Tumblr is a cult. It operates much the same way any cult does, and the damage it does is also comparable. Ever notice how almost every cult or reactionary movement lures people in with an appeal to some sense of unique hyper-awareness? “Look at you, surrounded by a sea of ignorant sheeple, but you, you alone are special. You alone understand.“ Human psychology is designed to lap that shit up, and so everyone from cults to paranoid 9/11 truthers do it because it works. Tumblr does it too; we just call it “woke” instead of “redpilled.”
From there, that usually gets reinforced through Skinner box-like conditioning the deeper into the movement you get. Scientology is so hugely successful because they just straight up attached MMO statistics to what level Clear you are, thus cornering the market on religiously suggestible people who love watching stat bars go up.
The problem in Tumblr’s case is that there is direct harm and serious mental damage being inflicted as your ~awareness~ goes up. Tumblr tells groups they are oppressed, that they can never get into STEM fields or earn an equal paycheck, that they can’t even check their mail or take their garbage out to the curb without their keys between their knuckles and 911 on speed dial just in case. Tumblr, by doing its best impression of Mother Gothel from Tangled, does more to keep women in the kitchen than The Patriarchy ever could.
I know people whose lives have been ruined by this site. Most of them now struggle with various combinations of white guilt, male guilt, etc. and a newfound inability to go a single day without worrying about how ~problematic~ everything they see, hear, and experience is. I can’t remember the last time any of them were happy. This is what happens when you level up in any cult, but especially this one.
Please, whoever may be reading this, please think for yourself, Google any outrageous claims you hear to make sure they’re actually true and you have the whole story before you react, and make careful, informed decisions about the issues. There’s nothing wrong with seeing some moral outrage post on Tumblr, looking it up, looking into it, and deciding that yeah, you agree, that is pretty fucked up. There’s also nothing wrong with seeing some moral outrage post on Tumblr, looking it up, looking into it, and deciding that no, this post is wrong. Take things case by case and follow your conscience. And if taking a stand on something gets you any heat? If Tumblr anons reject you for what you believe? Good. That means you dodged the bullet that would have happened had you actually fallen deeper in with that crowd, as explained above. It means you’re free.
theartofmadeline
pixelskylines
2087
