M G’s Reviews > Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism > Status Update

Ritual also temporarily removes a person from the center of their own little universe- their anxieties, their everyday pri-orities. It helps mentally transition followers from worldly, self-focused humans to one piece of a holy group. And then, theoretically, it should allow them to transition back into real life.

But competition alone, research suggests, is not enough to keep folks committed. Exercisers driven only by numbers tend to quit within twelve months. It's when elements of belonging. self-worth, and empowerment enter the picture that members are moved to renew their fitness memberships year af ter year. Language is the glue that binds that "addictive* combo of community and motivation.

"The way it works, you lose weight quick. I lost fifty pounds in four months," she confessed.
"I mean, the second I stopped eating their food, I looked at a pizza and gained five pounds. It's not realistic to keep up with. But you get those 'before and after' pictures, post them with the mumbo-jumbo and the hashtags, and people want to know what you're doing."

“ a 2011 report found that glossolalia was associated with reduced cortisol and elevated alpha-amylase enzyme activity, two typical signs of stress reduction. It has also been found to lower inhibitions and increase self-confidence, which is a side effect of religious chanting, too.

There’s a linguistic theory about the relationship between language and thought called the Sapir-whorf hypothesis, which says that while language does influence our ability to conceive of ideas, it does not determine it. That is to say we are able to still conceive of thoughts that don’t match the language available to us.

Americas frightfully low standards for men’s charisma: as long as someone is white, male, and telling us to pay attention to him, we’ll follow even “the most obviously bumbling con artist dumbass ever birthed by the universe.

“This phenomenon of listeners mistaking say-it-like-it-is honesty (which of course isn’t actual honesty, just a lack of filter) for the refreshing voice of antiestablishment dissent might feel familiar to anyone who’s lived through the reign of a problematic populist.

But the twenty-first century presents folks (those of some privilege, that is) with a Cheesecake Factorv-size menu of decisions to make. The sheer quantity can be paralyzing, especiallv in an era of radical self-creation, when there's such pressure to craft a strong "personal brand" at the very same time that morale and basic survival feel more precarious for young people than they have in a long time.

I once had a therapist tell me that flexibility without structure isn’t flexibility; it’s just chaos.