Seeing a peer embrace a more extreme fringe view can trigger one’s own exit

Evidence

The first impetus to break away from homeopathy finally came from the behavior of a fellow member of his own bubble, who began to get enthusiastic about Bach flower therapy: “From the first moment I found that totally wacky and spooky.” The final turning point then came with the start of his professional career, when he perceived with alienation how an experienced colleague slipped into the world of “alternative medicine”, did not vaccinate his children and finally opened a homeopathic practice. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 199

Categorization

• QUESTION: The wedge effect — does seeing others go further into pseudoscience create an available exit ramp?