[FRIAM] Peirce, Buddhism, Monism, Behaviorism, oh my!

Tue May 31 12:13:31 EDT 2022

How dare you other me!

n

Nick Thompson
ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of glen
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 10:17 AM
To: friam at redfish.com
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Peirce, Buddhism, Monism, Behaviorism, oh my!

Reminds me of a hallmark of cults. NXIVM, Scientology, Rand v Branden, Martin Luther, ... There's an endless list of "inner circle" people who "get it" vs heretics who don't. On this list, we talk a lot about if and when the properties of individuals obtain for the collective. You know, "emergence" and all that. So here's one. I've always thought the "love bombing" of narcissists maps well to cult-like othering. Arguing over the meanings of words like "pragmati[ci]sm" is yet another example of a tried and true technique for othering the heretics. When you're one of us, we say things like "People like us ..." and "You and me, we get it." (Look deep into my eyes.) When you're the target, the inner circle says things like "You just don't get it. You need to read this book ... and that book ... and do this meditative exercise ... take this drug ..." If they've decided you don't belong, that you just can't quite get through the uncanny valley, then no matter what you say, how you say it, what you do, how you do it, the Cool Kids will find some way to keep you othered.

In the case of the Randians, Scientologists, and NXIVM's Sororium and Protectors, it's best (but risky) if your MLM pyramid is a strict hierarchy ... get your most local circle to other the next circle out. You, as cult leader, don't want to have to maintain the boundary of the 2nd tier. You want to concentrate on maintaining the 1st tier and delegate the maintenance of lower tiers ... plausible deniability and all that. It's risky because delegation relies on shared values. Too many free thinkers spoils the pudding.

One way of ensuring shared values is to base them on reality. Another, simpler, way is rigorous hermeneutics. Initiations, degrees, sacred texts, hazing, ... it's all necessary to preserve the mystique, to preserve the Following, the purity of the flock.

Of course, there's also the other side. From the social othering of the Weinsteins (Brett and Harvey) and Sam Harrises to the scitech othering of the Robert Rosens and Nikola Teslas, an othered outcast can create their own inner circle with the shared value of being misfits, dilettantes, self-styled renaissance people  ... "free speech absolutists", etc. The tactics are the same for these inverted cliques. Misfits have bona fides, too, reliable litmus tests for effective gatekeeping.

On 5/31/22 02:03, thompnickson2 at gmail.com wrote:
> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/282-do-you-really-have-a-self/id
> 733163012?i=1000563340865 
> <https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/282-do-you-really-have-a-self/i
> d733163012?i=1000563340865>
> 
> Jay Garfield promotes his book */Losing the Self /*on the Sam Harris Podcast.  I can see no evidence that Garfield ever read a word of Peirce, but It’s fascinating how closely he tracks Peirce’s monism.  Fascinating, also, to see how Harris never quite gets it, repeatedly trying to drag the outside/inside distinction back into the conversation, while slathering praise on Garfield for eliminating it.  Reminds me of James’s failure to ever quite “get” Peirce.  But then it was James who died a neutral monist.  Oh well.
> 
> Reminded me of all the times that Dave West has accused me of being a closet Buddhist.

--
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