Why do people join cults? - Janja Lalich 

No cult member will ever admit they belong to a cult.

Also, cults never refer to themselves as a cult. No, we're just a friendly congregation, a group of people. But never a cult.

DO not underestimate how tenacious these people can be. I never joined a cult, but I was hounded before by a cult to the point of having stalkers and death threats. Be careful people.

It's often left out of the story that the people in Jonestown were forced to drink the poison by guards pointing firearms at them... Many knew they were gonna die and didn't want to, but they felt they had no choice, which they really didn't.

My mom: You should join a club! It’s a great way to make friends! Me:

I just feel sorry for the kids being dragged into this madness.

Being in india i can very well relate to this. Cult leaders are so famous here-people like sadhguru and baba ramdev have millions of followers . I hope one day my people regain their common sense !!

So, apparently my family was in a cult before I was born and I heard the story from my sisters. It sounded really horrific and creepy. They would hold prayer sessions at our house and have at turn hundreds of people in the living room. They would all eat and feed each other from 1 big plate and the worst part is the children were forced to be a part of this! My sister didn’t want to be fed by strange people she didn’t know but she was scolded for refusing. It’s honestly really weird.

“We could make a religion out of this” -bill wurtz

"the law can stop dangerous cults" also the law: *accepts bribes to leave cults open*

Heart goes out to any friends or family of those in a cult. Keep being there for them and pressing in

This surprisingly applies very well with today's internet influencers as well. Not all of them, but most tend to have this type of cult habit to them. Have any of you noticed this?

"Believing in something should not come at the cost of your family and friends" true 100%

I was born into a cult and was part of it for the first almost 15.5 years of my life. I've only been out of it for almost a couple of years. I'm still trying to retrain my brain from purging what I was taught there. Cults are dangerous, toxic places. Everyone should be informed. Informative video, thank you.

Thank you TED-Ed for educating the public about cults. I was in the Jehovah's Witnesses cult.

For such a serious topic, the art style in this one is beautiful!

This video should be shown every year to students in grades 7-12.

Whether it's a Cult, a club, a team, or ISIS, it all stems from the need to belong.

Thank you for clarifying that not all religious people are cults. 😭💞

As someone who found out I was being recruited into a cult this hits hard. Imagining all the things I could've ended up as.

"they drank the cool-aid" is such an interesting phrase.

Criteria of a cult: 1. Founder(s) has/have more advantages than the rest of the members 2. Severe punishment for leaving it (death is a prime example) 3. Discourages critical thinking and criticism often punishing those who criticize the cult

I know that you tried to say cults are different from established religions but your explanation about what a cult is is what I experienced as an evangelical christian.

"I've been involved with a number of cults, both as a leader and as a follower. You have more fun as a follower but you make more money as a leader." -Creed Bratton

If you don't think for yourself, somebody will do the thinking for you.

"Cults cut you off from your family and friends." My dude, I was born 2nd generation in a cult. The only people I knew growing up were members. Running away to leave the cult is exactly what cut me off from everything I had ever known.

I HIGHLY recommend showing this simple video to your family and church's youth group.

Excellent video - it is missing musicians and politicians in their ability to coerce and persuade cult like followers. This is is huge right now and should certainly be added to the content of this excellent expose. Keep up the great work - Cheers~

Introverts watching this video knowing that they will never join a cult : *I see this as an absolute win*

“Some cults are political” Stalin: *coughs in the background*

This channel is excellent as it covers a wide range of valuable topics. I did not expect to see this topic here. I had seen a cult on campus before. He fits in many criteria described in the video. It is better to be alone than be manipulated. If we don´t feel comfortable, something should be wrong. Trust our gut feeling and leave ASAP.

It really depresses me when I think about how much nearly all cults follow the same patterns. Read about enough of them and the stories start becoming maddeningly predictable. The playbook is so well established, you don't have to be particularly clever or creative to become a cult leader. All it requires is that you have no conscience.

I learnt in psychology that we follow orders and sometimes don’t feel bad for taking them even if it’s a cruel thing we’re ordered to do bc we don’t feel we’re responsible for them.

in south korea, there's a cult called shincheonji and this is one of their recruitment method first, cult member tell to his(or her) co-worker who believe ghost or destiny that he(or she) will have car accident while he driving second, another cult member follow that co-worker and make car accident on purpose third, co-worker is now wondering how that cult member predict the car accident and ask how he knows that fourth, cult member bring his co-worker to the cult church and preach to him and finally, that co-worker become new member of cult

Steven Hassan's BITE model to judge the cult-ality of a group is a really useful tool.

