But as people go deeper down the rabbit hole, are they joining a cult?

但隨著人們在兔子洞中越陷越深，他們是否加入了邪教？

We asked the sociologist to walk us through the similarities and the differences between these online communities and cults.

我們請這位社會學家帶領我們瞭解這些網絡社區和邪教之間的相似之處和區別。

People do have this idea that all cults are religious, which absolutely isn't true.

人們確實有這樣的想法，認為所有的邪教都是宗教，這絕對不是真的。

There's every kind of cult therapy called Ufo cult Eastern cults, New age cults, you name it and of course there are political cults.

有各種各樣的邪教療法，被稱為Ufo邪教、東方邪教、新時代邪教，你可以說出它的名字，當然也有政治邪教。

Political cults can thrive just like any other cult they can be from the left or the right.

政治邪教可以像其他邪教一樣蓬勃發展，它們可以是來自左翼或右翼。

I myself was in a left wing cult back in the seventies and eighties.

我自己在七十年代和八十年代也參加過一個左翼邪教。

People are forming online communities and finding the same sense of belonging and purpose as they would have in a physical group.

人們正在形成網上社區，並找到與在實體團體中相同的歸屬感和目標。

They do have the same kind of closed mindset that we see in cult members, we will knock out without too evil.

他們確實有和我們在邪教成員身上看到的一樣的封閉心態，我們會在不太邪惡的情況下打掉。

We're americans, it's important to realize that it has nothing to do with religion.

我們是美國人，重要的是要認識到，這與宗教沒有關係。

It has to do with the behaviors of the group.

這與該群體的行為有關。

According to Dr.

據博士說。

Blalock's framework, cults share four behaviors or characteristics.

在Blalock的框架中，邪教有四種行為或特徵。

A transcendent belief systems, systems of control, systems of influence and a charismatic leader.

一個超然的信仰體系、控制體系、影響體系和一個有魅力的領導者。

The transcendent belief system is the overarching ideology gives you the answers to the past, the present and future.

超驗的信仰體系是總體的意識形態，給你過去、現在和未來的答案。

So it's a new way for you to understand the world and your role in the world and it's exclusive in that you're led to believe that it is the only way to think it is the only true belief system and it's inclusive in that when you are part of that, you feel like you're a member of the elite, you're special and those other people who aren't part of it.

所以它是你理解世界和你在世界中的角色的一種新方式，它的排他性在於你被引導去相信它是唯一的方式，認為它是唯一真正的信仰體系，它的包容性在於當你成為其中的一部分時，你覺得你是精英的一員，你很特別，而其他那些不屬於它的人。

Well, there's just something wrong with them.

嗯，他們就是有問題。

A scroll through the messaging app telegram shows that online groups like sad make generate misinformation.

瀏覽一下資訊應用telegram就會發現，像sad make這樣的在線團體會產生錯誤信息。

They also forbid their members from being vaccinated.

他們還禁止其成員接種疫苗。

The Kunin movement, especially in its heyday, the anti vaccine movement, they basically generate that same kind of transcendent belief system.

庫寧運動，特別是在其全盛時期，反疫苗運動，他們基本上產生了那種超越性的信仰體系。

And the anti vaccine movement in its anti science attitudes is saving us from this thing that's going to get injected into us and it's going to put a chip in us, you and on was saving us from the sadness and the evil Doers.

而反疫苗運動以其反科學的態度在拯救我們，讓我們遠離這個將被注射到我們身上的東西，它將在我們身上裝上芯片，你和上是在拯救我們遠離悲傷和邪惡的人。

I'm sure people remember Pizza Gate and the idea that there are pedophiles running the government.

我相信人們還記得 "比薩門 "和有戀童癖者管理政府的想法。

It got decent, honest people who cared about child abuse, who cared about sex trafficking latching onto this as though this were the answer.

它讓那些關心虐待兒童問題、關心性交易問題的正派、誠實的人抓住了這個問題，好像這就是答案。

Sometimes these groups will have rallies and demonstrations where they'll go out and be absolutely fervent, just roaring and raging and having the kind of exuberance for their own beliefs that can seem quite frightening to those of us who are watching from the outside.

有時這些團體會舉行集會和示威，他們會走出去，絕對是狂熱的，只是咆哮和憤怒，對自己的信仰的那種熱情，對我們這些從外面看的人來說，似乎相當可怕。

What is the plan to save the world from the evils that are out there.

