One of the interesting things I took away from this interview was that Mormons don't do missionary to convert people since that's ineffective, but the real reason is more about isolating impressionable Mormon youth in an environment that reinforces their belief system.
Why do Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses go door to door when everyone knows that bake sales would be more effective as a recuiting tool? Because they're forced to, and that's because experiencing having doors slammed in their faces all day long goes a long way towards convincing them that the world is full of evil people who reject god, and that only their own cult will ever accept and 'love' them. No proof, but the logic holds.
Steven Hassan , you are a true hero . My definition is a person who is fighting a battle on a battlefield with an enemy that no one even knows exists . GOOD WORK .
What is really interesting about that woman Tony Robbins pressures to dump her boyfriend is how she sells the experience back to herself. They interview her later and she wonders why she got the "jerk" Tony instead of the warm and compassionate Tony. She goes on to say, though, that being treated like that was actually "just what she needed." After spending so much money to attend the seminar, that must have been easier than admitting to herself she had been ripped off. (That would have been a REALLY valuable life lesson.)
I'm a Mormon and we are very trained. I was at that meeting with Dr. Hassan in the Salt Lake area. The training takes away your right to think to the detriment of many people's lives.
What one thinks is largely a product of *what* *you* *do* Post hoc rationalization drives most of our beliefs. Feelings is doing, in my argument. Feel a feeling? That's "doing" something and therefor requires rationalizing I'm angry because someone else wronged me I'm happy because someone treated me right, or I got a reward that I deserve Etc They forced him to spend the night. Coerced him into spending time with a group of people. Surely he wouldn't *do* that if those people were dangerous, right? Right?
@@Pensnmusic interesting and well reasoned, I don’t disagree. I use my meme only to state that well ordered thinking is a process many have not developed and it useless to reason with someone who doesn’t understand reasoning.
Steven Hassan has never been on the professional teaching staff at "Harvard Medical School." Harvard has never employed him. Seems that Michael Shermer accepted this claim made by Hassan without verification and included it within his introduction.. Trust but verify.
Unfortunately anti-cult groups have become cults in their own right. Brainwashing and mind control techniques have been rejected as psychological disorders in the DSM and is not a permissible defense in a court of law. Anti-cult’s deprogramming tactics are not much different then what cults do. In some cases it’s worse, that is when kidnapping is involved. Counter-cult ministers offer a far more stable definition for a cult as they base it on an organization’s Theology, not Pseudoscience.
That's the New Age cult, imo. I have heard scientist say global warming will take a million years, and he is talking about "climate disasters." He can't see through the Greta psy-op? I'm anti waste and anti-littering, but the Planet Savers are the most wasteful and damaging to the earth.
He’s a guy who is definitely susceptible, even now, after all these years of studying manipulation techniques, it seems like he bought into a much larger, much more powerful, all encompassing cult.
I'm floored, I need to know what cult you think he's a part of and how you assessed that he's the one with flawed logic and not yourselves. If you could lay out your case in a moderate level of detail you'd make my entire year. If I'm very lucky, you'll have an insight that maybe I could really benefit from. Kind regards
Yeah I second, @@Pensnmusic. Please explain what cult you think he's in. So far it just sounds like you think that anyone who has clear opinions on today's movements (i.e. categorising trump's followers as cultists) is either cultish themselves or "new age". Really interested in hearing how that's so? He's taking a scientific scalpel to how thought control is executed and is the leading voice in his field.
You know I was thinking the same thing. Like, what is wrong with owning a gun factory. I wish I owned one. I understand criticizing the messiah for owning one but it sounds like he is demonizing firearms. Also it sounds like religious rules make them a cult so then that means religion by default is a cult. "If you don't follow the rules you are sinning are we don't want a sinner in our religion." He responds "...you son of a bitch you're a cult!" Lol
@@AlexBarbu I was a moderator of the atheism forum on redit but when the other mods found out I didn't accept that "transwomen are real women" or that ROGD was a real thing, they ganged up on me with BS accusations and I was basically forced to leave due to the unpleasantness they were willing to use against me. This was just over a year ago.
