

In an era of psychological manipulation it’s only fitting that cults blossom.

Would you see yourself as a member of a cult? Most likely not, yet you must have felt at times that something was wrong either with your or others peoples approach to crypto currencies.

Here are the signs of a traditional cult:

Opposing critical thinking Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving Emphasizing special doctrines outside scripture Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders Dishonoring the family unit

Some of these don’t apply but looking on many subreddits you will notice how people are banned only for asking questions, everything is “fud” and people who sell “are traitors and should be marked”.

It’s only natural for people to try and protect their investment.

As R. Cialdini put it “So we want our affiliated sports teams to win to prove our own superiority, but to whom are we trying to prove? Ourselves, certainly, but to everyone else, too. According to the association principle, of we can surround ourselves with success that we are connected with in even a superficial way (for example, place of residence), our public prestige will rise.”

But in this defensive stance of our investments are we brainwashing ourselves? When people ask you in real life how is x project going to be profitable, do you just brush off their concerns as them not being able to understand how super awesome said project is?

Another similar thing that happens in cults and has happened a lot in the crypto space is the “confession”. Normally, the cult leader would ask a member to confess to his or her “sins”, here however people do it willingly and to a similar effect of receiving sympathy or asking to be reprimanded in the public eye.

How does one get stuck in a cult, or in this case a “bagholder”? “Members who regularly have their self-esteem deflated will remain convinced.” In this case you only have to replace self-esteem with financial loss (which in many cases is linked).

What can you do to escape a vicious cycle of being subjective?

I sometimes engage in an exercise where I “fud” my own investment, at times I even realized that I had made a mistake investing and cut my losses. Hodl, only works for a couple of coins, such as Bitcoin. If a team asks for a couple of millions in donations to announce a partnership, you might have to ask yourself if you are the greater fool in this equation.

Don’t be a cult member, in the end you might hurt those around you but you will hurt yourself the most. Stay rational and while the ride is wild you should come in crypto for the financial gains but stay for the tech.

Sources:

https://www.influenceatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Influence_SP.pdf

http://www.workingpsychology.com/cult2.html