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

Guys, I'd like to introduce you to 11-year-old Zynnia Jesek from Tampa, Florida, who raised over $6000 to attended Awesomeness Fest 2011. HERE'S HOW SHE DID IT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RImcqkBWOU

That's right, using IndieGoGo, she raised $6475 for her awesome plan!

http://www.indiegogo.com/4-Day-Awesomeness-Fest-Test

Here is what she learned at Awesomeness Fest:

A cover of Jason Mraz's "Yours" on ukelele! Here goes nothin!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IMUXHHEhCA&feature=related

Zynnia gets a standing ovation at a hotel convention. I recommend skipping to the standing ovation part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPDwDZT16c

My most recent and currently #1 most favorite discovery is wunderkind ZYNNIA!!!!!!!!

http://i.imgur.com/y4owa.jpg

Zynnia has all sorts of cool videos on youtube, mostly of her interviewing adults about cool stuff!

But who is she?

Zynnia Jezek was born at home, caught in the hands of her brother and sister on August 5, 2000.

She was raised in the natural parenting style on a diet of primarily raw and vegan foods. She never had any major illness though she spent the majority of her life traveling and living in third world countries. Zynnia is proudly unschooled and yet probably has the equivalence of a college degree in the events and trainings she has attended.

Zynnia may look like a very lucky girl whose life affords the luxuries of making videos, keeping a garden and always smiling and having fun, but do not judge a book by it’s cover. Zynnia’s life has been filled with both blessings and also profound loss.

you may ask yourself "how did a little girl end up at AWESOMENESS FEST??"

that's a great question!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RImcqkBWOU

http://i.imgur.com/X1qQK.png

what did she DO at Awesomeness Fest?? She talked to a lot of AWESOME people!!

(note to Zynnia: intos are a liiiiitle long):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOhINJ0vUgc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwnbsyqYhCY

but that's not all... she also learned how to play ukulele! (sort of):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IMUXHHEhCA

lol xposts to confounded (one of the many ppl i dragged into the rabbit hole)

hahaha i'll fight you for zynnia, she's mine

zynnia is making some progress on her fundraising goals, but has a little ways to go:
http://i.imgur.com/4N7Li.png

i am genuinely interested in what's going to go down in this thread

if you give zynnia $5000, she may sing you a beautiful song too

And that would be... awesome?

Zynnia Jezek was born at home, caught in the hands of her brother and sister on August 5, 2000.

She was raised in the natural parenting style on a diet of primarily raw and vegan foods.

Barf!

Man, this shit is scary! And... well, yeah, what do they DO exactly?
YOU ARE AWESOME BECAUSE.... BECAUSE YOU ARE AWESOME! :D

one of Zynnia's interviews at Awesomeness Fest particularly struck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjy7W0s9HFE

"Information Software... Yadda Yadda Yadda..."

"I had no money.. I was living on about $400 a day."

"How can I: #1: stay in Thailand, and #2: Make a LOT of money?"

"I could be a Rock star..... FAIL! LOL! Kids: It's really good to dream of being a rock star, but its really really hard... OK?"

"I'm in the process of both expanding and contracting my business."

"You follow me there?" "Yes. Absolutely."

Despite what he tell Zynnia, Greg has lots of websites too. LOTS.

http://seveninone.com/discourse
http://gregjacobswpmagemonster.com/
http://wp-mage-monster.com/
http://wpmagemonsterbonus.com/
http://wpmagex.net/
http://www.wp-mage-monster.org/
http://thewpmagemonster.com/
http://monstermagescam.info/ <----- lol @ "scam"

and there's all kinds of youtubes!

http://i.imgur.com/WXEnD.jpg

what's it all about? Allow Greg to explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aew4qoWSFY8

two minutes into greg and... no idea what u talknbout

"I had no money.. I was living on about $400 a day."

In Thailand! Never been, but imagining that a dollar goes a lot further there??

that interview is chock full of weird slips like that

So he's a pyramid scheme shonk?

he was sleeping w/ 23 prostitutes a day, tbf

the guiltiest lol

this thread is terrifying

"i was using my creative abilities from music and from writing... and applying it into something solid... that I could you know, change into money somehow"

... and that thing was internet marketing, rather than yanno, like, being a musician or a writer!? o_0

i love this stuff and am disgusted by it at the same time. it's like cults and capitalism had some weird marriage together. amway is an old fav.

Trayce, he said: "FAIL! Don't be a writer" and gave a thumbs down, and even blew a raspberry, if I'm not mistaken!

Oh ok I was skimming the damn thing, he rambles like a cokehead.

this trend is pretty much the final collective human dreamsong of psychosis before we all lose our identities permanently, rite?