@@fakeshemp9599 to many people can't wrap their head around the fact that a person can support somebody running for office while not agreeing with 100% of what said candidate believes in
@@christopherhamilton3621 yeah a bit... because you'd think knowing these stuff will help people think in a non tribal manner... but no ... even cult experts can become part of a mass psychosis. scary stuff
The "Fundamentalist Mormons" are really living more according to the founder's original vision than the "Mainstreamers." The Mainstreamers don't practice polygamy (at least in this life; they still think it applies in the afterlife), but even regular Mormonism is extremely...involved. It aims to regulate the most personal, private aspects of members' lives, and has people's lives mapped out from cradle to grave. It is often ironic how different sects are harder on each other than atheists are on any of them. (This is probably because each one thinks it is The One True, and all others must be in league with Satan.) The traditional Christians distrust the Mormons as being inauthentically Christian, the Mormons mock Scientology as being complete rubbish, etc. None of these groups seem to have the slightest ability to analyze themselves.
The majority of voters do not choose the party leader, they vote for the party that has a platform they agree with. It is only the media that makes the drama.
... and Trump got that to happen . No one voted FOR Trump . He actually does not exist . All actions done by people with secondary narcissism are mental manipulations , not identity statements .
From the things I've heard of NLP, I thought it was mostly nonsense. But I don't know the details of what specifically fits under the definition of NLP and what doesn't. I wish Shermer stated his views on this and/or Hassan explained NLP a bit to people. Maybe the argument is that NLP only functions on specific extra-suggestible people? or even those people but only when primed about now NLP can affect them?
NLP is nonsense, it's a pseudoscience, it uses hypnotic language patterns, visualizations and VAK learning styles to manipulate people and thus causing a placebo effect. Richard Bandler and John Grinder tried to replicate some of the methods from Gestalt therapy, Hypnotherapy and Family Therapy because they claim they can analyse the language being used and model it thus led to the creation of NLP. The trouble is, replicating something nearly always fail because the results may not be the same and usually they aren't, plus bandler and grinder are not psychologists or even therapists but they claimed (without evidence) that they can replicate anything with NLP and make it better. Bandler is a mathematician and a computer engineer where as Grinder is a linguist, and it's been an issue within psychology to replicate anything to which it is called the replication crises. There's little to no evidence that NLP actually works, especially in regards to treating mental health disorders nor is there evidence on the long term usage of NLP (unlike mindfulness and meditation) so it's claims about giving a quick fix is highly questionable. Plus much of what NLP says about language and neuroscience is complete garbage. I study cognitive psychology and it completely contradicts NLP all together in regards to mental representations, cognitive processes and language. NLP people are not critical thinkers, because they go off the idea that people are subjective but never try to discuss or debate things objectively and they give rather vague assertions or statements when you're talking to them. I had one NLP guy who said to me "if we try to prove everything in the world, then there will be nothing left to learn" and I easily stumped on that by saying "well we're still learning, and science is always coming out with new information with new evidence." I think he backed off from the discussion after I said that.
I think even Richard Bandler (NLP co-founder) has agreed that most of what passes for NLP these days is nonsense - but that is because it has become a corporate grift, alongside other courses sold to companies such as Myers-Briggs personality tests, team-building workshops, and .. (shudder) ... "diversity consultants". Underneath the snazzy branding, NLP is self-hypnosis. Some of it is legit, and some if it is total snake oil.
Are you brave enough to let him do a Cult of Trump number on Trans Ideology? He said about online cults. He knows there is a social contagion... Loved the Spiral of Silence. Definitely goong to research it. Could 100% be applied to nobody being allowed to say anything against men who cosplay being a 'woman'!
