When some people start admiring you in the cultish way, it is difficult to get rid of them, because if you disappoint them, they might switch to hating you—like it’s your fault for not being who they thought you were, and they need to punish you, and also tell everyone else what a bad person you are.
Not sure what is the optimal approach here. The easy one is “make sure strangers won’t notice you, because certain fraction of the strangers is crazy, and trust me you do not want to attract a crazy person’s attention.” But this means giving up all the good things that could happen. Not just good things as “influencing people for good”, but also things like “using your skills in public”. To you avoid being noticed, you need to give up all things that require social capital.
Possible solution: pseudonymity. Make a fake persona that you are willing to sacrifice when shit hits the fan. (I said “when”, not “if”.) Unfortunately, doxing is a popular pastime, and proper opsec is a lot of work.
When some people start admiring you in the cultish way, it is difficult to get rid of them, because if you disappoint them, they might switch to hating you—like it’s your fault for not being who they thought you were, and they need to punish you, and also tell everyone else what a bad person you are.
Not sure what is the optimal approach here. The easy one is “make sure strangers won’t notice you, because certain fraction of the strangers is crazy, and trust me you do not want to attract a crazy person’s attention.” But this means giving up all the good things that could happen. Not just good things as “influencing people for good”, but also things like “using your skills in public”. To you avoid being noticed, you need to give up all things that require social capital.
Possible solution: pseudonymity. Make a fake persona that you are willing to sacrifice when shit hits the fan. (I said “when”, not “if”.) Unfortunately, doxing is a popular pastime, and proper opsec is a lot of work.