That conclusion about my general preferences does not follow from my stated specific preferences.

I may have worded it more strongly than you intended, but I thought you said:

deliberately provoking emotional responses (without attempting to build group cohesion or call to action)

Somewhat. I'm very wary of this sort of thing, but I don't think I find it inherently objectionable.

In any case, I think I have at least a reasonable understanding of where you're coming from. That's all I have to say for now, although if you are able to articulate some of the other concerns you mentioned better that'd be appreciated.

There will be one more post which is something of an "emotional explanation of why I'm doing what I'm doing," which is intended to be evocative but grounded in something very real. That will probably go up tomorrow. A few days later I'll write up a more expansive post about where the idea of ritual and less wrong might or might not go, and what concerns I have about that.