Very enjoyable conversation! Especially entertaining to watch Shermer's reaction pushing back against Hassan on a number of points. I see the same attitude reflected in the Comments - some ppl seem doubtful regarding Hassan's objectivity. IMHO this might be due to conflating actual cult organisations with general cult-like mind-control techniques. For example, when Hassan mentioned human traffickers, and Shermer pushed back asking if these were "actual cults" - well no, they are not, but the point was that the victims have been brain-washed into compliance via cultish mind-control methods. As for the Trump stuff - Shermer seemed unconvinced whether Hassan just had a political bias. I would have liked it if Shermer has asked Hassan what he thought about apparent recent brain-washing on the left of the political aisle i.e. Black Lives Matter, and the Dems obsession with racialisation, and "equity", white privilege etc.
BITE model is what Hassan uses. Behavioral control, Information control, Though control, Emotional control. All the techniques used by the left right now. And yet, he’s all for it.
The cult story was interesting but then this guy lost his credibility to me after he floated the whole "they're suppressing my book" conspiracy. From that point all I saw was self-important story telling, question dodging, and ideological blinders. I even get the impression he thought he was using some mind control powers on Shermer! How many times did he interject something along the lines of "But Michael, surely any good skeptic like yourself would understand..."? Even after all this guy has learned about cults, I'm sure his hubris (not to mention predisposition) makes him especially susceptible to further indoctrination.
@Vlasko60 Possibly yeah, but by his own account some people are more susceptible to mind control techniques and some people aren't so much. He's obviously one who fell for it at least once.
Yip. I agree. He seemed less rational as he went on, and oddly in-eloquent .Maybe he writes well?? [30 minutes later] : I think he rallied, made more sense toward the end
I voted for Trump twice, but I wouldn't say I'm in a cult. I voted for him because I want less government waste and good businesses management in government. I guess I'm in the cult of rational thinking.
The Art of the Grift. 100 percent of all politicians are sociopaths who don't have your best interest in mind. So no, you're not in a cult but you are a certified dope.
@DEGAUSSING Atmospheric CHARGES Yes, the career politicians whose corruption has led to drone strikes, bombings, extortion, and the rise of open slave markets in Libya was a much better choice than the real estate developer. God, you freaking people are incapable of honest engagement or rational thought.
What does Hassan think about Marina Abromovic hosting light cake parties for the Clintons, Gates, and all of their old fashioned influencers (Hollywood Celebs?) That's pretty culty, isn't it?
Hassan employs all too familiar tactics. He takes the knowledge and methods of his discipline, mental health, and uses them for obviously partisan purposes. Hassan gave himself away with his book, "Cult of Trump." It is easy to pick out ideologues of Hassan's ilk, because they only point out the flaws of their sociopolitical opponents. In the Trump book, Hassan conducted no scientific studies, but rather, "cherry-picked" anecdotal examples to create his ad hominem, non sequitur arguments. Hassan could just as easily have written a book about the Cult of Clinton or Cult of Obama, but they were not his sociopolitical enemies. It is a shame Hassan is so blinded and biased by emotion and ideology. It tarnishes his other good work.
I'd say that there _isn't_ much of a cult of Clinon or Obama, and I'm guessing he'd say the same. With regards to the left I'd say the cult is in social justice or next-wave feminism (neofeminism?) or BLM. I'm not sure what his opinions on those topics are, but it's certainly possible that he is being unfair by not covering them. In fact in this conversation I think he even admits that he hardly calls the Trump thing a cult, or that it only matches in some ways. Shermer specifically asks him about this. Keep in mind that that he also talks about cults as a spectrum.
Right on! Have you ever noticed Shermer never interviews somebody like Victor Davis Hanson? He seems to be afraid of getting out of his intellectual cocoon.
