The Zizian Cult and the Limits of Online Community

A Case Study in Digital Radicalization and the Need for Divine Connection

You may have never heard of the Zizians— a cultish group of radically rational, trans-human, vegan Sith philosophers. Sounds like something right out of a sci-fi movie, right? But no, they’re real, and they’ve been in the news for all the wrong reasons—murder, cult-like behavior, and a total inability to function in the real world. They started as an online group, a bunch of highly intelligent, tech-savvy people who decided they were too smart for society. So, naturally, they tried to form their own. Spoiler alert: it didn’t go well.

Instead of thriving, their little experiment in radical living collapsed into paranoia, crime, and outright violence. Why? Because humans weren’t designed to live in internet echo chambers. We need real relationships, not just screens and theories. Jonathan Haidt, in The Anxious Generation, argues that too much digital interaction makes people anxious, lonely, and—let’s be honest—a little crazy.

But let’s go even deeper. Here is a quote originally attributed to Blaise Pascal, “There’s a God-shaped hole in every human heart.” When people don’t fill that space with God, they try stuffing it with whatever’s handy—like radical rationalism, vegan Sith philosophy, and, in this case, a doomed attempt at community. And as Carl Trueman explains in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, modern folks love to build their identities on personal feelings and social approval instead of, you know, reality. The Zizians’ downfall proves just how unstable that approach can be.

Going deeper still, Jim Wilder in Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Church That Transforms references neurotheology and makes a powerful observation: our identity is largely shaped by whom we attach to. Think about it—this is why a mother instinctively throws herself in harm’s way to protect her child. Attachment isn’t just emotional; it defines who we are. Now, apply this to spiritual identity. If we don’t attach to God, we’ll attach to something else, often filling the void with influences that aren’t exactly life-giving. This is where heavy screen time comes in, hijacking the brain’s natural wiring for attachment and replacing deep, meaningful relationships with shallow, digital ones. The Zizians, instead of attaching to a loving Creator, attached to an ideology of their own making, one that ultimately led them down a dark path.

Hypothesis: Online Friends Won’t Save You, and Neither Will Fake Identities

The Zizians’ downfall wasn’t just about too much screen time. It was about trying to replace real, embodied experiences with digital ones. It was about rejecting God-given identity in favor of a social imaginary—a fancy term that basically means, “Whatever makes me feel important today.” And as we’ll see, that method of self-discovery doesn’t hold up in the real world.

Where It All Went Wrong

1. Digital Utopia (Or So They Thought)

The Zizians met on forums like LessWrong, debating philosophy, transhumanism, and ethical veganism. Sounds deep, right? But there was one little problem: none of it prepared them to actually live together.
They were tech-smart but life-dumb. They had big ideas but no foundation in real relationships or community building. That’s what happens when you base your life on internet discussions instead of, say, reality and applied faith.

2. No God, No Stability

Haidt argues that kids raised on screens struggle with social skills, anxiety, and relationships. Guess what? The same goes for adults who never leave their online bubbles.
The Zizians thought they could replace faith, tradition, and actual human bonding with a mix of extreme rationalism and ideology. Shockingly, that didn’t work.
Pascal nailed it: “There’s a God-shaped hole in every human heart.” When people don’t fill that void with God, they try stuffing it with whatever they can—philosophy, politics, even cults. But none of those things truly satisfy.
Trueman explains that today’s identities aren’t based on objective truth but on social validation. The Zizians built their whole identity on what other like-minded people online thought of them. That’s about as solid as a sandcastle in a hurricane.
Wilder’s research in Renovated shows us why this happened. When people fail to form healthy attachments—especially spiritual ones—they become vulnerable to whatever identity offers them the most validation. For the Zizians, their attachment was to an ideology, not to God or even to one another in a way that could sustain real relationships.

3. A Community That Couldn’t Hold Itself Together

When they finally tried to live together, the cracks showed fast. No real-world skills. No conflict resolution. Just a bunch of people who thought they were smarter than everyone else, now stuck under the same roof.
And when things got bad, they didn’t work through their problems like, say, adults. Instead, things escalated to crime, paranoia, and murder.
Unlike groups that actually manage to live off the grid, the Zizians lacked the trust and discipline needed to sustain a community. Their ideas might have worked great in a Reddit thread, but in real life? Not so much.

4. The Timeline of Their Downfall

Early Dreams (Pre-2022):

Jack “Ziz” LaSota starts blogging and theorizing about radical new ways to live.
A group forms, discussing their grand utopian ideas online.

Reality Hits (2022-2024):

Some members try living together, but surprise—they can’t make it work.
They keep moving, struggling to keep their “community” together.

Total Collapse (2024-2025):

A string of violent incidents and murders link back to the Zizians.
Key members either get arrested or killed, while LaSota disappears.
The group dissolves, proving once again that theory and reality are not the same thing.

The Takeaway: Why This Matters for the Rest of Us

The Zizians’ story isn’t just a weird crime saga. It’s a warning. Humans were designed for embodied, real-world relationships. We need family, faith, and a foundation in something bigger than ourselves. When people try to build their identity on unstable ground—whether it’s an ideology, an online community, or just their own feelings—it eventually crumbles (Matthew 7:24-27).

Haidt warns that too much screen exposure damages social skills. Pascal reminds us that without God, we’ll always feel empty. Trueman explains how modern identities are based more on social approval than on truth. Wilder shows that our identity is formed by who we attach to. The Zizians prove what happens when those attachments are made in the wrong places, by the wrong means and without the most important foundation.

So, if you take one thing away from this: log off once in a while, build real relationships, and—most importantly—seek the truth found in Christ. Because at the end of the day, no amount of internet wisdom or self-made identity can replace the purpose God designed for you.

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