Not all, just enough. Weakening their mental ties so they get their social calibration from the small group is the key point.
No, it's much more than that. Scientology makes its members cut off communication with their former friends and families entirely. They also have a ritualized training procedure in which an examiner repeatedly tries to provoke them, and they have to avoid producing a detectable response on an "e-meter" (which measures stress response). After doing this for awhile, they learn to remain calm under the most extreme circumst... (read more)
What defense against EY does EY strengthen? Because I'm somewhat surprised by the amount I hear Aumann's Agreement Theorem bandied around with regards to what is clearly a mistake on EY's part.
5taw
I'd like to see some solid evidence for or against the claim that typical developing cults make their members cut off communication with their former friends and families entirely.
If the claim is of merely weakening these ties, then this is definitely happening. I especially mean commitment by signing up for cryonics. It will definitely increase mental distance between affected person and their formerly close friends and family, I guess about as much signing up for a weird religion but mostly perceived as benign would. I doubt anyone has much evidence about this demographics?
8David_Gerard
I was talking generally, not about Scientology in particular.
As I noted, Scientology is such a toweringly bad idea that it makes other bad ideas seem relatively benign. There are lots of cultish groups that are nowhere near as bad as Scientology, but that doesn't make them just fine. Beware of this error. (Useful way to avoid it: don't use Scientology as a comparison in your reasoning.)
No, it's much more than that. Scientology makes its members cut off communication with their former friends and families entirely. They also have a ritualized training procedure in which an examiner repeatedly tries to provoke them, and they have to avoid producing a detectable response on an "e-meter" (which measures stress response). After doing this for awhile, they learn to remain calm under the most extreme circumst... (read more)