The Cult of Disarming Personalities

The title of this post is a little play on the phrase "cult of personality".  Have a listen, or read the lyrics of the Living Colour song.  

{And during the few moments that we have left 

We want to talk right down to earth

In a language that everybody here can easily understand}

Look in my eyes

What do you see?

The cult of personality

I know your anger, I know your dreams

I've been everything you want to be

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality

Neon lights, a Nobel prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free

I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your TV
Oh, I'm the cult of personality

I exploit you, still you love me
I tell you, one and one makes three
Oh, I'm the cult of personality

Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality

Neon lights, a Nobel prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune, you gave me fame
You me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
Oh, I'm the cult of personality

I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of, I'm the cult of personality

{Ask not what your country can do for you. The only thing we have to fear is, fear itself}

---

My disillusionment with "the community" continues on.  Honestly I really thought most people were smarter than to fall for a Jack Kruse character, but I was wrong.  The popularity of his unreadable blog seems to be growing unabated by the most ridiculous sayings and story telling, most recently at TEDx Nashville.  The first concerted burst (not that there hadn't been isolated pockets) of criticism of Jack seemed to come around the time of his Paleo Summit presentation which was followed up by his "Holy Trinity" epic blog post where he introduced his "Cold Thermogenesis Protocol".  This post included early on an endearing tale of Jack's childhood:

My brain thinks horizontally and vertically. Most people work in the vertical dimension, because of how we are taught to think in modern times. This method of education leads physicians, scientists, and most of the world to a habit or thinking reductively about all things. We all need to rethink how we think about all things, as I spoke about today in my talk with Sean. In addition, I was not born with this ability to think horizontally or vertically. I taught myself how to do it as a kid, when I learned how Einstein, DaVinci, and Michelangelo thought. Instinctively, I knew I had no one around me that thought like this, because no one was as successful as them. My mom knew this too, but she never told me back then. She was always afraid of life, but she taught me that fear freezes you until you stop cowering to it. She told me that life begins at the edge of our comfort zone, but too often our fears keep us from going there. It was also implied by our circumstances back then. We had to rely on others to survive, and they made sure we knew about it in many subtle ways. Even as a kid I could feel that and it was uneasy. I learned a lot from this time. This did not sit well with me as a child, and it fueled my curiosity. I told my mom in first grade that I never wanted to live like this when I grew up. She told me that if I wanted to change my lot in life I had to learn things and begin to create my own reality. I can hear her saying that as I type these words with tears in my eyes. It was the greatest gift my mother ever gave to me. I am sad that I never told her that before she died. I am also sad that she never saw the true power of that lesson unleashed. Ironically, what I uncovered here, might have allowed her to do just that, if I would have begun it sooner. That is a regret I will have to live with. I am hoping to close that wound by sharing it with all of you now.

In second grade, I thought that if I wanted to be good at life I had to learn to think like the best thinkers I knew of. My mom told me the best thinker’s ideas all lived in museums. I lived in NYC, so I had plenty of mentors to study from. My mom used to give me $1, and I would use 35 cents each way on the subway to go to the Museum of Natural History in NYC. Back then, it was safe for a little kid to travel the subway all alone. It left me 30 cents. 25 cents would be spent on a giant NYC pretzel bought outside the entrance on hot burning grills. I can still smell them. I would sneak them under my coat. In those days, to gain entrance to that magnificent place, you just had to make a donation. I only had five cents left, so I used to give them what I had left over. On average, I went to this place a hundred days out of my year from second grade until seventh grade. The ladies at the entrance began to recognize me, and befriended me. I told them why I came so often, and they were really nice to me. They always let me bring my pretzel inside, as long as I agreed not to make a mess. In winter, they often gave me hot chocolate to drink.

They told me about tours going on that I could follow along and learn about. I went on hundreds of these expeditions through the museum and learned so many facts. It was an incredible experience. As I learned them, I wrote down these facts in a notebook. On the way home on the subway, I would study them and make notes about what I needed to learn in the school. My school had a big library across the street so this was made following up an easy task. The more facts I learned, the more connections I made. The more connections I made, the more things that made sense. From that I gained a deep insight of how things worked, and from those facts I gained wisdom at an early age regarding science and biology.

