In my earlier days I seriously underestimated how effective propaganda is. Chalked it up to dumb people being gullible. Watching in real-time just how many people don't really have opinions but rather are given them has been eye-opening. I don't know whether the internet just speedruns it or just offers more perspectives to view it from, but I think it exposes it more clearly now. They didn't turn on him so much as were emotionally reprogrammed.
I don't think anything short of instilling a strong morality in a kid early on and training them to come to conclusions based on those first principles rather than emotions or ego can combat it.
The most susceptible people I've seen are some of the most intelligent in their particular field. Sort of a Dunning--Kruger effect. Then again, this has been known for millennia, pride cometh before the fall and all that.
To your point 100% correct "Chalked it up to dumb people being gullible."
"The most susceptible people I've seen are some of the most intelligent in their particular field..."
ppl can be intelligent in a particular field but be stupid as fck when it comes to basic common sense and/or because they have
some education, there ego makes them think they know better than everyone else
I know quite a few PHD's and Doctorates that have zero common sense, most have a hard time being or thinking "normal"
instilling a strong morality in a kid went out the window a generation or two ago
Having some "street smarts" helps you detect a con job sooner imo
www.snopes.com
