I Was in a Cult with Tuur Demeester - WBD498

Tuur Demeester is a Bitcoin investor and economist. In this
interview, we discuss how he was drawn into a toxic online cult,
his awakening and leaving, Twitter enabling cultist behaviours
within Bitcoin and why it’s key to give air to all voices within
Bitcoin.


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Wisdom is developed through experience: an individual's
interaction with other people and events, and their personal
reflections on the outcomes, enhance understanding of both the
self and the world. Knowledge isn’t endowed genetically, and
education provides limited direction. Perspective on exposure to
our environment is what drives tangible learning and growth.


People can easily find themselves developing beliefs, and
engaging in actions, with the benefit of hindsight they later
deem antithetical to an evolved worldview. Submission to a cult,
that is adherence to common belief systems and behaviours
advocated by a charismatic leader, is an extreme example of this.


People will largely dismiss the idea that they could be
susceptible to becoming a cultist. And yet, even the most
infamous cults are full of highly educated, principled, and
engaging people. People who have then made life decisions that
are hard to objectively comprehend. The truth is that we’re all
susceptible.


Commonly cults are cast as people in white robes; collectives
holed up in fortified buildings; empty-eyed automatons following
a messianic figure. But cults are less obvious and more pervasive
than we’d imagine. Today, with easy access to powerful and toxic
social media tools, building and energising and channelling an
audience is available to anyone with a voice.


It’s never been easier to develop a cult.


So, where are the dividing lines? What’s the difference between
impassioned rhetoric and dangerous invective? Should we try and
conduct reasoned debate using tools that are structurally
deficient for such tasks? How open can we be to divergent
opinions in a world full of noise and pressure? Could we
sleepwalk into a cult, or worse, become a corrupted cult leader?