That is the situation of the “no criticism” rule. While it might sound fair and reasonable, the truth is, that this rule favours the cultists.
To be fair, I think you’re judging this rule based on what effect it would have on rationalists. However, rationalists are few and far between, and moreover since most groups of people who meet each other do so for other reasons than having a “rationality Meetup”, it would be reasonable to expect essentially no rationalists in the typical meetup. Population density and self-selection bias are usually both working against us here.
So, what effect does the “no criticism” rule have among non-rationalists? At least in my experience, it prevents identity politics from destroying the group. It isn’t hard to use one overarching goal to bring together people with polar opposite views in politics, religion, aesthetics, childrearing, dietary choices, business, etc. As a practical matter, you can’t forbid people from saying what they believe—the beliefs propogate into all manner of unexpected places—and you wouldn’t want to anyway. To prevent pointless internecine conflict, though, a “no criticism” rule is often highly effective.
What about among discussion groups where pointless internecine conflict is, in fact, the point? On many occasions I’ve joined philosophy Meetups lacking a “no criticism” rule. It turns out that this simply compounds loony ideas with loony criticism.
To be fair, I think you’re judging this rule based on what effect it would have on rationalists. However, rationalists are few and far between, and moreover since most groups of people who meet each other do so for other reasons than having a “rationality Meetup”, it would be reasonable to expect essentially no rationalists in the typical meetup. Population density and self-selection bias are usually both working against us here.
So, what effect does the “no criticism” rule have among non-rationalists? At least in my experience, it prevents identity politics from destroying the group. It isn’t hard to use one overarching goal to bring together people with polar opposite views in politics, religion, aesthetics, childrearing, dietary choices, business, etc. As a practical matter, you can’t forbid people from saying what they believe—the beliefs propogate into all manner of unexpected places—and you wouldn’t want to anyway. To prevent pointless internecine conflict, though, a “no criticism” rule is often highly effective.
What about among discussion groups where pointless internecine conflict is, in fact, the point? On many occasions I’ve joined philosophy Meetups lacking a “no criticism” rule. It turns out that this simply compounds loony ideas with loony criticism.