拯救世界的計劃是什麼，從外面的邪惡中拯救世界。

One of the things you might notice when we look at cults is that people are sometimes doing things that seem unbelievable to those of us on the outside, why would someone go rob a bank who never would have done something like that before?

當我們觀察邪教時，你可能會注意到的一件事是，人們有時會做一些在我們外面的人看來不可思議的事情，為什麼有人會去搶銀行，而他以前從來沒有做過這樣的事情？

And this is part of that re socialization process where your sense of morality that you brought into the group with you is being altered so that you're taking on the morality or the immorality of the cult leader and you'll end up doing things that in any other context you wouldn't have done the kind of us versus them mentality that's taken over has really generated this, this outward violence that we hadn't seen before.

這是再社會化過程的一部分，你帶入團體的道德感被改變了，所以你要接受邪教領袖的道德或不道德，你最終會做一些在其他情況下你不會做的事情，那種我們與他們對立的心態真的產生了，這種外在的暴力，我們以前沒有見過。

So the systems of control are the sort of overt, obvious rules and regulations of the group that you must follow.

是以，控制體系是群體中那種公開的、明顯的規則和條例，你必須遵守。

When some groups you may be told where to live or who to live with and some groups you may be told to divorce your spouse, who doesn't want to be part of the group, they may be telling you what to wear, what to eat.

當一些團體可能被告知住在哪裡或與誰一起生活，一些團體可能被告知與你的配偶離婚，誰不想成為團體的一部分，他們可能告訴你穿什麼，吃什麼。

It can be any of those kinds of things that is part of stripping away your individuality.

它可以是任何這類事情，是剝奪你個性的一部分。

Is there a parallel in online political groups.

網上的政治團體是否有類似的情況。

These online communities do have their own systems of control where people are expected to speak a certain way, behave a certain way.

這些網絡社區確實有自己的控制體系，人們被要求以某種方式說話，以某種方式行事。

There were t shirts that are expressing their belief or their love for a certain idea, or there's obviously the kind of paraphernalia that is familiar from those of us who've studied cults, those kinds of slogans are very useful.

有一些T恤在表達他們的信仰或對某種思想的熱愛，或者顯然有那種我們這些研究過邪教的人所熟悉的用具，這些類型的口號非常有用。

You know, lock her up.

你知道，把她關起來。

So systems of influence are the more subtle manipulations of your emotions.

是以，影響系統是對你的情緒更微妙的操縱。

You know, guilt, shame, fear, love.

你知道，內疚、羞恥、恐懼、愛。

And one big part of the systems of influence is the peer pressure.

而影響系統的一個重要部分是同齡人的壓力。

The chanting of the slogans at the rallies is one of the systems of influence because it's what we call a high arousal technique.

在集會上呼喊口號是影響系統之一，因為這就是我們所說的高喚醒技術。

It basically gets the believer or the follower pumped up, right?

它基本上讓信徒或追隨者振奮起來，對嗎？

And when you get pumped up your critical thinking shuts down.

而當你被打起精神時，你的批判性思維就會關閉。

When your critical thinking shuts down, you're not able to question what the hell am I doing right?

當你的批判性思維關閉時，你就無法質疑我到底做對了什麼？

You're just going along with the crowd.

你只是在隨波逐流。

And this kind of, you know, mass hysteria sets in where everybody's chanting the same thing, sort of reaffirms your loyalty.

而這種，你知道的，大規模的歇斯底里設置，每個人都在喊著同樣的東西，某種程度上重申了你的忠誠度。

We know from our studies of cults that one thing that they are closed systems, I call themselves sealing systems, the sort of clever but also dangerous aspect of the online communities is the way the algorithms work and so that you click on something and before you know it you're something else pops up and then you click on that and you get led down these paths without maybe even realizing where you're going and without having time to think about it.

我們從對邪教的研究中知道，他們是封閉的系統，我稱他們為密封系統，網絡社區的那種聰明但也危險的方面是算法的工作方式，所以你點擊一些東西，在你知道之前，你是其他東西彈出，然後你點擊那個，你被引導到這些道路上，也許甚至沒有意識到你要去哪裡，沒有時間去思考。

There is a risk in banning these groups from the more public social media which has happened with some of the groups and then they go to the more secretive social media platforms, it's like falling down the rabbit hole before you know it, you're like lost in a world of like minded thinkers and think you found a community that you feel part of and you're gone to the people who knew you before.

禁止這些團體使用更公開的社交媒體是有風險的，這在一些團體中已經發生了，然後他們去了更隱祕的社交媒體平臺，這就像在你知道之前掉進了兔子洞，你就像迷失在一個有相同想法的人的世界裡，認為你找到了一個你覺得屬於自己的社區，而你已經離開了之前認識你的人。

The charismatic leader is someone who has power over you.

