Why Is The Health Community So Cult-like?

[B___Danny]

I’m sure everyone has experienced this.

Vegans make fun of meat eaters calling them “carnists”, “murderers”, and “rapists”. They spout bro science about meat and dairy causing disease.

carnivores call everyone carb addicts, call vegans soyboys, and think their IQ is 200 because they found out meat is healthy.

Fasting/IF (by far the angriest/most cult like community) make fun of people for being “food addicts”, always talk of autophagy, hgh, insulin, etc.

This forum has probably been on one or multiple of their diets, speaking in an all or nothing matter about all those diets, and carry that mindset here.

Also, how people always want to follow a guru. Fasting-> Jason Fung, Vegan-McDougal, Carnivore-> Shawn Baker, RPF-> Ray Peat, Haidut, Danny Roddy.

What do you think is the cause for this group think and people hating so much on other people for what they eat?

 

[gaze]

healthy people usually don't follow diets, so unhealthy people are the ones doing the fasting, vegan, carnivore, to heal some sort of issue. and unhealthy people in general are more authoritarian, rigid, angry, self-hating, etc. unless they have a strong spirituality and/or core values. Its only natural, the more ill health you get, the larger the ego gets because it feels as if its being cheated out of a good life, and all the negative emotions come along with it. It takes a very strong spirit to be unhealthy and remain happy, open, and understanding.

 

[tankasnowgod]

Also, how people always want to follow a guru. Fasting-> Jason Fung, Vegan-McDougal, Carnivore-> Shawn Baker, RPF-> Ray Peat, Haidut, Danny Roddy.

How bizarre that people who visit a website called "Ray Peat Forum" would be interested in the work of Ray Peat!

 

[B___Danny]

How bizarre that people who visit a website called "Ray Peat Forum" would be interested in the work of Ray Peat!

Calm down buddy, it obviously wasn’t an insult. Just a discussion.

 

[milkboi]

healthy people usually don't follow diets, so unhealthy people are the ones doing the fasting, vegan, carnivore, to heal some sort of issue. and unhealthy people in general are more authoritarian, rigid, angry, self-hating, etc. unless they have a strong spirituality and/or core values. Its only natural, the more ill health you get, the larger the ego gets because it feels as if its being cheated out of a good life, and all the negative emotions come along with it. It takes a very strong spirit to be unhealthy and remain happy, open, and understanding.

This is not a new concept, but you put it really well.

 

[tankasnowgod]

Calm down buddy, it obviously wasn’t an insult. Just a discussion.

Why do you think I'm not calm, or that I took it as an insult? This forum is literally named after Ray Peat. It makes sense that it would attract people that are interested in his work. One of the definitions of "Guru" is "a person with knowledge or expertise," and in that sense, Peat qualifies. But he's not trying to start a movement.

The term "cult" implies a lockstep way of thinking, and that doesn't apply to this forum as a whole. For example, you have people experimenting with a No Vitamin A diet, others with a very high Vitamin A diet, and everything in between. Same goes for many other topics. I'm sure you can find some examples of what you stated in your OP, but it's not everyone, nor does it seem to be a majority of posters.

 

[B___Danny]

healthy people usually don't follow diets, so unhealthy people are the ones doing the fasting, vegan, carnivore, to heal some sort of issue. and unhealthy people in general are more authoritarian, rigid, angry, self-hating, etc. unless they have a strong spirituality and/or core values. Its only natural, the more ill health you get, the larger the ego gets because it feels as if its being cheated out of a good life, and all the negative emotions come along with it. It takes a very strong spirit to be unhealthy and remain happy, open, and understanding.

Damn, thats a really in depth thought. Gonna run that through my head for a little bit.

 

[Maljam]

The term "cult" implies a lockstep way of thinking, and that doesn't apply to this forum as a whole. For example, you have people experimenting with a No Vitamin A diet, others with a very high Vitamin A diet, and everything in between.

The vitamin A posters seem culty to me. There isn't one singular cause to absolutely all disease, removing vitamin A from everybody's diet wouldn't benefit everyone. Grant did a questionnaire about people responses to the diet I'm not sure if you saw it, but the long term responses were poorer than he expected, yet people continue to do it.

 

[MatheusPN]

As twitter doesnt represent well most populations, a vegan diet forum will represent a "vegan" very badly, especially because veganism isn't a diet.
I was vegan and didn't know any guru, neither followed a diet, never.

