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

Elitist of Purity

Somebody that is considered elite for withholding from any form of sexual relations past the age of 18, even while expressing extreme desire.

"Hey Andrew! Did you and the chick smash?"
"Nah man, I'm an Elitist of Purity. That shit is weak."

by Pleenb44 November 8, 2019

Status-Quo Purity

The aggressive policing of any deviation from established norms and traditions, punishing even mild reforms as contaminating a supposedly pristine, stable system. This goes beyond resistance to change; it's an active crusade to purge "impure" elements—be it new cultural ideas, technologies, or social roles—to maintain a frozen, idealized version of the past. The goal is a museum-diorama society, sterilized of dynamism.

*Example: "The neighborhood association was a cult of status-quo purity. They fined a homeowner for a non-beige mailbox, fought a new bike lane as a 'moral decay vector,' and demanded the book club remove a novel published after 1995. Their mission wasn't stability; it was the militant preservation of a specific, curated year no one actually lived in."*

by AbzuInExile January 31, 2026

Anti-Pseudoscience Purity

The obsessive enforcement of ideological conformity within communities that claim to champion "science and reason." It involves purging members, silencing discussions, or ostracizing individuals who engage with ideas labeled "pseudoscientific," even tangentially or critically. This purity spiral values rhetorical and tribal cleanliness over genuine intellectual rigor. It creates echo chambers where the primary activity is not exploring truth, but performing one's allegiance by correctly identifying and shunning the "contaminated" other. Debate is replaced by excommunication.

Example: "The skeptic forum descended into anti-pseudoscience purity. A moderator was doxxed and expelled for the crime of attending a public lecture on the history of alchemy—not to believe it, but to understand its historical context. The ruling clique declared, 'Engagement with the topic is contamination. True skeptics must maintain purity of contact.' Their community became a sterile lab where no actual thinking, only ritualized disdain, was allowed."

by AbzuInExile January 31, 2026

Anti-Pseudoscience Puritanism

A purity culture within skeptical and scientific communities where opposition to pseudoscience becomes so intense that it transforms into a crusade against the impure—treating not just pseudoscientific claims but those who hold them as enemies to be purged. Anti-pseudoscience puritanism demands perfect orthodoxy in distinguishing science from pseudoscience, treats any ambiguity or uncertainty as weakness, and engages in public rituals of condemnation for those who fail the purity test. It's the skeptic community that turns on its own members for insufficient zeal; the debunker who treats anyone who entertains an unproven claim as contaminated; the science advocate who sees the fight against pseudoscience as a holy war. The irony is that in becoming puritanical, it abandons the very scientific values it claims to defend—open inquiry, proportionality of response, and the distinction between being wrong and being bad.

Example: "The skeptical forum turned on a member for suggesting that maybe some alternative medicine had value—Anti-Pseudoscience Puritanism, treating any deviation from orthodoxy as heresy rather than just disagreement."

by Dumu The Void March 14, 2026