@Vlasko60 Thank you. I was fishing for a case to prove my point, and you provided it. In Logic, your response is known as an Ad Hominem attack and logical fallacy. Rather than address relevant issues (facts and logical argument), you made a personal attack against me (my brain) without addressing my points. Hassan does something similar with Trump, but more artfully and subtle. 😄
@@MsHojat The name of his book is, "The Cult of Trump!" When Hassan writes a book about "The Cult of [anything Left]," I will buy your argument. You can SAY there is no Cult of Clinton or Obama (or "matching in some way"), and obviously Hassan would also, but by using Hassan's anecdotal "Cherry Picking" method, one could easily describe Obama-Clinton cults using the same arguments Hassan made with Trump. Trump certainly created enthusiasm and patriotic fervor with his America First program, economic and military successes, etc., but Trump has or had no more Cult-like control of his followers than other popular Presidents, like Ronald Reagan or FDR. In fact, support for Trump is waning, even without deprogramming.😁 I see Hassan's attack on Trump as part of a movement (even a cult on the spectrum), a well-financed, well-manipulated and masterful PSYOP campaign, similar to that employed against Goldstein in Orwell's 1984. Display images of the Orange Man with Group-Meme-Think, ad hominem phrases, and let the Proles have their Two Minutes of Hate. Except with Trump, the hate is constant and perpetual.
Hey, shermer, if you care so much about victims of sexual violence, I have a book to recommend to you: Woman-to-woman sexual violence: Does she call it r*? Or is mr. skeptic too afraid to engage with new evidence and different views?
One of the interesting things I took away from this interview was that Mormons don't do missionary to convert people since that's ineffective, but the real reason is more about isolating impressionable Mormon youth in an environment that reinforces their belief system.
Why do Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses go door to door when everyone knows that bake sales would be more effective as a recuiting tool? Because they're forced to, and that's because experiencing having doors slammed in their faces all day long goes a long way towards convincing them that the world is full of evil people who reject god, and that only their own cult will ever accept and 'love' them. No proof, but the logic holds.
Same with jehovahs witnesses
Ex mormon, and that is absolutely correct. They even lowered the age they send missionaries out for this exact reason.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Freedom of Mind ❤❤❤❤it has been a staple in my family for over a decade .
Steven Hassan , you are a true hero . My definition is a person who is fighting a battle on a battlefield with an enemy that no one even knows exists . GOOD WORK .
What is really interesting about that woman Tony Robbins pressures to dump her boyfriend is how she sells the experience back to herself. They interview her later and she wonders why she got the "jerk" Tony instead of the warm and compassionate Tony. She goes on to say, though, that being treated like that was actually "just what she needed." After spending so much money to attend the seminar, that must have been easier than admitting to herself she had been ripped off. (That would have been a REALLY valuable life lesson.)
Brilliant episode. Thank you greatly for the interview and share. 👍👍
I'm a Mormon and we are very trained. I was at that meeting with Dr. Hassan in the Salt Lake area. The training takes away your right to think to the detriment of many people's lives.
I got the feeling Michael was being polite by not seriously challenging some of the thinly-evidenced claims.
I've never seen Michael's face so mobile in response to a guest!
Eye opening episode and covered comprehensively on diffferent types of cults
32:39 that long pause at "the Catholic church is not a cult" 😅
Because it is a cult 🙃
Mickel is the best professor in colts thanks for educating us
GOLD!
This is fascinating
Steve Hassan's work is so very important!
What does his work have to do with Trump?
You could replace it with Pfizer right?
at 1 25 , STEVEN , you REALLY ARE A HERO . Bringing up the human trafficking is really really serious and relevant to now . THANK YOU >
What one thinks is a result of how one thinks. Skeptic 101.
What one thinks is largely a product of *what* *you* *do*
Post hoc rationalization drives most of our beliefs. Feelings is doing, in my argument. Feel a feeling? That's "doing" something and therefor requires rationalizing
I'm angry because someone else wronged me
I'm happy because someone treated me right, or I got a reward that I deserve
Etc
They forced him to spend the night. Coerced him into spending time with a group of people.
