❀ the cult of: ➥motivational speakers ➥life coaches ➥personal growth gurus ➥new-age charlatans ➥AWESOMENESS FEST

lol i just looked at the mindie kniss website, and for real took a second to realize this was not a will farrell character:

http://restartyourheart.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rollin_mccraty1.jpg

my theory: i think a lot of this stuff is built to address the fact that the world is an incredibly complicated place with incredibly complex systems that are overwhelming. like, how does the economy work? how do hedge funds work? how does property get bought, sold? how does energy get made, distributed, refined, etc? like thousands of these questions that directly impact our day to day lives that are completely obscure to 99% of human beings. at best we work in an industry and learn about our industry and have some insight into this tiny piece of the puzzle. i get the feeling that a lot of these ppl don't even have experience with a tiny sliver of how things work. So they have a revelation that stuff must happen, not because of negotiations and relationships and developing actual technology, but by some magical force of mystical will, that if you dream if you can make it, etc. of course, this revelation isn't actually true and doesn't qualify them to actually do anything but continue to talk about, teach, attend seminars about mystical will power, etc. and shit is just getting more complex. and the more complex it gets, the more we're gonna see stuff like this.

and maybe that's not so bad bc if robots replace all of our factory jobs we need to have all these young ppl do something, and if they're gathering in bright rooms to talk about how energized they are, and unleashing the potential of the human body, then they're not idk breaking things. which, like, i think is the fundamental tension. it's hard to stay positive when there's so much shit in the world, so as humans we've developed an industry focused on staying positive. (nb this trend bodes poorly for political revolution.)

how is babby formed?

So they have a revelation that stuff must happen, not because of negotiations and relationships and developing actual technology, but by some magical force of mystical will, that if you dream if you can make it, etc.

To be fair, you just described the basis of a fairly large portion of historical religious thought

tldr it's all about alienation

O! Brave new world that has such people in't.

i'm kinda sympathetic. there's a huge stench of desperation coming off a lot of the ppl being to linked to in this thread

lol TED talks...there are some great ones on there, but occasionally i'll start watching one someone has linked too and it's a little o_O

great post, Mordy. thanks.

and by "thanks" i mean "Namaste"

when there was talk of hotels upthread and beach parties in the evenings for these things, it makes me wonder...

gr8080, have you worked one of these things?

like i was saying, "some of it seriously home-made and sorry-ass looking. you wonder who could be awed by any of it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyubQ56usII

unbelievable

http://www.webtvwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/quantum-leap.jpg

xxpost: not really.

i've had to do a little bit of work w/ rich dad poor dad seminars and other "wealth building" and "EZ Trading" seminars... its funny tho because for as much wealth as they all build they are pretty reliably some of my cheapest clients.

on the other side of this (ie: the cult side that is not contemporary at all but historical) the book When Prophesy Fails is classic sociological text about why ppl believe crazy shit

Magical thinking is pretty common. It's like a shortcut in our brains that's very hackable.

i have zero evidence to support this theory but i am of the belief that Vishen fucks no less than 6 different women at each Awesomeness Fest.

just look @ the "pirate party" YouTube in my OP again, then listen to him go on about how they need to decide if Awesomeness Fest and you are "a good fit"

― ⚓ (gr8080), Thursday, February 2, 2012 1:36 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and all the dudes look so schlubby and dippy...

all right this sorta o/t now, on the alien culty end, but wtf

http://www.youtube.com/user/Komurosan

1937 uploads!

(i wonder if that's the source of that one sample on the death grips record?)

rich dad poor dad

uuurggh

Magical thinking is pretty common. It's like a shortcut in our brains that's very hackable.

― Unleash the Chang (he did what!) (Austerity Ponies), Thursday, February 2, 2012 2:58 PM

http://www.kipnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/carlos_castaneda.jpg

loved those books when i was 13

I think I read the Illuminatus Trilogy when I was like 14, that kind of ruined me

1937 uploads!

― Critique of Pure Moods (goole), Thursday, February 2, 2012 10:01 AM (14 minutes ago)

lagoon touched on this earlier, but internet 2.0/social networking is really what brought them out of the wilderness and clothed, bathed, and fed them. now they are reproducing at an alarming rate and breaking down the walls.

I just read through this thread and I believe you people are highly naive.

This is not an occult science. This is not one of those crazy systems of divination and astrology. That stuff's hooey, and you've got to have a screw loose to go in for that sort of thing.

The beliefs of The Silva Method, Mind Valley and yes, even Sam Stephenson's are fairly commonplace and very simple to understand:

Humankind is simply materialized color operating on the 49th vibration.

You would make that conclusion walking down the street or going to the store.

I'm out.

Peter

haha I was thinking abt that scene earlier reading this thread

we shd probably mention the libertarian yoga murderer people here

No, ladies and gentlemen, we don't ride around on broomsticks and wear pointy hats. Well, we don't ride on broomsticks.

goole u will be pleased to know that lululemon is all-in on landmark

!

what is lululemon?

http://gawker.com/5859867/lululemon-run-by-ayn-rand+obsessed-ideologue

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/jayna-murray-alive-during-322-injuries-prosecutor/2011/11/02/gIQAtVxgfM_blog.html

my ex worked at lululemon and was pretty stoked on how empowering their internal meetings were

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/39e6400823e4f16e5a23045d4a1ca9d8/887525.jpg

^^^This was my favorite album as a v young child

http://i.imgur.com/YQ9ry.png

Make fun all you want, you all just sound like a bunch of saddos on the sidelines while out here we're the ones purposefully galactivating the love-based economy and backrubs are a primo way to get started

I meant to type 'prismatic' not primo - damn you autocorrect

http://getsatisfaction.com/mindvalley/topics/is_mindvalley_a_reputable_company_or_a_scam

http://getsatisfaction.com/mindvalley/topics

PLease contact me on contact (at) mindvalley.com and in the start of the email say, "please forward to Vishen"

i want to help you but just not enough to give you my email addr

mind at mindvalley dot com

http://i.imgur.com/KkkjX.png

dying @ "Hi Cactus."

http://www.gratitudelog.com/

http://i.imgur.com/XM497.png

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/mindvalley-c303298.html

"Chief Delighter"

http://getsatisfaction.com/mindvalley/topics/no_response_to_refund_request_getting_more_than_annoyed

The excercise was rediculous as all you hear is Burt's voice. There is no relaxation music or sounds such as rain/water or ocean and no binureal beats. Nothing but Burts voice. A few times he stammers on words which is frustrating as you are trying to relax, and a few times I was 'jolted' to attention in my mind because I heard some sort of foreign background noise, like intercom sounds or a door closing.

xD

boost a gratitude log

suggest binureal

haha amon i c+p the same part