[Locke]

Originally Posted by Yamer

It's certainly not a study or anything academic, but I always encourage people to watch the documentary Behind the Curve. The subject concerns a far less insidious (though no less annoying) topic of anti-intellectualism: flat earthers.

While there are certainly many reasons people become absorbed by these movements and theories, the film really punches home the idea that a sense of community plays an enormous role in recruitment and maintenance of these groups. Feeling special and supported when the entire world is telling you you're wrong can't be discounted.

You can kind of witness the same things when you see videos or pictures of the APP (Alberta Prosperity Project) events. Rooms filled with the same carbon-copy type people, mostly blue hairs and grey beards, that have found a space where they can socialize with other like-minded people. This sense of community and belonging has only been magnified by the pandemic. And, of course, the social media algorithms that have coerced and indoctrinated them during the past 2 - 3 years into an unsustainable belief system.

Lol! I do too! That Documentary was fantastic on a number of levels.

You're right though about some of the reasons people fall into these fringe beliefs.