Good luck trying to figure out the parts of human nature that can turn intelligent, seemingly rational people, into stark raving mad lunatics. I contend that it's a genetically mutated form of "groupthink" that has been perfected within the confines of paltalk. It becomes particularly powerful in even more tightly controlled quarters, such as the grapevine, where the talk can be controlled by the group leaders.
Read this and tell me it doesn't apply directly to paltalk:
Group-speak
8) “Groupspeak” is another feature of all cults. Groups use what Lifton calls "the thought-terminating cliché”. Repetitive phrases, clichés, sayings, platitudes and buzz words are regularly invoked to describe all situations, and prevent further analysis or discussion. Any disagreements are usually settled by referring to the sayings or writings of wise leaders (past or present), rather than by turning to independent analysis. Members are rewarded for their ability to regurgitate this “Groupspeak” and for their willingness and talent for putting down dissenters with cult clichés. Lifton argues that the effect of is critical to mind control “since language is so central to all human experience, .. capacities for thinking and feeling are immensely narrowed" Moreover, the “secret vocabulary” reinforces the idea of distance from the outside world. www.sossobriety.org/cults.htm
Damn Right I've Got the Blues.