Probably these type of forums attracts people without health in a greater way, attracts ppl who live by mainstream. White and Dark, unhealthy ppl enjoy dualities, god vs Satan.

 

[gaze]

Damn, thats a really in depth thought. Gonna run that through my head for a little bit.

I think you'd like this video

 

[Energizer]

Sometimes on the forums it feels like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day because the same exact threads get rehashed over and over, thousands of times over the years, like the countless "no fap" threads, until the end of this site this will be a recurring thread, just like a lot of topics on here

 

[snacks]

Vegans are a special case because it's a kind of exaggerated, neurotic moralism (they make the same arguments as Jains, but less elegantly) and so it follows from their own beliefs that they would tend to be aggressive. It would be more concerning if they thought that meat was murder and WEREN'T aggressive about it.

the rest of your comment is just generalization honestly

 

[Maljam]

Sometimes on the forums it feels like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day because the same exact threads get rehashed over and over, thousands of times over the years, like the countless "no fap" threads, until the end of this site this will be a recurring thread, just like a lot of topics on here

How come you stay? I remember you from the Peatarian days.

 

[LLight]

Humans feel good when they belong to a group and this culminates when they despise other groups.

The fact that other people are wrong accentuates the fact that you are right. Being right is the path to healing.

 

[Energizer]

How come you stay? I remember you from the Peatarian days.

Good question... I am beginning to wonder that myself.

imagine how ray feels, he’s probably responded “have you checked temperature, pulse, and vitamin D” to thousands of emails for 30 years

Heh, true! Good point.

 

[gaze]

Sometimes on the forums it feels like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day because the same exact threads get rehashed over and over, thousands of times over the years, like the countless "no fap" threads, until the end of this site this will be a recurring thread, just like a lot of topics on here

imagine how ray feels, he’s probably responded “have you checked temperature, pulse, and vitamin D” to thousands of emails for 30 years

 

[Lollipop2]

Maljam said: ↑
How come you stay? I remember you from the Peatarian days.

“Good question... I am beginning to wonder that myself.”

@Energizer, I think this forum has a large number of intelligent and knowledgeable people who do great research and post amazing articles. I have been around since May 2015 and still learn something or acquire a new resource. The endless arguments about the same topics is a fascinating phenomenon on this forum. Not sure why people don’t do a thorough search before posting; like the current Sat fat is bad thread. OH my how many of these threads have we seen? Other than this - I consider this forum highly informative.

 

[damngoodcoffee]

Our whole society is built around survival and competing against others. Mentality of the forces of creation being against you. This keeps people in a survival state of fear and thinking that you have to be right NOW or else you're screwed. This impatient fear-based mindset makes people irrationally cling to dogma in all walks of life, rather than calmly and persistently looking at as many different possibilities as possible. When you don't know what is true it's easier to cling to a leader/guru/authority figure/doctrine than to humble yourself, show your weakness, admit that you don't know and to stare into the abyss. On the short term it makes you feel safe to get acceptance and validity to an idea from some group, rather than rejecting all dogma and being a category of your own. Dogmatic people see open-mindedness as weakness and stupidity, and mock the crap out of nondogmatic people.

It requires good health and a virtuous spirit to be willing to face all that. People are so beaten down and traumatized by the authoritarian culture, it may take a while to build these up.

Health is directly about our very existence, our vital force, sexual energy, life and death. So these hidden dirty parts of our psyche strongly come up with this topic. Clinging to dogma is clinging to life. Giving you some sort of, although illusory, but a feeling of safety. Safety from the looming grip of death and disease. So people eating differently remind you of the Grim Reaper coming for you.

 

[opethfeldt]

High serotonin/estrogen people tend to form groups of like minded people and often viciously attack anyone (sometimes even physically) from a perceived "out group". I think oxytocin is involved in this. Less healthy people tend to have more estrogen/serotonin than healthy people and are more likely to need special diets to address health issues.

All of this is a recipe for the cult like followers of diets, including the ray peat diet unfortunately. Intelligence is accepting that you may not know everything. Never assume your way is the "right" way. It's just what works for you.

 

[LUH 3417]

Sometimes on the forums it feels like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day because the same exact threads get rehashed over and over, thousands of times over the years, like the countless "no fap" threads, until the end of this site this will be a recurring thread, just like a lot of topics on here

You mean this isn’t the thread where I talk about putting camphor on my testicles?