Also, many so called prophets can easily exploit this skill, which they might well do if that’s their personality type.
Just typing this out has made me think it’s almost like passing on wisdom and the religious experience are probably inseparable.
Also, many so called prophets can easily exploit this skill, which they might well do if that’s their personality type.
Just typing this out has made me think it’s almost like passing on wisdom and the religious experience are probably inseparable.
As a result these changes can destabilize a persons identity, which causes said person to look for the closest source of stability, often the 'peophet'.
This gives the 'prophet' enourmous power over the person, not just because of the identity destabilization, but because when you change someones fundamental assumptions about the world, those changes don't nessecerily have to be truthful or helpful for the person. The person only has to think the changes do.
This identity change and stability dependence is probably what causes the cult like appearance/ behaviour.
What's amazing to me about Christopher Alexander and his work is that he's able to describe the process of generating such art (in the form of architecture) to ordinary people, using plain, relatable language. The links I posted in the earlier comment are examples.
In other words, you don't need to be someone with a rare skill.