stokely Carmichael & Marxist Black Nationalism 59:00 - Angela Davis & Marxist Black Feminism 01:07:20 - Malcom X and Radicalization 01:14:45 - Neo-Marxism with Post Modern tools 01:16:40 - Cultural Marxism Anti-Semitic? 01:21:30 - Roger Scruton and the Corruption of the Academy 01:27:17 - Niceness vs Truth 01:31:28 - Outro LINKS: Chris Hanna is a product of the academic pedagogical engine which produces the "woke" but in his case the indoctrination didn't take. He discusses classical liberalism, the perils of new illiberalism and atheism/religion/spirituality on his YouTube channel. Chris Hanna: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk0L0ZZSOmJHyNR-xVKufjw Jared Higdon is a regular contributor and cohost at the "My Spiritual Life" Youtube channel. My Spiritual Life: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGm61vMUzmNa0o2_GD8GQIA REFERENCES: Forthcoming

Karl Marx set out a conflict paradigm of dividing society into winners and losers and framing society as a zero-sum game to accelerate revolution. He used economic class as the wedge of division, but that isn't the only was you can divide people and turn them on each other - almost any characteristic or stratification which exists in society can and has been used: Race, gender, sexuality, even health, weight or normality. This conflict paradigm shows up in almost every activist movement these days and the narrative that fuels the conflict is essentially a repeat of Marx's original assertion, so much so that you can play a game of "Mad-Libs" with them and see how they all fit the pattern. See Also: New Discourses: Queer Theory is Gender Marxism: https://youtu.be/JNW79czfibw @ModernistRoast on twitter: https://twitter.com/ModernistRoast/status/1537241527285448706?s=20&t=bZLzeg9LNqMagZNbBIZIqw Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pQrAXODJJWZpAA9Sww62bsYNbkQUNwBQdBKXkMxsHKI/edit?usp=sharing

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8

From Jonathan Haidt's 2016 Hayek Lecture at Duke University Source: https://youtu.be/Gatn5ameRr8