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This article is about GritCult's view of Cults. For a general overview, see Cults on Wikipedia.

Cults
“START A CULT, MY SON: A MANIFESTO The future is cults. All around you are cults, the world is already full…” (23 July 2024)
In the archive
PortalThe Frontier
Posts326
Retweets580
Likes5,530
First post22 January 2018
Latest post30 August 2025
Posts by year
201862
201917
202074
2021123
202221
202315
202412
20252
Related

Cults are one of GritCult's oldest and busiest subjects, with 326 posts and a peak of 123 in 2021. He treats the cult as the natural shape of human groups rather than a fringe pathology, and moves between three roles: the anthropologist cataloguing cults, the strategist telling founders to build one, and the sceptic explaining what cult leaders do to their followers.

Views

His starting point is that the cult is the default human group, not an aberration. Arguing against individualist manifestos, he writes that "We evolved as cults. Not individuals." [1] From there the word stretches to cover almost everything: religion, marketing, fandoms, crypto communities and above all companies. The best firms, he says, had "a company cult. not a company culture." [2] He describes running a company in the same terms as running a church, with daily practice, weekly sermons and a congregation that corrects itself, and in 2021 he put it in capitals: almost everything is a cult.

That diagnosis turns into advice. Because the need to belong is instinctual, he tells people that "you shouldnt try to get "followers"" but should get a cult instead [3]. The 2024 post "START A CULT, MY SON: A MANIFESTO", his most retweeted on the subject, puts it plainly: "The future is cults... You need to learn how to start them, you need to be able to recognise them." [4] Elsewhere he calls a small circle of trusted people a force multiplier and traces a direct line from cults to memes to tokens. He practised what he preached, hosting sermons in his Discord server and running a Goggins-themed cult chat in 2020.

He is just as interested in the danger. A June 2020 thread on why cult leaders rise in times of chaos argued that they thrive on blame and disorder, pose as paragons of virtue and dissolve their followers' identities into a movement. Its key post, "The Trap", explains the bargain: cult leaders "offer help and guidance and many naive people fall for this trap", because being told what to do makes life easier [5]. He reposted it in 2021 and again in 2023. His working definition is practical: "any ideology that tells you to cut off your family, is dangerous and a cult." [6] The word doubles as an insult, aimed at Marxists, maximalists and nihilists.

Over time the evangelism cools. By 2025 he was tired of the trend: "everyone is tryna start a cult. a new religion. id rather the company of a few good men." [7] In its place he recommends brotherhood, the Männerbund and a family that has your back. Even at his most cult-minded he kept a counter-ideal, the grown man who no longer needs the crowd, "A cult of one." [8] The tension is never quite settled: the man who told founders to build cults also spent years explaining how cult leaders exploit the people who join them.

Recurring themes

  • the cult as the default human group
  • companies, coins and fandoms as cults
  • building a cult instead of gathering followers
  • how cult leaders exploit chaos
  • isolation from family as the mark of a bad cult
  • brotherhood and the cult of one

Notable post

The most retweeted GritCult post on the subject, with 129 retweets:

START A CULT, MY SON: A MANIFESTO

The future is cults. All around you are cults, the world is already full of them. History is full of cults. You need to learn how to start them, you need to be able to recognise them.

Study cults.
GRITCULT on X, 23 July 2024

Selected posts

The 120 most retweeted of 326 posts in the archive about Cults. Select a column heading to sort.

DateRetweetsLikesPostMediaSource
23 July 20241291,079START A CULT, MY SON: A MANIFESTO

The future is cults. All around you are cults, the world is already full of them. History is full of cults. You need to learn how to start them, you need to be able to recognise them.

Study cults.		Post imageView
1 June 2020641671 RT = 1 REASON WHY CULT LEADERS RISE UP IN TIMES OF CHAOS

OR... WHY RIOTS ARE GOOD FOR INFLUENCERs & BUSINESS		Post imageView
31 October 202422294Growing up you want to fit in and be accepted by your peer group.

Once you’ve grown up.

