One of the things that surprised me, and I first heard about it during the Romney campaign, is that partisan candidates often believe their own partisan media. And a lot of the people spreading conspiracy theories aren’t joking around they really believe it. This sort of surprised me as I thought some of the more sensational media was known to be sensational by serious people, and that is apparently not true.
I like the closing quote though: "What you end up with are extremely frustrated, disillusioned people who trash others who have put their careers on the line to do the right thing.”
gryfft · 9h ago
Expensive and credible signals that someone believes something outlandish are powerful in-group identifiers. Flat earth, pizzagate, whatever it is, if you can access the mental machinery to double, triple, quadruple down on something obviously false regardless of evidence, you will have a strong group of friends who are easy to find.
I like the closing quote though: "What you end up with are extremely frustrated, disillusioned people who trash others who have put their careers on the line to do the right thing.”