WTF is Zynnia's mysterious tragedy?

Zynnia’s life has been filled with both blessings and also profound loss.

Zynnia’s sole mission and purpose in life is to fully enjoy each moment and live in full awareness and gratitude for the power of now. Zynnia knows all too well, that at any moment tragedy can strike and the whole world you grow comfortable with can be ripped apart.

she wanted waffles but they served pancakes instead :'(

I mean

Zynnia has lived through it and she has immense wisdom and maturity from that journey. This is why she very consciously chooses a life of dreams coming true.

"it"?

I'd choose a life where dreams come true, but just this week I dreamed that the copier at work was located at O'Hare airport, so I can't risk it.

"I'm in the process of both expanding and contracting my business."

blew my mind

lol that was my favorite too.

really stoked you are all here, btw.

amway is an old fav.

see, this is the thing... say what you will about Amway, they may be selling you overpriced toothpaste but at least you're getting an actual product to clean your teeth with.

these dudes aren't even that far removed from people who make money teaching men how to date women (Sean Stephenson has actually dipped in to this), but like, at least with Pick Up Artist gurus, the promise is that dudes will come out less afraid of talking to women-- which is a lot more solid than, "awesomeness!".

also a fan of when zynnia shouts "LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH ME AND MY FAMILY!"

lol otm

OUT: dance moms
IN: video moms

so far, my favorite Mindvalley product is QUANTUM JUMPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just watch this interview Vishen did at the home of Burt Goldman, developer of the Quantum Jumping method:

http://www.quantumjumping.com/special/meet-burt-goldman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBTmeK52xec

1) count how many times they mention money
2) be sure to watch till 6:43. I promise you won't be disappointed.

i bet you guys are doubling the view count on all of Zynnia's videos right now

quaNTUM JUmping

two phrases came into his head the first was PLANT YOURSELF the second was Take lots of pictures

heads up, y'all: 2012 will not be the end of the world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTsKRAHqrf0

bonus copping of 99% jargon

also:
http://i.imgur.com/mFViR.png

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

i was forced (along with my workmates) to attend a customized motivational seminar once. we managed to completely sabotage it -- i think i made one of the two seminar leaders cry. i am not ashamed. these folks are the lowest of the low, occupying a totally unnecessary niche opened up by the worst tendencies of corporate culture and "self-actualization" rhetoric.

can you remember who the speaker was?????

"I'm in the process of both expanding and contracting my business."

Trans: "I am in a constant state of starting up new concerns, hoping the IRS wont catch me when I declare bankruptcy on the old ones"

xpost

no they were nobodies... folks that were routinely hired by the business school of the university where i worked to provide "teamwork seminars" for different groups. i wasn't in the business school but i guess our boss decided to try them out.

IIRC one of the two speakers was trying to get us to learn about "optimizing teamwork" based on lessons from ... wait for it... people who "successfully" survived the holocaust. i interrupted him and told him that i couldn't leave the seminar because i was being paid to attend but that he would not be continuing this line of discussion.

he looked sort of lost, looked at the other speaker who nodded, then he kind of hung his shoulders and stepped aside for the next part of the seminar.

the head of my department, who arranged the seminar, was mortified.

"I personally dont believe 2012 will be the end of the world"

WOW AMAZING!~!!!! D:

xpost

i got a lot of high-fives from coworkers the next day, though.

IIRC one of the two speakers was trying to get us to learn about "optimizing teamwork" based on lessons from ... wait for it... people who "successfully" survived the holocaust.

oh my god

guys there are also endless amounts of "video cover letters" from people applying for a job at Mindvalley©

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqUP9jgACAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCNEvMNCU1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISBkiVpjXXM&

Yeah wow amst that is... I'm gobsmacked.

I mean I thought the motivational bullshit day my old workplace pulled on us once was in bad taste (they themed it on "Survivor" the TV show - the week my entire team had been told we were being laid off!).

But that just... wow.

amateurist that is A+ work

yeah. for a guy who was ostensibly a "motivational" speaker he seemed pretty weak and demoralized. i think i ruined his week. i would've felt bad if his presentation wasn't so egregiously offensive.

Yeah when someone asks if there's anyone that can call you on your bullshit and you say no ... not being able to walk the talk is one thing. Not being able to talk the talk ...

the guy who has lived with her through her multiple marriages, kind of wondering (I’m not through the series) if he’s been thrown under the bus yet

“I don’t use my attractiveness or sexuality to manipulate people, just ask my house eunuch who has lived with me through my multiple marriages!”