You realise how much of a benefiy it is to not fit in with the crowd. How much of a blessing it is to be the outsider. A cult of one.		View
7 December 20211578Technologies don’t get adopted unless there are cults.View
27 September 202211122Ai made this from the prompt “grit cult”

Technology is amazing.		Post imageView
19 November 20221172Was in a twitter space last night and friend said twitter might have influx of Nazis and jihadis

I was like bro twitter already had hidden sub groups and niches. You just had to find them. On the fringes of twitter, hidden

Twitter is great because it creates cults.		View
2 January 202510229everyone is tryna start a cult. a new religion.

id rather the company of a few good men.

study brotherhood
study mannerbund
study starting a family that has your back no matter what		Video stillView
8 March 20211083EVERYTHING IS A CULT

///THREAD\\\		View
21 May 20221077You shouldn’t read the sovereign individual.

Extremely not Lindy ideology.

We evolved as cults. Not individuals.		View
10 January 20211070company = cultView
15 August 2023995one of the most repugnant ideologies ive ever known is nihilism and anti natalism,

the cult worshipping of the feeling of despair

is how i would describe it.

something that is just so self defeating		View
1 December 20248289when i realise retail is buying xrp and not my schizophrenic memecoin cult that only braindead retards who spend 18 hours a day on twitter understandPost imageView
24 October 20248134You’re not in a cult.
You are 35 with no wife, no kids and no career.		View
10 October 2023896What’s really fuelling the war is people who are part of a literal doomsday cult.

They think if they make a big enough blood letting the or a messiah will appear or there will be a rapture.

People want the world to end so there is a judgement day.		View
1 November 2020713like this if you have a podcast.

RTs would be appreciated.

creating a networking group(cult)		View
18 September 2021711Goggins cult

One thing goggins influenced me on is not giving a fuck about stats or iq or genetics.

Just being a raw fucking embodiment of pure will power. By being self transformative. By constantly striving for and pushing past barriers of the self. Seeking pain.		View
23 August 2018634oh its still there
but its "faux gamed"

porn
drugs
video games
tinder

all give a sense of achievement, and adventure
hacking their own dopamine systems

male cults are popping up as they do, because of this too
mgtow, red pill, populists, political ideologues		View
7 March 2020633Goggins cult

One thing goggins influenced me on is not giving a fuck about stats or iq or genetics.

Just being a raw fucking embodiment of pure will power. By being self transformative. By constantly striving for and pushing past barriers of the self. Seeking pain.		Post imageView
12 March 2021624GRIT CULTView
11 December 2021618New dao idea.

Cult With Benefits.		View
8 April 2024575cults -> memes -> tokens.

study how information is incubated in cults, & cabals. How this information turns into memes, and then how these memes can turn into money.

there is a direct path.

get in peoples mind, and theyll get in your pocket.		View
11 October 2021538Cults exist In every culture.

Mind blowing fact of anthropology.		View
17 February 2019526for a limited time only, giving free access to the CULT SERVER 001Post imageView
2 June 2020526The Trap

cult leaders tend to offer help and guidance and many naive people fall for this trap. its mutual relationship... at first.

the followers gain what they want, leadership and guidance, being told what to do makes their life easier.

this is human nature.		View
6 October 2022526Nothing says late capitalism as much as “fandoms” probably the best example of how to create a consumerist cult.View
21 March 2021525Black twitter is dead
Right wing twitter is dead
Rationalist twitter is dead
Esoteric twitter is dead

Cult twitter can’t die.		View
17 June 2020515is this how cult leaders rise up?

a scapegoat to sanctify our sins

martyrs become saints, and whole cultures evolve around this significant social event.		View
27 September 2021510Follow. Retweet. Tag. And join the discord. Then get initiated into the cult.

Follow @METACULTDAO for updates on nft projects.		View
4 December 2020469Always have a small group of trusted advisors. People who can be trusted to have measured advice on matters small and big.

The difference between good and great people is the people who they have around them. Having a CULT is a force multiplier.		Post imageView
4 June 2020435Charles Manson actually wanted a race war. He wanted more chaos.

Cult leaders thrive on chaos and rioting is a perfect type of chaos. He didn't have an ideology, he simply wanted more power. More followers.

Today Charles Manson would be a twitter guru.		View
28 October 2018433GRIT CULT memetic research unit.View
19 March 2021433There were various Pythagorean mystery cults where the initiated learned about crazy new things like irrational numbers. But then it all became convention.

Conventions can get covered up and become secrets again.		View
4 September 2023431What you want to be doing is

thinking in terms of CULTs

marketing, business, religion

all stem from our deep INSTINCTUAL need to be part of something

you shouldnt try to get "followers"

you should get a CULT		View
2 June 2020426in times where everyone is looking for someone to blame, where everyone is accusing another of SIN

the cult leader will position himself as the paragon of virtue.

ofcourse this is all to increase their own social standing, they are quick to moralise and judge others.		View
14 August 2020411Amazing interview by the beautiful @FORTUNATECULT. She should do more podcasts tbh, I learnt so much, and the @GRITCULT network was mentioned.

