Re:My attempted cult recruitment
by ghufran_syed on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @08:14PM
(#30926820)
I think most people have too much caution when talking to strangers for the first time. I think one should be careful when taking things further - maybe meet in public for the first few meetings, so you can easily make excuses and walk away if things turn weird. This also makes recruitment much more expensive for these kind of sales / recruitment tactics,
Asking because I couldn't find the answer after some cursory effort, and feel extremely out of the loop.
What is a "pesticide salesman" pitch?
In my college, one of the more common MLM type things was getting recruited to travel to another state and do door to door sales of alarms and pesticides. With all the hallmark "You'll make a billion dollars!" types sketchiness. All structured as a standard MLM.
Re:My attempted cult recruitment
by RugnirViking on Wednesday April 06, 2022 @08:59AM
(#30931477)
indeed, this hackernews page is one of the first page google results for that term. I'm curious!
The issue is that cult interactions are crafted to specifically play on social norms. They are HIGHLY manipulative. I'm not saying that you should assume everyone is a manipulator, but you should at least have a little caution while talking to strangers.
I had a college roommate that invited me out to pizza with him and another roommate. I accepted (what could be more normal) and he drove. It was a fucking "pesticide salesman" pitch. That was the last semester I roomed with them.