Thread by @webdevMason

To be clear, I think #3 is substantially worse for most people than #1, and #2 is generally benign only because it is almost impossible to maintain by force of will alone

https://twitter.com/primalpoly/status/1450212424678793219

Otherwise bright people believing that their goals/desires are more malleable and subject to rational reconsideration than they actually are probably generates more personal angst and interpersonal drama in these groups than any other single factor

There's been much talk of sexual and cult-style abuse in some of these communities recently, and frankly I think it's really important to consider the role that endorsed goal modification has played with regard to enabling abuse

I say all this not entirely theoretically, because I wound up in several different cult orbits during my time in the Bay, and I believe that my avoiding capture repeatedly was entirely due to the fact that my "no, I don't like this" feelings have become completely non-negotiable