> Flat earthers are proof that some people will just obstinately believe in complete and utter horseshit. More than "some". I think, by default, we're not prot

> Flat earthers are proof that some people will just obstinately believe in complete and utter horseshit. More than "some". I think, by default, we're not protected against mental viruses that travel from mind to mind and get spread by the internet/media. I also think that the ridiculous lies embedded in these mental viruses are a feature, not a bug. I see this pattern everywhere from successful ad campaigns to politicians to conspiracy theories, and so on: the more cognitive dissonance is invoked my the message, the deeper it gets embedded in the "infected" mind. In cases where the falsehood / cognitive dissonance trigger comes equipped with the mechanism of its own spread, it can become the most dangerous and infectious virus. This has happened a few times in human history.