The High-Control Dynamics at MAPLE

A former resident has published a detailed account accusing MAPLE, the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth in rural Vermont, of being a high-control group. Writing on LessWrong, Kyle Hubbard says he trained there for three and a half years before leaving in September 2023, and describes a community where nearly every hour is scheduled, major life decisions are pressured by the group's head teacher, and members who leave with concerns are shunned as traitors. He says internal reports describe a surveillance system that tracks residents' daily activities, and that the teacher has spoken openly of tolerating severe psychological harm to students in pursuit of the group's stated goal of building an artificial superintelligence. Hubbard says he's sharing the account for anyone considering joining, anyone who loves someone there, or anyone still making sense of time spent there.

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