There are enormous numbers of people in the world who are leaders, but whose relationship with their followers doesn’t strike anybody as cult-like.
My intuitive model is that cult-like behavior emerges only in specific contexts. The grocery store manager probably will not turn the clerks into cultists.
Who has a shot at it? If I had to guess, it’s maybe people who deal in emotions, identities and ideas as their primary trade, and whose personal work doesn’t cash out in a concrete, worldly endeavor.
A CEO deals in ideas, but if they have to sell a product at the end of the day, I think they’re unlikely to become cult leaders. At least not the central case.
I speculate that this isn’t just because they don’t have time on their hands. I think it’s also because their image is wrapped up in something too concrete. And they’ll have to optimize for goals other than “like and let like.”
Is becoming a cult a result of Goodhart’s law? People use “do I like them” as a measure of “should I give them my attention?” And wind up with a cult?
There are enormous numbers of people in the world who are leaders, but whose relationship with their followers doesn’t strike anybody as cult-like.
My intuitive model is that cult-like behavior emerges only in specific contexts. The grocery store manager probably will not turn the clerks into cultists.
Who has a shot at it? If I had to guess, it’s maybe people who deal in emotions, identities and ideas as their primary trade, and whose personal work doesn’t cash out in a concrete, worldly endeavor.
A CEO deals in ideas, but if they have to sell a product at the end of the day, I think they’re unlikely to become cult leaders. At least not the central case.
I speculate that this isn’t just because they don’t have time on their hands. I think it’s also because their image is wrapped up in something too concrete. And they’ll have to optimize for goals other than “like and let like.”
Is becoming a cult a result of Goodhart’s law? People use “do I like them” as a measure of “should I give them my attention?” And wind up with a cult?