Chaly: Methodologists are a sect. And Matskevich showed his professional unsuitability in 2020

Uladzimir Matskevich

More than fifty Belarusians participated in a five-day organizational-activity game, organized by philosopher and methodologist Uladzimir Matskevich. Some participants enthusiastically spoke about the event. Words like "cosmos," "something incredible," and "opens the mind" were heard.

Journalist Dzmitry Hurnievich, in the program "PiK Svabody," asked analyst Siarhei Chaly to express his opinion regarding "Matskevich's game."

"This is a methodological sect"

According to Chaly, he would never participate in such a thing, and he formed his opinion about Matskevich's "methodological circle" long ago.

"This is precisely a methodological sect; it has all the absolute characteristics of a sect. (...) It used to be quite large; I personally knew many people who simply quietly left it and started living their own intellectual lives. And about two and a half people remained there. (...) This gradually faded to nothing, and now he has appeared here. I understand that apparently, the person knows nothing else and is selling the same old, non-working stuff in a new way," the analyst argues.

The analyst reminds that the origins of such "games" lie in Georgy Shchedrovitsky's Moscow methodological circle. This was "a product of the thinking of Soviet intellectuals" who, according to the analyst, "did not understand science well, nor the forefront of philosophy, nor (...) natural sciences."

"The idea was to create, with the help of this secret knowledge, some kind of order, a sect (...) of people who possess this knowledge, so that they would gradually penetrate, filling various structures of state administration, private corporations, and so on. And thereby gradually transforming the country," Chaly explains.

According to him, methodologists see themselves as "progressors" (a term by the Strugatskys) who should manage "underdeveloped civilizations." At the same time, they do not claim public power but want to be "actors" – those who advise and manipulate behind the scenes.

"Such an idea, it was also developed for the KGB, saying that, in fact, it doesn't matter who the politicians will be, you will still control everything," Chaly argues.

According to the analyst, participants in such games fall into the trap of "co-dependency." He calls intellectual pressure and the use of invented terminology, which creates an illusion of elitism, the main tools.

"It is arranged exclusively like a typical totalitarian sect. Intellectual violence by the leader. (...) There is simply a specific psychotype of people who fall into these sects. And the most important thing there is co-dependent relationships. That is, you are sold an illusion (...) that there is knowledge for the initiated, and if you approach it, you will automatically be cooler, better, understand deeper," says the analyst.

He notes that when participants of "Matskevich's game" are asked to specify what exactly they learned, they cannot provide anything meaningful.

Павялічыць

Siarhei Chaly. Screenshot from video: svaboda-premium / YouTube

"Matskevich is an impostor"

Uladzimir Matskevich himself considers the event successful. According to him, the game served as a facilitator, encouraging people who had not previously communicated to work together. The philosopher claims that after the game, at least three new groups have already formed and will implement joint startups.

Siarhei Chaly, however, is skeptical. He points out that initially, the development of a "strategy for Belarus' transformation" was promised as a result. And this corresponds to the ideology of participants in such "sects" – "we will do something that will automatically place us above everyone, and everyone must obey us."

According to Chaly, Matskevich exists in two modes: either he attributes the creation of all successful processes to himself, or he takes the pose of a "prophet" whom no one listens to.

"But the problem is – and this is actually the most important thing I would like to say. I am surprised why people listen to him at all, because Matskevich (...) is neither a philosopher nor a methodologist," Chaly argues and states:

"These very Shchedrovitsy followers, like any sect, meticulously maintain a registry of who is, so to speak, an 'authorized methodologist.' Like, who actually attended Shchedrovitsky's lectures, who received a certificate there. There is no Matskevich in that list. That is, he is also an impostor in this matter."

Continuing his criticism of Matskevich, Chaly reminds that in 2020, the philosopher showed "his complete professional unsuitability." In the midst of the election campaign, when "Babaryka was already there, and Tsikhanouski was already there, and Tsepkalo. There were already huge queues of people waiting to sign up for initiative groups or putting signatures for nomination," Matskevich "until the very end advocated for a boycott because there was no place for him."

"He had to stand aside and say in the pose of a prophet: 'Why does no one listen to me?' And only when the person risked becoming a complete (...) marginal, he reluctantly said: 'Well, fine, damn it.'"

"That is, the person understood nothing of what was happening in those events. Why did he decide that he now has the right, without having worked on his own mistakes, to teach others? That's all. Well, I simply deny him that right," Chaly sharply comments.

What are the results of the game?

Uladzimir Matskevich states that the result of the game was "the emergence of a core of people" who will implement what was developed. Chaly, however, sees only mundane socialization in this.

"The result is quite trivial. You and I know it perfectly well in the sense that there is such a Belarusian phenomenon: people are much more polite to your face than behind your back. (...)

People who were fighting among themselves without seeing each other found themselves in one place, and suddenly it turned out that they started talking to each other politely. And it turned out that their disagreements were not so serious, or on the contrary, this Belarusian thing simply kicked in, that we don't say such things to your face, we only throw dirt at each other behind our backs.

This is a trivial result; for this, no twelve-hour intellectual violence is needed, which is an important part of this sect's teaching. (...)

These people could have been gathered for a separate conference and achieved the same result for less money without all this mumbo jumbo," the expert believes.

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