As a native NY'er myself, though raised in the burbs, I had flashbacks to school trips to that very same museum.  I found the story endearing if ringing untrue based on my knowledge of the state of NYC circa Jack's and my childhood.  He just turned 47 so that puts us at similar ages.  I can assure you that you'd be more likely to find young children riding the subways alone today than back in the 60's and 70's.  I can also assure you that young children were not allowed into museums by themselves without being accompanied by an adult.  If one of us wandered away from our museum tour, you can dang well bet a security guard nabbed us and reunited us with our group but pronto.  But as I slogged through this tale I realized something.  Jack had just disarmed me a bit.  He appealed to sympathy and I began to feel sorry for him.  Reading what comes next in that mindset tends to make for a more gullible audience.  By this I mean it plays to your gullibility, and disarmed of your common sense, it's easier to buy into what is about to come.

Jack Kruse's is a Cult of Disarming Personality

We've just witnessed yet another episode of this phenomenon starring one Jimmy Moore.  Jimmy has the "aw shucks" Southern nice guy thing down pat.  I mean any man that can get called "delightful" by Richard Nickoley, well .....    I can attest to Jimmy's disarming qualities personally from my podcast interview.  Before the interview we chatted for a few minutes, and one can imagine how nervous I was going up against Taubes. But Jimmy has a way of putting you at ease, although obviously not entirely as evidenced by my nervous laughter and other nerve-quirk behaviors in the podcast.  Jimmy is a tall guy who stands out in any crowd, even at a reduced weight.  His personal weight loss story -- the 180 lbs lost in one year on Atkins -- is inspirational.  And he's very good at doing what he does.  He has made his "struggle" yours in a way.  And he's somehow able to hoodwink enough of his audience into believing he's a genuine nice guy who just wants to help people see the light of LC he found in 2004.  I suppose it doesn't hurt that he hides behind his religion quite a bit too which appeals to fellow Christians.  I find this appalling because he's behaved in very un-Christian manner too many times to list.  It can be seen in the comments on his non-response to negative criticism post.  Heavily moderated no doubt, to show only the love and disarm would be critics lest they be lumped in with the Razwells of the world.  

Jimmy Moore's is a Cult of Disarming Personality

Now this last example is not quite in the same league as I put the last two, but nonetheless this phenomenon certainly applies to Mark Sisson.  Somewhere, I don't remember where, it was mentioned that Jack Kruse had likened himself to Tom Cruise's Maverick character in Top Gun.  Well if Kruse is the Maverick of Paleo, surely Sisson is on the short list of one to be Hollywood!  He's got the look, but by all accounts, unlike the character Hollywood, Mark is a really nice guy.  He's also been described as an introvert who goes out of his way to be accessible to his fans at meetings and such.  But he is also a marketing guru first and foremost.  And he's very, VERY, good at it.  You don't see a lot of public criticism of Mark though I've heard lots of whispers, and when I've mentioned his supplement and "primal" shake mixes folks have agreed.  When talking about immunity, it seems Mark's persona and popularity that makes him immune to criticism.  His would be critics are disarmed before even "meeting" him!  

Mark Sisson's is a Cult of Disarming Personality

To be sure there are others, and I find the last example far more innocuous than the first two, but this is a phenomenon folks should tune their radars for.  Whether it's this online community or in your own "real life".  The tactic of disarming you in this way is classic, and while it may sometimes be just how a person is, it is more often than not contrived.  So in Mark's case, you're ripe to fall for the notion that Grok foraged for plants with the least nutritive value despite that making no common sense.  In Jimmy's case, you're ripe to fall for his notion that he's fighting a damaged metabolism because you either feel sorry for him or can relate to the delusional state he's in vis a vis his weight issues.  And in Jack's case, you're ripe to fall for his quackery because he weaves a compelling personal story, and we all probably want to be a little bit Jack at times.   But ...

Don't Fall for these Cults of Disarming Personality