I’m autistic and have a special interest in cults, resulting in my friends and I investigate a nearby, dangerous like all other cults, and scary cult in our town. We are definitely in danger and starting to regret doing this but I can back this video up 100%. We have started taken extreme precautions but one of my friends and I are in more danger than the rest. That’s just a fragment of our story, stay safe and take precautions.

I've been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader. -Creed Bratton

Got a tiktok ad before the vid *whispers: tiktok is a cult*

Crazy how much of this can be attributed to a fandom 😮

I have watched this several times. It is so well done!

This video hits really close to home. I grew up in a cult and it has inflicted a lot of psychological problems for me even up until today, years after I left the cult. The cult has robbed me of a chance for having a normal childhood and a proper education. The cult has broken my family apart and leaving me with a strained relationship towards my family. They still spout the cult's propaganda at me and pressures me to rejoin them. I know that they are victims as well, but I don't think I can ever forgive my parents for subjecting me to what I went through. Thank you TED-Ed for making this video and I hope more people could see this video and be educated towards cults and how they work.

Thank you so much for not writing Jonestown as a mass suicide. I always get so frustrated when people say it was suicide and not a mass murder.

Thank you for this video! I am working on learning about cults to help a family member and trying to connect to as many cult survivors as possible to understand their mindset of when they were indoctrinated

"I've been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower. But you make more money as a leader" -Creed Bratton, 2007

When you said it's like a pyramid scheme, I remembered the time when I was invited to one. The new "members" or at least the ones invited were separated. We were seated at least 2-3 members apart, some of them were in uniform so you would know they were already a member, but some were not. During the speech of the founders, they encourage you to shout something while clapping when the founder said a certain word. Noticeably, people who were not members would not do that but people beside us would so they were trying to get us to do them. They we're trapping us as well. They wouldn' let us leave, people were blocking the doorways and people beside us will try to talk to us like "Oh wow this is such an amazing group" "you have to stay" or "It will get better, you have to be patient". I was still a student at this time and I was very annoyed because I still had school tomorrow and it was getting really late but they kept telling us that school will not do anything for us, that they just take our money and leave us hanging after we graduate. Also that we should join them so we can be successful like them. They would also tell stories about how they stole a bit of their parents money to invest and now they're rich so it's okay to steal because its for the better future, and I was like WHAT? I started to visibly and vocally turn against them because things they said before technically isn't bad but this time they were encouraging us to do crime. I mean speaking up in the hall was very dangerous but I don't think they would do anything in front new recruits. They were trying to get me to talk to them quietly in a corner but when I saw one of the new members getting to leave, I told them I will leave with that person because we live in the same neighborhood and it's not safe for a girl like me to go home alone. They let me leave with that person and oof I'm glad I got out of that safe.

Honestly after seeing Midsommar, I got very intrigued at how easily we can be manipulated into cults, it just shows a lot of ourselves and how far people can go for affection and a community to rely on

my friend is in cult and seeing how it affacts her life is the most heart breaking feeling. but i can't do anything because they are a well known "church" in korea so the worst thing to do is argue against them. i hope there is miracle..

This was put together so well!

Unfortunately, abusive relationships work in similar ways too. Except the beliefs arent' reinforced by multiple people, which makes you question whether you are sane or not.

dunno, ask Tom Cruise

In their own twisted way cults really show the power of social and spiritual connections. That we all deeply desire to be loved, connect with others, and be given a purpose. These desires drive so many aspects of our lives that it makes sense why one could exploit them for personal gain.

As a very religious man (who is currently in seminary) my fiancé (then girlfriend) was approached by cult recruiters and went to “Bible Studies” with them for a while, before she was “granted” membership me and her figured out something was amiss. The primary difference between a genuine Protestant denomination and a cult is their structure, a normal Christian denomination usually has a pastor or congregation/deacons and deaconesses running the group, where a cult usually has a top down structure wherein a charismatic leader instructs members as to exactly how to act. I should also add that a genuine church usually wont try to infiltrate your personal life and break you off from reality, and hopefully instead would inspire a wholistic Christian lifestyle and encourage community bonding between both you and your community as well as the Church community.

"I’ve been involved in a number of cults both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower but you make more money as a leader." Creed bratton

"It was Flavor Aid, dammit!" Should be the Kool-Aid marketing slogan.

With the news of the SBSI cult in the Philippines now being investigated by the Senate, RU-vid really recommended this video at the best time. Thanks YT algorithm for giving me a reason to share this.

Please translate this video to every language in the world. We need this.

