Thank you so much for linking that Johann Hari book. I know a lot of scientists have disagreed with some of the assertions he makes, but it was HUGELY beneficial to me in terms of me getting out of a severe mental rut. I read it back in January and made the switch from "my brain is fundamentally broken and there's nothing I can do" to "hey, maybe part of my misery might be caused by environmental factors I have the power to change". I looked around and whoop-dee-doo, I saw I had postponed major life decisions and wasn't happy where I was at. It gave me the power and confidence to make changes, which was priceless. A lot of Incels could benefit from that perspective.

Another thing about deprogramming cults, I remember speaking to a lady at a local non-profit in my city that works with homeless people, and found that a lot of homeless people who try to get a job, etc. feel a lot of social pressure to stay homeless as a lot of their friends are too. Their friends feel they are betraying them by getting out of that position. It's not totally equivalent, but it takes a lot of strength to turn your back on your community if you don't already have enough inner strength. Definitely Incels are reinforcing each other's negativity. They don't want their members to have sex. And when all you know is that hate it can be really difficult to find the self-confidence to empower yourself and get out.

The internet empowers minorities, including the ones that are self-destructive. Hopefully young kids can see the internet backlash however and avoid that shit like the plague.