Summary of Amanda Montell's Cultish

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The first time Tasha heard the buzz of their voices was at a Kundalini yoga studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was 13 years old. The group was called the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization, or 3HO. Their leader, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, claimed to be the official religious and administrative head of all Western Sikhs.
#2 3HO’s secret mantras and code words were meant to be used to attract your soul mate, acquire lots of money, and look better than ever. But they could also be used to threaten and intimidate others.
#3 In 2009, Tasha arrived in Southern California to give her life to 3HO. She met Alyssa Clarke, who had come down the coast from Oregon to start college. Alyssa was captivated by how tight-knit all the CrossFitters seemed, and she became devout.
#4 Alyssa and Tasha’s stories are similar because they were both under cultish influence. They were both pushed to extremes, and ended up broke, friendless, and riddled with PTSD. But what they shared was that they were both under the influence of language.

Sujets

• Linguistics
• Sociolinguistics

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 19 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669354161
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Amanda Montell's Cultish
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The first time Tasha heard the buzz of their voices was at a Kundalini yoga studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was 13 years old. The group was called the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization, or 3HO. Their leader, Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, claimed to be the official religious and administrative head of all Western Sikhs.

#2

3HO’s secret mantras and code words were meant to be used to attract your soul mate, acquire lots of money, and look better than ever. But they could also be used to threaten and intimidate others.

#3

In 2009, Tasha arrived in Southern California to give her life to 3HO. She met Alyssa Clarke, who had come down the coast from Oregon to start college. Alyssa was captivated by how tight-knit all the CrossFitters seemed, and she became devout.

#4

Alyssa and Tasha’s stories are similar because they were both under cultish influence. They were both pushed to extremes, and ended up broke, friendless, and riddled with PTSD. But what they shared was that they were both under the influence of language.

#5

Cultish groups are an all-out obsession in American culture. The majority of psychologists I interviewed denounced the pseudoscientific concept of brainwashing, which is what many people seem to believe when it comes to cult influence.

#6

The answer to the question of why people become cult members is not some weird wizardry that happens on a remote commune. The answer is language. Charismatic leaders use language to create a mini universe and then compel their followers to abide by its rules.

#7

Cult language is used to bond members of a community together, and can be used to psychologically pressure members into believing in the group’s beliefs and leaders.

#8

The word cult has evolved to describe different groups of people, some of which are dangerous, others not so much. It can be used as a damning accusation implying death and destruction, a cheeky metaphor suggesting not much more than some matching outfits and enthusiasm, or it can be used to describe a new religion, a group of online radicals, a start-up, and a makeup brand all in the same breath.

#9

There is no good cult or bad cult binary. Cultishness falls on a spectrum, and groups like SoulCycle use deception to make what they’re saying more acceptable.

#10

The wide range of cult-like communities is what leads to the use of modifiers like cult-followed, culty, and cultish.

#11

We are naturally social and spiritual creatures. We are driven by a desire for belonging and purpose. We are cultish by nature. This fundamental human itch for connection is what makes being part of a group feel so right.

#12

The spiritual but not religious label is something most of my twenty-something friends have claimed. As Americans have begun to drop their mainstream church affiliations, they’ve begun seeking out new sources of meaning in their lives.

#13

The cultish groups that exist today help alleviate the anxiety of living in a world that presents too many possibilities for who you can be. This is especially true for millennials, who have been told they can be whatever they want.

#14

The tide of change away from mainstream establishments and toward nontraditional groups is not at all new, and has happened many times throughout history. For example, society’s attraction to cults thrives during periods of broader existential questioning.

#15

The needs for identity, purpose, and belonging have always existed, and cultish groups have always sprung up during cultural limbos when these needs go unmet. What’s new is that in this internet-ruled age, when a guru can be godless, when the barrier to entry is as low as a double-tap, and when people with alternative beliefs can find one another, it only makes sense that secular cults would start sprouting up.

#16

The word cult has always had a negative connotation, but it originally meant homage paid to divinity or offerings made to win over the gods.