Re: Parallels Between Perlmonks.ORG and Religious Cults (Retirement Announcement)

[chromatic]

That's patently ridiculous.

Cults like to control people. Cults have charismatic leaders. Cults expect complete commitment. I could give you some examples, but I doubt you'd read up on them.

A 21 or 22 (right?) year old college senior in Holland, Michigan, with barely enough time to get his Java homework done and who asks other people for advice on a regular basis hardly qualifies. At the very least, I'd expect a good cult leader to get more sleep and go on more dates.

Seriously, comparing a voluntary question and answer board -- free for use by anyone -- to a mind-control system is just nutty. If you're really paranoid, don't accept a permanent cookie. There's no e-meter, First Principles, or grape Kool-Aid here.

And if downvotes really mattered, Worst Nodes wouldn't have a post stillborn at -49.

I will say that people who go on a downvoting rampage based on perceived or actual personality conflicts are in the wrong. Completely.

But spare the next group that dissatisfies you the melodrama, okay? And take your pick of #perl on Efnet, comp.lang.perl.misc, or create your own RubyMonks.org. (Actually, RubyTuesday.org sounds better. But it's your choice.)