Long, meandering post with recaps of The Deep End with much more background information, other videos, and reactions from the T3@l Tr1b3. Unsurprisingly, they don't like the documentary.
https://www.celestialhealing.com/2022/05/off-deep-end-with-teal-swan.html

Anyone who hasn't already had enough of NXIVM should really check out the (final?) season of the Vow. From a documentary and editing perspective, its leagues above the first season (only one of the two directors handled this one, for the better). It's also intense and incredibly depressing.

i will check it out eventually i think, it is hard to “want” to watch it

Do I need to watch the earlier ones or can I just watch this?

there's only one previous Vow season, and, while I think it is too long, it does give you a very in-depth view of what happened. But you may also be able to just watch Seduced, which was made by other people and focuses only on India Oxenberg's experience, and I think is a better documentary than the first season of the Vow.

Watching this last season was made bearable by knowing Raniere’s sentence in advance—I would have been too anxious wondering if there’s some way he’d squirm his way out.

The Nancy-centric parts of the final episode were very compelling. I often find the second-in-commands an interesting combination of true believer and pragmatic realist, since they’re often the ones who see how the sausage is made by having to implement the details of ripping people off, etc. (See: Sheela from Wild Wild Country). For much of the season, I went back and forth on how sincere she was; she'd condemn Raniere’s evil acts, but she kept backing away from the whole truth by claiming "oh but the rest of NXIVM was totally legit and helped thousands, he was tainting the good with his bad." It was really affecting to see her finally breaking down and wondering if she’d been lying to herself with that line all this time, that maybe the curriculum really was just another abusive method of control. That scene where the crew make her watch the clip of herself telling the study group that the real sexual abuse is when society tells minors they’ve been abused!

My girlfriend is quite interested in the Manson Family, or more specifically, the women of the Family. She hated the ending of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood because—unlike Charlie Says, also from that year—it made no acknowledgement that Atkins et al. were themselves victims, as much as they were perpetrators. I thought The Vow skillfully handled that dynamic in its treatment of the DOS women.

earlier in the season a lot of people online were reacting to Nancy's parts pretty negatively, which I understand; claiming she seemed to be trying to salvage her reputation, etc. But by the end of the series it's pretty clear that's not what she was trying to do; she was trying to understand how she'd wound up in this situation, and openly questioning why she turned a blind eye to abuse. Coercive control is something that's really hard to understand from the outside (look at the reactions to Sarma Melngailis and Bad Vegan), and I think this is the first time I've seen a documentary successfully portray what this is like.

Also loved Nancy's mom: "I never liked him" (leaves room)

I've only watched a few episodes of the second season and may return when I stop cringing. I was initially worried after seeing more of the interviews/footage of the people who still seem like true believers that it'd try too hard on the "gotta hear both sides" angle but that doesn't seem like the case

yeah, it does seem like that at first but trust me, the more you see of them the more you realized how deeply delusional they are.

i think it's necessary to hear directly from those still loyal though, because it does give you an understanding of WHY people got involved and believed in this stuff in the first place.

the devotees dancing outside the jail was possibly one of the most cringe-inducing things I've seen

It's amazing, the sort of programs and organizations that people will join rather than just going to therapy.

xp Absolutely, particularly because Rainiere is such an uninspiring guru. No style, nothing compelling about his manner of speaking, and certainly not sexy. I'm assuming he must have some charisma in person, but none of it comes across in the footage. In all the home movies, he just seems like a substandard dorm room slacker, rambling after a bong hit. (Much derisive laughter at him trying to explain Led Zeppelin to one of the victims, or Nancy's assessment that all he ever did was eat and lay on the couch instead of working.)

A friend was joking that they were hesitant to watch some of these shows because life has been very frustrating and unfulfilling and the cult might still seem reasonable even after hearing the downsides.

I get it. Therapy's kind of a mixed bag, and in a large enough group, even if you don't immediately fall for the omnipotent leader shtick, you might find people you can relate to and build a shared environment that's fulfilling in ways normal life isn't. It's easy to get blinders on about how ridiculous the shared goal truly is when it becomes a group mantra that just happens to underlie all of your fulfilling interactions.

re: nxivm, I still have no idea why that goofy manipulative huckster guy would ever be trustworthy, though. I feel like the majority of people who were really into it had absolutely no experience with people who played up the self-deprecation and humility angle to be manipulative

whoops, that was an xpost

and yeah, Raniere's angle was that he was doofy and faux-humble. nearly all the footage of him teaching something starts with his claims of humility or normality followed with rebukes whenever he's contradicted. and the people coaching others to yell at each other, stay in physically stressing positions, etc. are doing it when he's not there

nicki clyne's irl story arc from key battlestar galactica actor who could have perhaps used that as a springboard to more, to dancing outside a prison in support of a sex cult guru is really something. everyone has gone insane the last decade.

