How to Spot a Cult | Sarah Edmondson | TED

I don’t know if my dad came up with this, but he always told me: “before you label yourself as crazy, take a look around and make sure you’re not surrounded by assholes.”

I spent 40+ years in an abusive family dynamic. After walking away, I realized it was “run like a cult” by my mother. So yes, families can be cult-like as well.

As someone who was raised in a cult their entire life and got out in my early 30's, I believe you've not mentioned the most important hallmark of a cult. They will discourage any other journey. There's is the 'best' way, and questioning it using logic and reason is basically not well accepted.

This is one instance where being a little antisocial and not being a "joiner" has naturally inoculated me against getting involved in cults or MLMs.

Avoid "cults of personality," organizations that are focused on a single personality: their zealous and magical leader.

My former workplace used MUCH of the language she uses as examples, and it makes sense why it was so hard for me to leave despite feeling burned out. I felt like I was abandoning a place that "needed me" when in reality, I was no more irreplaceable than the next employee. Dont ever let a company make you feel like you can't leave. In fact, you probably SHOULD.

Sadly the best inoculation to a cult is having been in a cult. Being raised in one makes me VERY sensitive to anything that slightly seems like one.

Before this whole thing blew up I met someone who was in Nexivm, he hired me to design some flyers so he could promote it. When I asked him for the logo and he didn't have a jpg file, I told him I could just look it up online. He said "yeah... you might find some stuff online about them being a cult, but it's just because the parent of some members is sore about his daughters cutting contact with him. Don't pay any attention to it" So of course I read the whole article and was glad I never went to one of the meetings I was invited to.

There is a book called Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. It’s a fascinating read about how cults and cult-like groups use language to draw people in and to exercise control. The author also looks at how much modern marketing uses the language of cults to create brand loyalty.

Sarah, watching that HBO series gave me the courage to escape a 30 year toxic marriage and ended up literally saving my life.

I was born in a cult. It was not fair. I never had the choice to look at the organization and choose to join or not. I finally woke up and got my act together and escaped when I was about 25.

I'm an American living in Japan and about 20 years ago I was walking to the train station and a very attractive young woman suddenly stopped me and asked if I wanted to get married. I was taken aback for a moment, then joked something like I had a girlfriend and I didn't think I could handle anything else at the moment. She probed a bit further, "Is it serious?", and tried to imply that relationships between foreign men and Japanese women rarely last, etc. She explained she was with a religious group and through them she had found true happiness, etc. We finally parted ways and she gave me some literature in English about her group. I didn't recognize the name on it, but later when I read through it a little I realized it was the Unification Church, or the "Moonies" as we used to call them in Massachusetts where they had a presence when I was growing up. Now I just remember it as a funny little encounter, but I can see how someone who might be feeling kind of lost or lonely could be easily drawn in by an attractive person who seems very empathetic and interested in them...

I won't mention the company's name. But a friends son has pretty much turned his whole life over to a MLM organization. Over five years now. He went from being this sweet, curious friendly young man to an automaton who just spews slogans and toxic positivity. He believes that if he can just bring enough people in "under" him, he will soon have a huge glass house on the beach and he'll never have to work a day in his life again. In 5 years he's brought in less than 10 people and some of them ended up dropping out. He still scopes out people at coffee shops and tries to make seemingly innocent small talk. He then tells them he knows how they can make a lot of money and be financially solvent for the rest of their lives. Hes been asked to leave at least one coffee shop. He buys boxes of products from the MLM company to make it look like he's got a real business going. But he just buys those items and those boxes sit in a closet as he tries to pawn them off on family and friends, what few non MLM friends he still might have. Its so sad to watch this young man who was smart and kind and friendly become a shill for a MLM organization that just rips people off.

Cult signs (in video): Assumption of neediness. Expensive. Loaded Language. Lawsuits or Bad Press. Definitive answers. Things cults don't tend to have: Questions are welcomed. You can exit drama-free. Healthy amount of commitment. Holds up to your research.

I’m so glad she’s safe. So much of what she described here exists in parasocial groups too. Podcast and social media influencers with a sick amount of control over their followers.

How to avoid joining a cult? -whenever someone claims to have all the answers you call them a liar and leave!😂

The number one way you know you've joined a cult, is if you give until you have nothing left, and its still not good enough. You aren't good enough, and they make you feel like you have nothing to offer them, or anyone else. Period. Forever.

My older brother said something to me in high school - that so many people were compulsive joiners - they were the kids who were in everything - the cheerleaders, the slide rule club, the service club, the baseball team, the basketball team, the wrestling team, the swim team. When it came time to create the yearbook, their faces were all over the place from cover to cover. So I asked myself why? Why do these people feel like that have to belong to everything? Well, the answer is obvious. They didn't feel like they belonged at home. Pretty much spells it all out. Sheep follow a leader. If you cannot think independently, you're not thinking - you're reacting to emotions. Those who do not have control of their emotions are doomed to cults and compulsive joining - until they meet their death.

Looking at you , Landmark. I had a person who I thought was a really genuine friend who wanted to help me during a very tumultuous time in my life. Try really hard to recruit me into landmark and it almost cost me more than I could ever afford. I'm so glad I realized quickly what was going on and got away. I asked that person firmly with a text message to never discuss landmark or anything to do with landmark with me ever again, she promptly replied okay and that she understood and all of a sudden. She never wanted to hang out with me ever again. I realized in that moment she was never a friend at all

Thank you for having the courage to speak the truth and seek justice! This is so much more common than we care to acknowledge.