I grew up in a cult. It is difficult to risk that kind of stability and friendship that only cults its seems can achieve for freedom of thought and conscience. When I left I never expected to have really good friends again and I was extremely lonely. The normal culture is less willing to make instant and reliable friends, that's true, but if you're there don't give up.

I was in a cult for a few years. I was lonely and withdrawn. The cult helped me to socialize and genuinely helped to improve my life. But it wanted everything. All of my time, my money and wanted to choose who I marry. When I saw how they arranged marriages of some members I knew I had to leave. It was hard leaving. So many good people there.

I’ve always wondered how people could be so easily susceptible to things like this. People need to start having a stronger mind for themselves!

Thank u for this video. Now i finally understand the difference between religions and cults.

I had a friend who was part of a religious cult. I saw what that did to him, how it shaped his life, his beliefs, and his behaviour. It was terrible watching him and his family in this controlled and isolated life. I wanted him to be happy, something that I knew he couldn’t do. Thank you Ted Ed, for bringing awareness of the terrible things that cults can do.

"You get fun as a follower. But make more money as a leader" - Creed The office

This was said beautifully. Thank you very much.

this video is great when it explains cults, and impacts.

I just wanna come back to this video and give a big thank you--it helped me to realize that I had been in a cult after all and was major in helping me get closure and understanding from the abuse I went through.

I joined the Blue Öyster Cult. I struggled not to fear the reaper, but kept quiet to avoid being rebuked. In the end, after many failed attempts to be like the wind and the sun and the rain, I left that Cult behind.

I was thrown out of a cult for being 'rebellious'. All I did was stick up for myself. My then girlfriend was angry at me for leaving and tried to pressure me into going back. It didn't work.

This Channels great as it is unbiased. Is this a genuine Ted Talks Channel?

cults are going to be a big problem in the future with people becoming more and more isolated & lonely.

“When somebody tells you you to sacrifice your relationships for the greater good” *Tau empire intensifies*

the slight shaking of the camera is so ominous...good work animators!

Every one wants to be part of something

The psychology behind this is fascinating. I can see parallels between being surrounded by religion and being part of a cult as a child. Both engulf the child in an ideology that makes it very hard for them to question it - which eventually leads to psychological stunting as stated in the video.

This is exactly how I joined a fandom

This is so important to know.

I recently left spirtual cult and getting back to life. Somehow I knew there was something off the whole time, most of the time they prey on the most vulnerable. This can include someone who just lost a loved one, getting out of an abusive relationship, losing a job, and many more examples. If you feel something is off, you are 100% right.

The moral: Think for yourself

I just love the animation.

This must be shown everyday and people should be educated for this.

This sounds like some churches nowadays. And when you try to leave they throw every single "help" they ever gave you in your face.....

"Believing in something should not come at the cost of your family and friends, and if someone tells you to sacrifice your relationships or morality for the greater good, they're most likely exploiting you for their own."

I was in a pseudo-Buddhist cult for four years. The practice itself was Mahayana Buddhist, howbeit the cult was more about the leader than Buddhism. Along with the empty promises that were not realized when I gave of time and money, the heavy focus on the leader was just too much for me. I left and I feel sorry for anyone who was born into the cult.

Thx for this video im gonna use this info when I grow up

THANK YOU SO MUCH ALL PEOEPLE ❤

Them: they drank the kool-aid Me: *_finally gets that camp camp reference_*

My father never avoids the Jehovah's Witnesses when they come. He points out something that's obviously not what they believe but it's in the bible. The result is that they leave in disgust and never come back.

Great video thank you

Thanks! Now I can recruit people better

I love how nobody talks about how jehovah witnesses is a cult/pyramid scheme

This is so accurate that it actually physically hurts me. Because literally everyone around me is so blind to see it and I can't help them see it.

Even after leaving the cult you'll keep following some of their practises that's how difficult it is to leave a cult.

"you make more money as a leader, but you have more fun as a follower" - creed bratton

I felt so identified. Wasted a whole year of my life devoting myself to a guru called “Mooji”, which led me to distancing myself from family and friends. I was lucky to have people who cared about me to drag me out from that hole.

So all this can be avoided by not having friends? All the more power for me.

beautifully made. the talk and the animation. for me the cult was a network marketing company shockingly it was legal

I my parents almost joined a “church” that wanted to see your tax returns so they could make sure you were “giving” the right percentage of your income. Yeah that’s a no

wish i could have the first 22 years of my life back.

This whole video is basically about Scientology without using the word Scientology

Thank you for this 👏

The art is great!