Surely he wouldn't *do* that if those people were dangerous, right? Right?
@@Pensnmusic interesting and well reasoned, I don’t disagree. I use my meme only to state that well ordered thinking is a process many have not developed and it useless to reason with someone who doesn’t understand reasoning.
Steven Hassan has never been on the professional teaching staff at "Harvard Medical School." Harvard has never employed him. Seems that Michael Shermer accepted this claim made by Hassan without verification and included it within his introduction.. Trust but verify.
Definition of a cult at 32:42 can help a lot of folks. Great episode.
Unfortunately anti-cult groups have become cults in their own right. Brainwashing and mind control techniques have been rejected as psychological disorders in the DSM and is not a permissible defense in a court of law. Anti-cult’s deprogramming tactics are not much different then what cults do. In some cases it’s worse, that is when kidnapping is involved. Counter-cult ministers offer a far more stable definition for a cult as they base it on an organization’s Theology, not Pseudoscience.
Steven Hassan has definitely swallowed the blue pill.
That's the New Age cult, imo. I have heard scientist say global warming will take a million years, and he is talking about "climate disasters." He can't see through the Greta psy-op?
I'm anti waste and anti-littering, but the Planet Savers are the most wasteful and damaging to the earth.
Idk about this guy. Sometimes he’s on point, sometimes he sounds like a cult member himself. Interesting conversation to say the least.
He’s a guy who is definitely susceptible, even now, after all these years of studying manipulation techniques, it seems like he bought into a much larger, much more powerful, all encompassing cult.
@@Catcatcat237 Agree. Wait until he snaps out of his New Age fugue, if ever. That's a real eye opener.
I'm floored, I need to know what cult you think he's a part of and how you assessed that he's the one with flawed logic and not yourselves.
If you could lay out your case in a moderate level of detail you'd make my entire year. If I'm very lucky, you'll have an insight that maybe I could really benefit from.
Kind regards
Yeah I second, @@Pensnmusic. Please explain what cult you think he's in. So far it just sounds like you think that anyone who has clear opinions on today's movements (i.e. categorising trump's followers as cultists) is either cultish themselves or "new age".
Really interested in hearing how that's so? He's taking a scientific scalpel to how thought control is executed and is the leading voice in his field.
You know I was thinking the same thing. Like, what is wrong with owning a gun factory. I wish I owned one. I understand criticizing the messiah for owning one but it sounds like he is demonizing firearms. Also it sounds like religious rules make them a cult so then that means religion by default is a cult. "If you don't follow the rules you are sinning are we don't want a sinner in our religion." He responds "...you son of a bitch you're a cult!" Lol
Huge amount of fact checking required on this episode.
This guy is still vulnerable to cult indoctrination ... just different cults.
Yep, he is, and we all are.
@@AlexBarbu : To that this atheist says 'Amen'.
@Alex Barbu exactly right. And people who are highly intelligent in their field can be as dumb as a brick in others.
And the proof?
@@AlexBarbu I was a moderator of the atheism forum on redit but when the other mods found out I didn't accept that "transwomen are real women" or that ROGD was a real thing, they ganged up on me with BS accusations and I was basically forced to leave due to the unpleasantness they were willing to use against me. This was just over a year ago.
Every cult is unreason.
A friend of mine, his father did the on stage hypnosis and he even told his son it was just hysterical hypnosis.
I voted for Trump and I believe he lost fair and square
I like trump and I think he is better than who we got now for sure but for some reason when I say that people think I believe in q anon 🤣
@@fakeshemp9599 to many people can't wrap their head around the fact that a person can support somebody running for office while not agreeing with 100% of what said candidate believes in
This guy is the leader of cultists escaping cults
he makes great points for religious cults and trumpism. i just don't understand how he can't apply the same method to anti trump cults?
