Sometimes I end up in some forum, discussion thread, twitter thread or other similar place where social justice warriors discuss some topic. I have noticed one particular prominent difference in the way that people discuss things in them.
For example, if some SJW posts a relatively large and (at least outwardly) well-crafted piece of writing, eg. debunking something that the "opposition" claims, or other such topic, the responses to that post will quite often be full of what could be vulgarly called "dick sucking". Many SJWs will respond to it with comments like "thank you for doing this", "you are doing a great job", and other forms of ego stroking of the original writer, without actually contributing to the actual topic. These discussion threads often tend to be, again what can quite vulgarly be expressed as, "circle jerking", with people doing nothing more than praising what others are doing, and adulating them.
I'm not saying something similar never, ever happens in anti-SJW discussion threads, but from what I have seen, it tends to be significantly rarer. In SJW discussion threads it's almost guaranteed. (In anti-SJW threads the most you usually get is people agreeing with what the original author is saying, without contributing to the actual discussion, rather than stroking the writer's ego with thanks and praises.)
I believe that this is a phenomenon that's called "reinforcement", especially when talking about cult behavior. This is a very common tactic used in deeply religious cults: Members of the cult constantly praising each other for the "good work" they are doing, reassuring them that what they are doing is worth it, and a good thing, and to keep doing it. (Again, I'm not saying none of this, at some level, is ever happening on the anti-SJW side. It's just that it doesn't tend to be this blatant and obvious, nor nearly as common.)
Another striking resemblance to cult behavior is virtue-signaling through verbal self-flagellation. It's very common in many cults, and even many not-so-much-of-an-actual-cult denominations, especially those based on Christianity, for members to constantly express about themselves how "bad" and "sinful" they are, how they are flawed, the lowest of the low, and require redemption. This is a form of virtue-signaling. It's essentially saying "hey, look how pious, humble and virtuous I am. I can openly admit my deepest flaws; please admire my piousness and humility."
You can see this exact same kind of behavior in many of these SJW forums. People there will write things like: "Why are white people so afraid of accepting that they are racists? I'm white, and I'm deeply racist. I'm not afraid of admitting it. Admitting and accepting it is the first step to better myself and work toward becoming less racist."
I'm not kidding. That's directly paraphrasing one such post I saw recently. (I'm 100% sure that person is not a racist in the least (at least not in the direction he thinks he is.) He's just virtue-signaling. He might even truly believe what he's saying, which means he has been indoctrinated into a cult of self-hatred and submission to the ideology.)
I don't remember ever seeing this kind of cult mentality in anti-SJW circles. In fact, there seems to be a distinct general lack of people talking about themselves in any way (good or bad). People actually discuss the topic at hand, rather than try to look good and virtuous in the eyes of their peers. (The discussion may not always be the smartest or most constructive, but it's usually about the topic at hand nevertheless.)
For example, if some SJW posts a relatively large and (at least outwardly) well-crafted piece of writing, eg. debunking something that the "opposition" claims, or other such topic, the responses to that post will quite often be full of what could be vulgarly called "dick sucking". Many SJWs will respond to it with comments like "thank you for doing this", "you are doing a great job", and other forms of ego stroking of the original writer, without actually contributing to the actual topic. These discussion threads often tend to be, again what can quite vulgarly be expressed as, "circle jerking", with people doing nothing more than praising what others are doing, and adulating them.
I'm not saying something similar never, ever happens in anti-SJW discussion threads, but from what I have seen, it tends to be significantly rarer. In SJW discussion threads it's almost guaranteed. (In anti-SJW threads the most you usually get is people agreeing with what the original author is saying, without contributing to the actual discussion, rather than stroking the writer's ego with thanks and praises.)
I believe that this is a phenomenon that's called "reinforcement", especially when talking about cult behavior. This is a very common tactic used in deeply religious cults: Members of the cult constantly praising each other for the "good work" they are doing, reassuring them that what they are doing is worth it, and a good thing, and to keep doing it. (Again, I'm not saying none of this, at some level, is ever happening on the anti-SJW side. It's just that it doesn't tend to be this blatant and obvious, nor nearly as common.)
Another striking resemblance to cult behavior is virtue-signaling through verbal self-flagellation. It's very common in many cults, and even many not-so-much-of-an-actual-cult denominations, especially those based on Christianity, for members to constantly express about themselves how "bad" and "sinful" they are, how they are flawed, the lowest of the low, and require redemption. This is a form of virtue-signaling. It's essentially saying "hey, look how pious, humble and virtuous I am. I can openly admit my deepest flaws; please admire my piousness and humility."
You can see this exact same kind of behavior in many of these SJW forums. People there will write things like: "Why are white people so afraid of accepting that they are racists? I'm white, and I'm deeply racist. I'm not afraid of admitting it. Admitting and accepting it is the first step to better myself and work toward becoming less racist."
I'm not kidding. That's directly paraphrasing one such post I saw recently. (I'm 100% sure that person is not a racist in the least (at least not in the direction he thinks he is.) He's just virtue-signaling. He might even truly believe what he's saying, which means he has been indoctrinated into a cult of self-hatred and submission to the ideology.)
I don't remember ever seeing this kind of cult mentality in anti-SJW circles. In fact, there seems to be a distinct general lack of people talking about themselves in any way (good or bad). People actually discuss the topic at hand, rather than try to look good and virtuous in the eyes of their peers. (The discussion may not always be the smartest or most constructive, but it's usually about the topic at hand nevertheless.)
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