Neopositivist Puritanism

A contemporary purity culture among those who weaponize "science" as an identity marker and test of belonging—without the philosophical sophistication of classical positivism, but with all the dogmatic intensity. Neopositivist puritanism demands that true members signal their allegiance to Science (capital S) constantly, through approved language, approved positions, approved enemies. Members compete to demonstrate their purity—their rejection of anything labeled "pseudoscience," their contempt for anyone who questions scientific consensus, their willingness to condemn the insufficiently orthodox. The content hardly matters; what matters is performance, belonging, the satisfaction of being among the enlightened few who Really Get It. Neopositivist puritanism is what happens when science becomes a brand, and loyalty to the brand becomes the measure of virtue.

Example: "He'd never actually studied philosophy of science, but he knew exactly which opinions to express to signal his belonging—Neopositivist Puritanism, where performing the right relationship to Science matters more than understanding it."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

Neuroscientific Puritanism

A purity culture within communities that elevate neuroscience as the ultimate arbiter of truth about human nature, where adherence to neuroscientific explanations becomes a test of virtue and belonging. Neuroscientific puritanism demands that true members explain all human phenomena—love, morality, consciousness, politics—in terms of brain activity, and treats any appeal to other levels of explanation (social, cultural, experiential) as impurity, heresy, insufficient rigor. Members compete to demonstrate their purity by reducing everything to neurons, dismissing alternative frameworks as unscientific, and condemning those who suggest that human experience might exceed brain scans. The result is a community that claims to value science while being dogmatically closed to the complexity of actual human beings.

Example: "The forum banned her for suggesting that maybe love couldn't be fully explained by neurotransmitter levels—Neuroscientific Puritanism, where any acknowledgment of phenomena beyond brain scans is contamination."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

Psychological Puritanism

A purity culture within communities that treat psychological frameworks as the exclusive lens for understanding human experience, where proper psychological thinking becomes a test of virtue and belonging. Psychological puritanism demands that true members analyze all human phenomena through approved psychological concepts, treat alternative frameworks (social, political, economic) as insufficiently deep, and police the boundaries of acceptable psychological discourse relentlessly. Members are judged by their psychological sophistication, their correct use of terminology, their willingness to find psychological explanations for everything. The result is a community that claims to understand human beings while systematically ignoring everything about humans that isn't psychology.

Example: "She tried to discuss structural inequality, but the group kept redirecting to 'childhood trauma' and 'attachment styles'—Psychological Puritanism, where every problem must be psychological to be real."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

Psychiatric Puritanism

A purity culture within communities that elevate psychiatric diagnosis as the primary framework for understanding human difference and distress, where proper diagnostic thinking becomes a test of virtue and belonging. Psychiatric puritanism demands that true members understand all human variation through diagnostic categories, treat non-psychiatric frameworks as naive or unscientific, and maintain the purity of diagnostic boundaries against contamination by alternative approaches. Members compete to demonstrate their diagnostic sophistication, their ability to spot pathology everywhere, their commitment to the medical model against all challenges. The result is a community that claims to help the suffering while pathologizing all human variation and dismissing any approach that doesn't fit diagnostic categories.

Example: "They diagnosed everyone who disagreed with them—not clinically, just as a way of dismissing difference. Psychiatric Puritanism: using the language of diagnosis to police the boundaries of acceptable humanity."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

Cognitive Puritanism

A purity culture within communities that elevate cognitive science as the master framework for understanding mind and behavior, where proper cognitive thinking becomes a test of virtue and belonging. Cognitive puritanism demands that true members explain all mental phenomena in terms of cognitive processes, treat appeals to emotion, culture, or experience as insufficiently rigorous, and maintain the purity of cognitive explanations against contamination by alternative frameworks. Members compete to demonstrate their cognitive sophistication, their freedom from bias, their commitment to the cognitive model against all challenges. The result is a community that claims to understand thinking while being blind to everything about thought that isn't computation.

Example: "The group dismissed her embodied, situated account of knowledge as 'unscientific'—Cognitive Puritanism, where only information-processing models count as real explanations of mind."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

Objectivity Puritanism

A purity culture within communities that treat objectivity as not just a goal but an identity marker and test of belonging. Objectivity puritanism demands that true members demonstrate their freedom from bias, their commitment to neutral truth, their transcendence of mere perspective—while systematically exempting their own community from such scrutiny. Members compete to demonstrate their objectivity by condemning the bias of others, perform neutrality while taking sides, claim the view from nowhere while being thoroughly situated. The result is a community that claims to be uniquely free from the distortions that affect everyone else, using "objectivity" as a weapon of exclusion rather than a tool for clearer seeing. The irony is that objectivity puritanism is itself a form of bias—the bias of believing oneself unbiased.

Example: "They claimed to be 'just presenting the facts' while systematically excluding any perspective that challenged their own—Objectivity Puritanism, using the language of neutrality to protect orthodoxy from examination."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026

These New Puritans

Really dull arty alternative band from England. Their second album Hidden is beyond boring with almost no melody or decent tunes in sight. Yet, this album was critically acclaimed by delusional critics, dreadful stuff.

Friend 1: "Hey man, you heard that new These New Puritans album?"

Friend 2: "Yeah, its awful shite isn't it?"

Friend 1: "Absolutely, let us never talk about it again"

by freeflow July 20, 2012