Are you feeling threatened? 😂
@@christopherhamilton3621 yeah a bit... because you'd think knowing these stuff will help people think in a non tribal manner... but no ... even cult experts can become part of a mass psychosis. scary stuff
I'm happy to be in the cult of Shermer.
I'd take a swig of koolaid for him!
@@tonymoto1188 Don't be fooled, he's a charlatan
Me too. I follow this channel, subscribe to Skeptic, and buy his books.
I don't actually use this insult, but if there is someone who deserves to be called a soyboy it is shermer.
The "Fundamentalist Mormons" are really living more according to the founder's original vision than the "Mainstreamers." The Mainstreamers don't practice polygamy (at least in this life; they still think it applies in the afterlife), but even regular Mormonism is extremely...involved. It aims to regulate the most personal, private aspects of members' lives, and has people's lives mapped out from cradle to grave.
It is often ironic how different sects are harder on each other than atheists are on any of them. (This is probably because each one thinks it is The One True, and all others must be in league with Satan.) The traditional Christians distrust the Mormons as being inauthentically Christian, the Mormons mock Scientology as being complete rubbish, etc. None of these groups seem to have the slightest ability to analyze themselves.
“Thinking Fast and Slow” didn’t win Nobel Prize (that’s silly) but it didn’t win the Pulitzer either. Just some random awards.
True. But Daniel Kahneman did win a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in psychology applied to judgement and decision making.
Are we sure this isn't Roger Stone's long-lost twin?
Not all that logically consistent and seems to lack evidence for some of his claims.
Steven Hassan makes interesting points, and seems very biased. Good luck
The majority of voters do not choose the party leader, they vote for the party that has a platform they agree with. It is only the media that makes the drama.
YES , 74 million people voted against Hillary .
... and Trump got that to happen . No one voted FOR Trump . He actually does not exist . All actions done by people with secondary narcissism are mental manipulations , not identity statements .
Wow they own Washington post what he said about the CIA is fascinating
"Cult Mind Control" Using fear, sex and hysteria are very controling. "Carlin was right!"
The movie Compliance was based on that story.
From the things I've heard of NLP, I thought it was mostly nonsense. But I don't know the details of what specifically fits under the definition of NLP and what doesn't.
I wish Shermer stated his views on this and/or Hassan explained NLP a bit to people.
Maybe the argument is that NLP only functions on specific extra-suggestible people? or even those people but only when primed about now NLP can affect them?
NLP is nonsense, it's a pseudoscience, it uses hypnotic language patterns, visualizations and VAK learning styles to manipulate people and thus causing a placebo effect. Richard Bandler and John Grinder tried to replicate some of the methods from Gestalt therapy, Hypnotherapy and Family Therapy because they claim they can analyse the language being used and model it thus led to the creation of NLP. The trouble is, replicating something nearly always fail because the results may not be the same and usually they aren't, plus bandler and grinder are not psychologists or even therapists but they claimed (without evidence) that they can replicate anything with NLP and make it better. Bandler is a mathematician and a computer engineer where as Grinder is a linguist, and it's been an issue within psychology to replicate anything to which it is called the replication crises. There's little to no evidence that NLP actually works, especially in regards to treating mental health disorders nor is there evidence on the long term usage of NLP (unlike mindfulness and meditation) so it's claims about giving a quick fix is highly questionable. Plus much of what NLP says about language and neuroscience is complete garbage. I study cognitive psychology and it completely contradicts NLP all together in regards to mental representations, cognitive processes and language.
NLP people are not critical thinkers, because they go off the idea that people are subjective but never try to discuss or debate things objectively and they give rather vague assertions or statements when you're talking to them. I had one NLP guy who said to me "if we try to prove everything in the world, then there will be nothing left to learn" and I easily stumped on that by saying "well we're still learning, and science is always coming out with new information with new evidence." I think he backed off from the discussion after I said that.