I haven't finished season 2 of The Vow but during the first few episodes I kept having this terrible idea: they should show the clip of her character's last scene from BSG because it'd be funny

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7vnb9/a-fest-review-vishen-lakhiani

oh hell yeah Vishen is back!

"It's about bliss, but it's also about the fist."

personal growth does not exist but people change over time. People are not trees.

What about Ents

https://i.imgur.com/ZfTiURT.png

Jack is the only one I follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP40RWwhoRw

Then you might like this which contains samples from a Lalanne POWER JUICER infomercial!!

https://archive.org/details/power-power-pro-infomercial-edit/The+Original+Power+1+-+Fruit+Fruit+Fruit.mp3

https://www.edmylett.com/

This guy is trending on TikTok because he decided that he lives four six hour days instead of one 24 hour day, thus making him 3 times as efficient as you fuckin’ losers. (Can’t make it to 400% kings still gotta sleep.)

It’s amazing that “Internet entrepreneurs of teaching you how to be an Internet entrepreneur” is still such an effective grift, feels like it should have gone extinct halfway through Obama’s first term.

Is Tim Ferriss still alive or did he OD on MCT oil and supplements smuggled in from a remote island in the Pacific?

This guy is trending on TikTok because he decided that he lives four six hour days instead of one 24 hour day, thus making him 3 times as efficient as you fuckin’ losers. (Can’t make it to 400% kings still gotta sleep.)

Just wait until he discovers Time Cube!

The Power of STeroids

Going down a rabbit hole re: lesswrong, effective altruism, AI researchers, and this group "Leverage" that existed in oakland a few years ago. Some of this stuff is tangentially related to Sam Bankman Fried and his polycule of nutters, I believe. There doesn't seem to be much written about all of this from the outside.

https://medium.com/@zoecurzi/my-experience-with-leverage-research-17e96a8e540b

"The explicit strategy for world-saving depended upon a team of highly moldable young people self-transforming into Elon Musks" jfc. the damage this guy has done by simply existing.

I shared that with a friend and half an hour later she had a link to the Leverage Discord. I'm afraid to join but so curious

from what I can tell he has rebranded and maybe relaunched this organization? it's very weird to me. this isn't NXIVM level shit yet, that I can tell (no branding of sex slaves; some reports of inappropriate 'workplace' relationships though), but it's close, with the packed calendars, continual 'debugging' (think scientology and auditing, or NXIVM's "EM"s), psychological manipulation. Who is funding this shit? Silicon Valley VCs.

I stumbled on this stuff the weirdest way. Berkeley is introducing a new Mental Health Crisis team (like, half a day, 4 days a week, who can deal with something like 3 calls a day). Berkeley has like, a LOT of mentally ill people on the streets in crisis any time of the day. I hate people who comment on Berkeleyside and Berkeleyscanner, but someone did point a link to this article about someone who had a psychotic episode in a restaurant and then physically attacked the crisis worker who came (alone?) in her car. this was in 2017. This is the original story:

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2017/04/25/update-city-mental-health-worker-strangled-choked-carjacking-outside-whole-foods

I looked this guy up and he got 5 years. I found his name linked in a lesswrong post calling out abuses related to two orgs, CFAR and MIRI. He basically was somehow associated with MIRI (I believe) and cracked up.

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pQGFeKvjydztpgnsY/occupational-infohazards

I heard about LessWrong when Decoding The Gurus recently ran an episode about Eliezer Yudkowksy. There's a definite infohazard self-sealing cult-thought to their writings and I'm troubled at how popular it all is amongst AI researchers.

wow @that medium link

“3. Geoff estimated that there were roughly 10 “super weapons” or “super theories.” He said we already had 1–2, one being we had solved philosophy (but not completely, he admitted — all he had left to do was prove that time exists and maybe a few other details, was what I remember him saying).”

Big echoes of scientology

"The explicit strategy for world-saving depended upon a team of highly moldable young people self-transforming into Elon Musks. For a long time, what was asked of me in order to maintain my funding was to “become a self-debugger”

researching who funds this stuff I ran across this: https://survivalandflourishing.fund

which got funding from:

https://saveourplanet.org/projects/survival-and-flourishing/#:~:text=We%20currently%20serve%20as%20volunteers,administer%20grants%20from%20funding%20provided

though oddly, I only found that link by googling, it's been taken off the saveourplanet.org navigation. NGO that seems otherwise benign. But these other groups smell.... nazi adjacent to me. Dunno. Lotta white dudes who think they are destined to save the earth.

Twin Flames documentary on Netflix is great.