Shared delusional claims persist because confirmation is socially rewarded

Evidence

That is not how lipid nanoparticles work. It is not how vaccines work. It is not how anything works. Also, and I can’t quite believe I am typing these words, vaccinated people still smell like humans. Perhaps Wolf had Covid herself and her own sense of smell was compromised, as has been the case for many long Covid sufferers. And yet the host confessed that she also had noticed that vaccinated people seemed like ghosts. She was so glad that Wolf had the courage to put it into words! — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 363

Categorization

• XREF: The social-confirmation loop here parallels the law-merchant reputation mechanisms from Milgrom’s work — beliefs, like trade, are sustained by social reinforcement rather than verification. — connects to: Delusion claims equal rights with truth because both involve imagination — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 153; Group membership socializes paranoia by collectivizing shared delusion — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 156; False beliefs mostly persist through social transmission, not individual failings — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 30 (+2 more)