I take a lot of the reports with a grain of salt. But also, knowing how easily some people are hypnotized by what they perceive as superior intellects, it's totally conceivable. There is a segment of the population with a strong savior-following instinct.
Prior to, activating this population required a high IQ/EQ psychopath to collect followers, or schizophrenic's who believed they were talking to a superior being ('my leader talks directly to me via his writings').
Now however, people can self-hypnotize themselves into a kind of self-cult. It might be the most effective form of this phenomenon if it's highly attuned to the individuals own idiosyncratic interests.
In a typical cult, people fall into or out of the cult based on their internal alignment with the leader and failed enlightenment. But if everyone of these people can have their own highly tailored cult leader, it might be a very hard spell to break.
Prior to, activating this population required a high IQ/EQ psychopath to collect followers, or schizophrenic's who believed they were talking to a superior being ('my leader talks directly to me via his writings').
Now however, people can self-hypnotize themselves into a kind of self-cult. It might be the most effective form of this phenomenon if it's highly attuned to the individuals own idiosyncratic interests.
In a typical cult, people fall into or out of the cult based on their internal alignment with the leader and failed enlightenment. But if everyone of these people can have their own highly tailored cult leader, it might be a very hard spell to break.