She touched upon what the modern CULT is... all cults focus on the follower, a CULT is the ultimate self improvement program		View
24 July 2024366@michaelmiraflor cult futureView
6 September 2023353Recently hired a bunch of people

and over my life time have hired or have been in hiring process over 200+ times

The number one thing i look for:

is culture fit

does this person fit in with the squad, with the cult

is this person one of us?

this is doubly important early		View
19 November 2020339CaaS : Cult as a Service.View
10 February 2020337GOGGINS CULT MODEPost imageView
2 June 2020325Another thing CULT LEADERS like to do is "depersonalise" their followers.

a movement is usually a way to hide people, hide them of their own identity, hide them to themselves.

identity reduced to a hashtag		View
3 June 2020323cult leaders emerge where political tensions are high.

they adopt a paradoxical position where it is constantly changing and constantly mirroring their followers

this was one tactic of charles manson		Post imageView
6 March 2021316BITCOIN AS A CULT AND THEN AS A COUNTRY

cult =>company => community => currency => country

country = citizen service provider

this will shift to network states. where states themselves have become software based. possibly on a market

markets for governance,		View
24 June 2021316GRIT CULT MEMETIC RESEARCH UNIT.View
6 February 2020315Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers.

The emperor later created a sun CULT		Post imageView
12 September 2021314THE GRITCULT PLANET PROJECT IS ENDING

1 GRITCULT PLANET = 1 METACULT.DAO ENTRY

1 METACULT.DAO ENTRY = A % OF ALL FUTURE GRITCULT PROJECTS AND DROPS

THE NEXT PHASE OF GRITCULT MINTING
IS THROUGH "PROOF OF CULT"

YOU HAVE TO KNOW 7 GRITCULT PLANET HOLDERS TO BE ELIGIBLE TO MINT		Video stillView
8 December 20203923. THE FUTURE IS DECENTRALISED CULTS.

the insider-outsider as touted by Theils great founder theory is taking root.

the fringe is able to see trends before the slow moving masses who consume traditional media		View
25 March 202037Luck cult.View
20 June 202136how would you create a cult for @ideamarket_ioView
22 January 201834guy calls himself yogi, uses namaste unironically and calls his pump n dump signals group "nirvana", reminds me of other cult leaders who used pseudo mysticism to fool the fools, crypto-patreon = 😷View
11 April 2021233I SPEND EVERY SINGLE DAY THINKING OF IMPROVING BUSINESSES.

THE BIGGEST THING I HAVE LEARNT IS THAT I NEED TO TREAT THEM AS A CULT		View
21 March 2021232START UPS COME TO ASKING FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO BECOME A CULT:

NUMBER ONE THING IS:

INCENTIVES		View
10 January 2021229all the greatest companies all had a company cult.

not a company culture.

company culture is for low res companies. companies with a defined mission and vision all have cults. dedicated acolytes and neophytes ready for the cause.		View
3 May 2022225The cult of moloch needs destroying.View
3 June 2020222Why was Charles Manson so good at convincing people to follow him?

The word cult comes from the latin "cultus" which essentially means to cultivate and nurture.

In essence cult leaders cultivate and nurture a community around them. They reassure you.		View
25 July 2022222Cults are the future.View
29 September 2018220the teachings of the @GRITCULT cultView
10 January 2021212When I consult. I learn the company like I would study the cult or join the cult. Each company has initiations. You get anointed.

Company cults = languages

Learning how people do things is like learning a language.		View
1 February 2019211creation and the concept of creation is divine

capitalism is the ideology that creates, it is what create an abundance of beauty. the Pythagorean cult of steve jobs, in awe of the marriage of beauty and technology and art		View
9 March 2021211humans dont change, and they wont change

there have always been cults, there will always be cults

this thread was mainly for self reflection of my journey so far
for more EXCLUSIVE AND LONGER FORM content on the newsletter...		View
9 June 202129REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
20 September 202127Heavenly words cult.Post imageView
24 December 202127Web 2 : product culture fit