I think even Richard Bandler (NLP co-founder) has agreed that most of what passes for NLP these days is nonsense - but that is because it has become a corporate grift, alongside other courses sold to companies such as Myers-Briggs personality tests, team-building workshops, and .. (shudder) ... "diversity consultants". Underneath the snazzy branding, NLP is self-hypnosis. Some of it is legit, and some if it is total snake oil.
Are you brave enough to let him do a Cult of Trump number on Trans Ideology? He said about online cults. He knows there is a social contagion...
Loved the Spiral of Silence. Definitely goong to research it. Could 100% be applied to nobody being allowed to say anything against men who cosplay being a 'woman'!
Very enjoyable conversation! Especially entertaining to watch Shermer's reaction pushing back against Hassan on a number of points. I see the same attitude reflected in the Comments - some ppl seem doubtful regarding Hassan's objectivity. IMHO this might be due to conflating actual cult organisations with general cult-like mind-control techniques. For example, when Hassan mentioned human traffickers, and Shermer pushed back asking if these were "actual cults" - well no, they are not, but the point was that the victims have been brain-washed into compliance via cultish mind-control methods.
As for the Trump stuff - Shermer seemed unconvinced whether Hassan just had a political bias. I would have liked it if Shermer has asked Hassan what he thought about apparent recent brain-washing on the left of the political aisle i.e. Black Lives Matter, and the Dems obsession with racialisation, and "equity", white privilege etc.
BITE model is what Hassan uses. Behavioral control, Information control, Though control, Emotional control. All the techniques used by the left right now. And yet, he’s all for it.
TDS should be a college credit
They're both on the same side.
LOL: You’re endorsing it?😂
I support Trump for President.
PLEASE INTERVIEW ROSARIA BUTTERFIELD - EITHER OF YOU TWO.
The cult story was interesting but then this guy lost his credibility to me after he floated the whole "they're suppressing my book" conspiracy. From that point all I saw was self-important story telling, question dodging, and ideological blinders. I even get the impression he thought he was using some mind control powers on Shermer! How many times did he interject something along the lines of "But Michael, surely any good skeptic like yourself would understand..."? Even after all this guy has learned about cults, I'm sure his hubris (not to mention predisposition) makes him especially susceptible to further indoctrination.
Or maybe you're just ill-perceiving.
@@MrMattias87 you're right, it really wasn't that interesting, was it?
@Vlasko60 Possibly yeah, but by his own account some people are more susceptible to mind control techniques and some people aren't so much. He's obviously one who fell for it at least once.
Yip. I agree. He seemed less rational as he went on, and oddly in-eloquent .Maybe he writes well?? [30 minutes later] : I think he rallied, made more sense toward the end
“They” are suppressing the book I haven’t written also!
Ballroom dance cults and karate cults are a thing in fact being a manipulative cult leader is common in ballroom and salsa dance groups.
"People don't really believe In Putin"
Oh boy, you are so immensely wrong about this unfortunately...
Wow, i would neeever have thought this guy would have been in a cult
He still is and so are you?
@@TobeornottooB nooo?
@@thepyrrhonist6152 Do you vote?
@@TobeornottooB none of your beeswax, bark!
@@thepyrrhonist6152 Typical cult response
👍
Anybody helping
The weakness or corruption of the US political party's mirrors the culture and people of the nation. Good luck
What about the cult of against Trump.
What about the Anti-Anti Trump Cult?
Is there one?
@@BrianBattles yes - the mainstream media is solely composed of them
If that's your first response in 2023, that's pretty remarkable. I don't think you've learned much from all that's happened.
@Ricky Ray Rosenberg And by "mainstream media", you mean anyone who doesn't promote Trump?
Hollywood actors productions, a cult
I voted for Trump twice, but I wouldn't say I'm in a cult. I voted for him because I want less government waste and good businesses management in government. I guess I'm in the cult of rational thinking.