有魅力的領導者是對你有權力的人。

It's a social relationship and it's based on this imbalance of power and it's actually not an attribute that someone is born with, but it's the fact that you attribute that quality to that person and that's what gives them the power and then you are obligated to honor and revere and worship that person and the charismatic leader is obligated to be that charismatic leader and do things that makes him or her seem special.

這是一種社會關係，它基於這種權力的不平衡，它實際上不是一個人天生就有的屬性，而是你把這種品質歸於這個人，這就是給他們的權力，然後你有義務尊重、敬仰和崇拜這個人，有魅力的領導人有義務成為那個有魅力的領導人，做讓他或她看起來很特別的事情。

So who would fill that role in online communities?

那麼，誰會在網絡社區中擔任這一角色呢？

We don't necessarily see one leader standing up to be the charismatic leader, but there may be different people who play that role at different times when Q was at its peak and he was sending out messages and I think people did actually see him as a mystical untouchable charismatic Messianic leader.

我們不一定看到有一個領導人站出來成為有魅力的領導人，但可能有不同的人在不同的時期扮演這個角色，當時阿Q正處於高峰期，他正在發出資訊，我認為人們實際上確實把他看作是一個神祕的不可觸摸的有魅力的救世主領導人。

He had that kind of sway and power over people queue also was similar to the cult leaders who say they have the direct line to God Q.

他有那種對人的搖擺和權力的隊列，也類似於那些說自己有直通上帝的邪教領袖Q。

Presented himself also as someone who was really an insider and knew exactly what was going on and that he was going to tell us and warn us about the deep state and things that were happening in the government.

他還把自己說成是一個真正的內部人士，知道到底發生了什麼，他要告訴我們並警告我們關於深層狀態和政府中發生的事情。

That we're harming the american public just about everybody I know has somebody in their family or in their social network, who has been lost to them with political divisions in America at an all time high.

我們正在傷害美國公眾，我認識的每個人都有自己的家人或社交網絡中的某個人，在美國的政治分歧達到歷史最高點的情況下，他們已經失去了自己。

What advice does dr Lalique have for someone trying to reconnect with a loved one in an online group that feels cult like another parallel to what we see in cults is this concept of cognitive dissonance, which means When reality butts up against your belief system, 99% of the time people are going to stick with their belief system rather than go with reality because it's what they know, it's what their identity is wrapped up in and it's safe for everybody who's in one of these closed groups has doubts and they're never able to express those doubts.

拉里克博士對那些試圖在一個感覺像邪教的網上團體中與所愛的人重新聯繫的人有什麼建議呢？我們在邪教中看到的另一個平行概念是認知失調，這意味著當現實與你的信仰系統相牴觸時，99%的人都會堅持自己的信仰系統，而不是去面對現實，因為這是他們所知道的，這是他們的身份所包裹的，而且對於每個在這些封閉團體中的人來說，這都是安全的，他們永遠無法表達這些疑慮。

We need to be compassionate to that person.

我們需要對這個人有同情心。

But I call it critical compassion because it's something you need to do very carefully.

但我稱它為關鍵的同情心，因為這是你需要非常小心地做的事情。

So first you want to build rapport, you want to bring back good memories of things you did before.

是以，首先你要建立融洽的關係，你要喚起人們對你以前做過的事情的美好回憶。

Don't challenge the person.

不要挑戰這個人。

Don't think, oh, I've got the best arguments are only going to drive that person deeper into whatever it is they believe in.

不要以為，哦，我有最好的論據，只會讓那個人更深地陷入他們所相信的東西。

So you have to think about how to connect with that person again in a way that is going to just open up their eyes a little bit.

是以，你必須考慮如何再次與這個人建立聯繫，而這種聯繫將使他們的眼睛稍微開闊一些。

It may happen six months down the road and that's why I say, never give up.

它可能在六個月後發生，這就是為什麼我說，永遠不要放棄。

Never give up hope.

永遠不要放棄希望。

Don't ever cut that person off being in a cult or being in one of these hateful groups.

千萬不要斷定那個人是在邪教或在這些可恨的團體中。

And there's a lot of loneliness and stress.

而且有很多的孤獨和壓力。

If that person can see a way out, they'll take it one day and they'll thank you.

如果那個人能夠看到一條出路，他們有一天會採取這種做法，他們會感謝你。