Web 3 : protocol cult fit.		View
8 July 202025new cultView
30 June 202125THE TEACHINGS OF THE @GRITCULT CULTView
11 May 202325THE TRAP
CULT LEADERS TEND TO OFFER HELP AND GUIDANCE AND MANY NAIVE PEOPLE FALL FOR THIS TRAP. ITS MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP... AT FIRST. THE FOLLOWERS GAIN WHAT THEY WANT, LEADERSHIP AND GUIDANCE, BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO MAKES THEIR LIFE EASIER.
THIS IS HUMAN NATURE. - @GRITCULT		View
14 March 201822There exists in England a curious cult of Northernness, sort of Northern snobbishness. A Yorkshireman in the South will always take care to let you know that he regards you as an inferior.View
20 September 202122Heavenly words cult is communicating with god. The trust of the word is a trust in GOD.View
7 February 201820@HoneyBoyCream @atemporarydeath I think birth rates need to be increased, overpopulation is a myth, a dangerous and cult like myth. im probably conservative on this notion, that we need to move away from nihilistic hedonism and move towards intrinsic purpose attainment. pop control is v v dangerous notionView
8 February 2023130The definition of a cult

is that which seeks to isolate

the inducted cult member

AWAY from family.

any ideology that tells you to cut off your family, is dangerous and a cult.		View
14 February 2021125ALWAYS REMEMBER IM PART OF NO TRIBE. I MAKE MY OWN CULTS.View
4 June 2020122Your following is your cult. Retweeting things onto your timeline is in fact an endorsement. Everything you RT is everything you would recommend as if in person. Cults grow through word of mouth, and each tweet is speech.

False messiahs use this to spread their influence.		View
29 June 2021120COMPANY = CULTView
3 May 2021118COMPANY = CULTView
17 September 2023118Now it’s just a bunch of corporate dick riders all swarming cult of personalities and influencers suing and blocking one another.

Extremely lame bear market vibe.

Anon culture is important and must be defended.		View
3 April 2021117CULTSView
5 February 2020116do you guys know about goggins cult ?View
18 November 2020114“Cult Wars: The Making of a Cult Brand” by @jordanodinsky

I like this. Cults are catching on.

Everything is a collection of cults.		View
8 February 2021114THE WORLD IS ONE LARGE BRUTALISATION CULTView
24 February 2024114Worst take I’ve seen in a while.

Something very inherently wrong with maximalists. Very closed minded ideological cults.		View
29 December 2021113Cult maximalist.View
18 June 2022113Most vc funds went to land lords in San Francisco. Not sure why they love the cult of the office so much. Maybe trust the people you invest in.View
1 November 2023113grit cult modeView
10 January 2021112one thing i do professionally, is i consult companies in how to better optimise their operations.

through new governance structures or through automation

but my main task is creating a cult.		View
16 February 202111267. BITCOIN BECOMES A NEW AGE CULTView
13 March 2021112PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RUN OTHER PEOPLES CULTS BUT NEVER START THEIR OWN...View
3 June 20211129/
LESSON:

one of the greatest things i have ever ever learnt in my life is that a man is only as strong as his fucking team.

a weak team and a man may crumble.

but a strong team, he has people he can lean on when the time comes.

get a cult, a tribe a team.		View
17 February 2019111we have a couple hundred members already,

now i am implementing improvements that go with automation.

bots and point systems, guild metrics. you want a decentralised meta-cult ?

expanding #FAUSTgang, memetics, culture, creating art and general updates of cult members.		View
8 June 2020111cult leaders seek to change the way you see the world and as such will seek to tell you the things you have been told are false

charles manson came up with his own theories and his own ideology and imparted this onto his followers, same with jim jones

those in chaos seek order		View
8 February 2022111Two words.

Grit. Cult.		View
27 February 2018110Japanese cultural relationship to death is a interesting one. In the 80s they had an actual death cult thay released sarin i think. They love to kill themselves. Seppuku, kamikaze. Corporate workers working themselves to death. Suicide forest. And hari kari. Mass suicidesView
9 December 2024110milady cheeseworld, guess i am a cult god, gritcultView
15 December 201818created a newsletter !

cant beat em, join em ! - a trial and experiment if you will, people proposed good arguments and i am open minded.

NOW when you sign up : a link to my private and exclusive discord :
CULT SERVER 001		View
17 March 202018Gogginscult is initiating new members into the cult.

Message @seriousgoofy @lindypopstar and @modafugga

The three gatekeepers		View
20 March 202018Here’s the source from a goggins cult chat

National guard.