The Art of the Grift. 100 percent of all politicians are sociopaths who don't have your best interest in mind. So no, you're not in a cult but you are a certified dope.
No rational thinking person would vote for Trump .
@DEGAUSSING Atmospheric CHARGES Yes, the career politicians whose corruption has led to drone strikes, bombings, extortion, and the rise of open slave markets in Libya was a much better choice than the real estate developer. God, you freaking people are incapable of honest engagement or rational thought.
@@degaussingatmosphericcharg575 Ad hominem attack and logical fallacy. See the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.
@@degaussingatmosphericcharg575 LOL!
What does Hassan think about Marina Abromovic hosting light cake parties for the Clintons, Gates, and all of their old fashioned influencers (Hollywood Celebs?) That's pretty culty, isn't it?
Ya NAR is bad
XXX THE CONTROLIGARCHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hassan employs all too familiar tactics. He takes the knowledge and methods of his discipline, mental health, and uses them for obviously partisan purposes. Hassan gave himself away with his book, "Cult of Trump." It is easy to pick out ideologues of Hassan's ilk, because they only point out the flaws of their sociopolitical opponents. In the Trump book, Hassan conducted no scientific studies, but rather, "cherry-picked" anecdotal examples to create his ad hominem, non sequitur arguments. Hassan could just as easily have written a book about the Cult of Clinton or Cult of Obama, but they were not his sociopolitical enemies. It is a shame Hassan is so blinded and biased by emotion and ideology. It tarnishes his other good work.
I'd say that there _isn't_ much of a cult of Clinon or Obama, and I'm guessing he'd say the same. With regards to the left I'd say the cult is in social justice or next-wave feminism (neofeminism?) or BLM. I'm not sure what his opinions on those topics are, but it's certainly possible that he is being unfair by not covering them.
In fact in this conversation I think he even admits that he hardly calls the Trump thing a cult, or that it only matches in some ways. Shermer specifically asks him about this. Keep in mind that that he also talks about cults as a spectrum.
Right on! Have you ever noticed Shermer never interviews somebody like Victor Davis Hanson? He seems to be afraid of getting out of his intellectual cocoon.
@Vlasko60 Thank you. I was fishing for a case to prove my point, and you provided it. In Logic, your response is known as an Ad Hominem attack and logical fallacy. Rather than address relevant issues (facts and logical argument), you made a personal attack against me (my brain) without addressing my points. Hassan does something similar with Trump, but more artfully and subtle. 😄
@@MsHojat The name of his book is, "The Cult of Trump!" When Hassan writes a book about "The Cult of [anything Left]," I will buy your argument. You can SAY there is no Cult of Clinton or Obama (or "matching in some way"), and obviously Hassan would also, but by using Hassan's anecdotal "Cherry Picking" method, one could easily describe Obama-Clinton cults using the same arguments Hassan made with Trump. Trump certainly created enthusiasm and patriotic fervor with his America First program, economic and military successes, etc., but Trump has or had no more Cult-like control of his followers than other popular Presidents, like Ronald Reagan or FDR. In fact, support for Trump is waning, even without deprogramming.😁 I see Hassan's attack on Trump as part of a movement (even a cult on the spectrum), a well-financed, well-manipulated and masterful PSYOP campaign, similar to that employed against Goldstein in Orwell's 1984. Display images of the Orange Man with Group-Meme-Think, ad hominem phrases, and let the Proles have their Two Minutes of Hate. Except with Trump, the hate is constant and perpetual.
Oh please! 😂😂😂
The cult of Shermer is a great cult to follow. Great interview. Steven Hassan seems like a nice guy but he is totally brainwashed. haha
Shermer got our dox, Alex Jones, shit rogan. Stop working for nothingness steve
TDS victims.
Hey, shermer, if you care so much about victims of sexual violence, I have a book to recommend to you: Woman-to-woman sexual violence: Does she call it r*? Or is mr. skeptic too afraid to engage with new evidence and different views?