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07-08-2008, 10:08 AM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Threads: 10
Posts: 97
| do cults generally attract people of higher intelligence??
With all this talk of scientology and mormonism and talk of people falling for these cults. I started wondering, how do people fall for these cults? Do you think most people that join cults are of higer intelligence or lower??? | 
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07-08-2008, 10:12 AM
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#2 | | Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Threads: 145
Posts: 813
| something to do with IQ... | |
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07-08-2008, 10:13 AM
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#3 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Gender: Male
Threads: 21
Posts: 873
| No, I mean look at Tom Cruise and Scientology. lol
He is not very bright. Hahahaha | |
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07-08-2008, 10:30 AM
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#4 | | Member
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Oceania, Airstrip One Gender: Female
Threads: 17
Posts: 329
| I'd think lower intellegence. Wouldn't someone with an incredibly high IQ have the self-control to think as an individual and not get swept up in cult culture? | |
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07-08-2008, 10:31 AM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Threads: 24
Posts: 1,215
| ali_mayhem:
Be careful with your use of language. One man's cult is another man's religion. | |
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07-08-2008, 10:44 AM
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#6 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Threads: 10
Posts: 97
| Im sorry for being insensitive.
But I would think that if you have a higher iq you would be more open to new ideas or cults/religions.But I have heard that most religion extremist don't have a college education. | |
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07-08-2008, 11:27 AM
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#7 | | Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Threads: 145
Posts: 813
| Its All Bs.... | |
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07-08-2008, 11:37 AM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Midwest Gender: Female
Threads: 7
Posts: 108
| I don't know if I would call mainstream Mormonism a cult, but I guess that's a matter of personal interpretation.
Anyway, I doubt that impressionability directly correlates to intelligence. I think that susceptibility to joining a cult depends upon how much the ideals of the cult appeal to the individual. I doubt that stupid people are more or less likely than smarter people to join cults.
Does that make sense? Eh, not well-worded, but whatever. | |
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07-08-2008, 12:03 PM
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#9 | | Member
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas Gender: Male
Threads: 60
Posts: 559
| shades...scientology is most definitely a cult, not a religion. It was invented by a very greedy sci-fi author. Hmmm. Let's see, you have to PAY to rise up in the Thetan levels, and the "religion" places major emphasis on aliens......
I don't care if it's insensitive. If you're a scientologist, you are automatically designated as less intelligent | |
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07-08-2008, 12:31 PM
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#10 | | Member
Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ohio Gender: Female
Threads: 13
Posts: 998
| I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence; it's all about low self esteem. | |
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07-08-2008, 12:32 PM
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#11 | | Member
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Eden Prairie, MN Gender: Female
Threads: 16
Posts: 319
| I don't think it has that much to do with intelligence. Even the most intelligent people sometimes have the need for the events in their life to be explainable. Cults usually offer something like this. Also cults give their members a feeling like they're part of a family, think Jehovah's Witnesses, and that can also be a powerful motivator.
So I think it just depends on what is happening in a person's life and how impressionable he/she is at that moment. | |
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07-08-2008, 12:45 PM
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#12 | | Member
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas Gender: Male
Threads: 60
Posts: 559
| but sugar_sweet, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism all explain life's events and make one feel like a part of a family.
However, these are real religions.
I DO think it has something to do with intelligence, because if it was only about those things you listed, these people would just become Christians, Muslims, etc. Instead, they join some dumb cult like scientology. How high can your IQ possibly be if you follow a cult started by Ron Hubbard?! | |
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07-08-2008, 01:48 PM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Plymouth, MI Gender: Female
Threads: 110
Posts: 2,709
| Remember, early Christianity was considered a "cult". Do we say Christians have lower intelligence than others? No. We'd be flamed.
Anybody can get sucked into a cult because they start off as legitimate organizations/religions and then slowly become cult-like. Besides, who decides when something crosses the line between religion and cult.
Some people call my religion a cult, and my IQ is in the genius range. It's all a matter of perception. | |
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07-08-2008, 01:59 PM
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#14 | | Member
Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Gender: Female
Threads: 28
Posts: 389
| Would anyone like to define "cult" and "religion" so we can level the discussion plane? | |
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07-08-2008, 02:02 PM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Plymouth, MI Gender: Female
Threads: 110
Posts: 2,709
| ^ That's the point. You really can't. | |
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