> Can we call it education though or is it an anti-intellectual spirit or a disdain for elitism and the idea of experts? Or perhaps mistrust of authority and ex

> Can we call it education though or is it an anti-intellectual spirit or a disdain for elitism and the idea of experts? Or perhaps mistrust of authority and experts? I'm sure poor education accounts for a lot of it, but it can't be the only factor - even here on HN (where I'd assume most posters are well educated) there are people claiming COVID is a non issue and/or claiming masks are dangerous. Another example are countries other than the US, such as the UK. In the beginning there were plenty doubters (hardly surprising when you've got arguably the most powerful idiot in the world claiming it's a hoax), but I see/hear very little of that these days. It could be a mistrust of authority, but a lot of people in the US seem quite happy to trust authority - as long as it's the "right" authority. For example, in the USA, you have Trump telling the most outrageous lies on a near-hourly basis, and millions believe him. On a similar vein you have ludicrous conspiracy theories like qanon, and even just plain conspiracies (without the "theory"!) about the Clinton's eating babies! As I European, I might suppose that a lot of people in the US are batshit-insane, but there has to be a reason for all that lunacy.