I can't fathom how they come to exist. The linked post may be correct; I think some people simply have the innate urge to reject everything they've

I can't fathom how they come to exist. The linked post may be correct; I think some people simply have the innate urge to reject everything they've been told and to look for a countercultural answer I'm just conjecturing like everybody else, but I might tweak that explanation a bit. Surely, yes, some just reject everything reflexively - basically: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t14/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519712/table/ch3.t14/ Others take a look at the status quo of our society, and perhaps reasonably, decide that it sucks. Our society has a lot of shortcomings, and has let a lot of people down. So they reject the institutions they view as being responsible for what they consider this poor state of affairs. In other words they are not blindly opposed to the concept of authority; but they have come to the conclusion that the current set of authorities that govern us kind of suck. I don't think their opinion of society and the institutions that shape it is necessarily wrong, though I most certainly believe that rejecting our accumulated scientific knowledge is most definitely mistake. A true "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" situation. Also, aside from issues with authority, it's just kind of cool to feel like you have some sort of special and secret knowledge that (most) others lack. A very seductive prospect. Especially if you are lacking in intelligence and/or education and don't get a lot of opportunities to feel that way. After all, we tend to place such people on a pedestal -- folks who figured things out before others and were eventually proven correct. Adopting a fringe theory like Flat Earthism lets people feel they're part of the special/chosen few.