Army reserves In other places.
New York friends telling me they can see martial law happening.

To prevent riots because supply chains are gonna dry up. People still aren’t taking the seriousness of supply chains.		Post imageView
9 March 202118people who were raised in cults, can instantly recognise others who were raised in a cult, mainly because they see so much of themselves in each other, like long lost kindred souls.

many of the most influential people were secretly raised in a cult or something similar...		View
11 May 202218Going to name my kid. Cult coinView
28 December 202017theyre the same as sports fans. all are consoomers, brands have become religions.

twitter users can have cults.		View
8 March 202117without cults, there would be people looking for purpose, living their lives in wasteful hedonism and wasteful consumerism.

it is better to brainwashed in a radical ideology than it is to be normal, i do not think i have ever been called normal. normal is an insult to me.		View
9 June 202117REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
24 July 202417isnt it amazing how anyone can just go out and create a cult, create a legion of people with a mission. thats all it ever takes to change the world, a small group of dedicated people. how privileged we are.

will be uploading more of my content on		View
27 October 202016From creating multiple self organising cults.

The main thing I’ve learnt is.

Start a fire. Fires rise.		View
28 January 202216daos are modern day cultsPost imageView
16 June 201815searching solutions to modernity

i think answers may lie in sociocultural focus.

currently

cult of youth,

perpetual victimhoods

no cultural concept of memento mori

no reminders of death

no push towards embracing or setting legacy		View
3 September 201815fuck

it would be disingenous to say they dont ***

they *DO* have a linked history

male spirituality cults in greece and so on		View
12 November 201815Attacking cult is recursive.
We just absorb the trolls. You become one of us.

How does the reader not know you are one of my ALTs ?

Ahahahahahahha		View
4 March 202015Join my cult.

Join my discord where I host sermons.

🙏 welcome.		View
6 March 202015Created a synchronicity channel.
In the discord CULT Server.

I'm building culture.

Going to host a sermon on voice there later today.
Topic: SYNCHRONICITY

Join 500 other people .		Post imageView
30 January 202115CULTS <=> MEMESView
9 June 202115REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
9 June 202115REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
31 October 202115The Trap

cult leaders tend to offer help and guidance and many naive people fall for this trap. its mutual relationship... at first.

the followers gain what they want, leadership and guidance, being told what to do makes their life easier.

this is human nature.		View
7 December 202115Cult ware.
Cult wear.		View
15 August 201814expanding on the notion of memetic symbiotes

getting rid of ideology

is hard, same with religions, it helps shapes identity and is prone to mutation and change

same with internet niches and fandoms
they become cult like, and structures build around them		View
17 August 201814he has his own place of worship too
A caesareum = temple devoted to the Imperial cult.

Caesarea were located throughout the Roman Empire, and often funded by the imperial government,

some converted to other places of worship
such as church or mosque		Post imageView
9 June 202114REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
9 June 202114REMINDER: SERVE CULTPost imageView
20 September 202114Heavenly words cult.View
18 January 202214heavenly words cult talked to the DivinePost imageView
9 February 201813- this will explain a portion of my thinking and rationale behind this, i ask is you keep an open mind. but with the marxist cult and doctrine they decline to accept a possibility of a objective reality -View
9 June 201813The ancestor cult, in turn, influenced a deep connection to family.View

History

GritCult first posted about Cults on 22 January 2018, and most recently on 30 August 2025. Across the archive the subject comes up 326 times, most often in 2021 (123 posts).

See also

The Frontier portal

References

  1. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (21 May 2022). We evolved as cults. Not individuals. X.
  2. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (10 January 2021). all the greatest companies all had a company cult. not a company culture. X.
  3. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (4 September 2023). all stem from our deep INSTINCTUAL need to be part of something you shouldnt try to get "followers" you should get a CULT. X.
  4. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (23 July 2024). The future is cults... You need to learn how to start them, you need to be able to recognise them. X.
  5. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (2 June 2020). cult leaders tend to offer help and guidance and many naive people fall for this trap. X.
  6. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (8 February 2023). any ideology that tells you to cut off your family, is dangerous and a cult. X.
  7. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (2 January 2025). everyone is tryna start a cult. a new religion. id rather the company of a few good men. X.
  8. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (31 October 2024). How much of a blessing it is to be the outsider. A cult of one. X.

Further reading

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