Radicalisation of older people

Not solely. Also school kid's from aged 11 and also angry young men. And obviously anyone that reads the mail, were sucked into the anti Vax stuff/anti congestion charge shite - not surprisingly the same people often (targeted as gullible by all bots)

Watching Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion. It struck me one day that Both are very popular with students and seniors. They both protest, lie in the road, resist arrest and are passionate about their causes.

*toes not tows

There's no age requirement for batshit ideas. Here are a few I've heard from 20 somethings:
Mamals can change sex
Sex is a nebulous concept
You can be whatever sex you feel in your head
The female penis
A 40 year old male is a teenage girl cricket player
Anyone who thinks sex is real is a nazi
Ad nauseum

Because I never listened to her or the other stuff. It's white noise. Never found Monty Python that funny either.

Students and seniors then?

I blame social media. The once cautious and sane elderly are the new radical teenagers. They were the first teenagers to exist so it should come as no surprise that with time on their hands again they are naturally reverting to the trailblazing of their youth. They were the original hippies.
I’m 60 s I’m a natural cynic, a teenager of the eighties so far less gullible. My uncle,80, has gone totally conspiracy theorist. It is worrying but very entertaining. Fortunately they are a bit too old to organise sit ins at universities or protests, although they support everything from their armchairs.
The latest generation, the gender woke, are very similar and likely to be just as bad in their dotage.

Fortunately the pandemic has seen their cause fizzle out. DS20 tows the party line re gender but as soon as the whole debacle fades away he will happily accept the next new order, he really doesn’t believe that men can be women but as he constantly reminds me you have to go with the flow until it changes direction. I think the new teenage generation of 20 somethings are better at critical thinking. Being isolated from the herd has allowed them to think a little more critically.

They also understand that not everything you read online is true. They understand AI and are taught to check for AI while researching. The over 80s have very little understanding of how easy it is to manipulate images. They are still funny in their dotage analogue age.

It's not ageist. I'm old. It's s fucking nightmare. Older people are being deliberately targeted by the far right. Nigel farage is far right and this is his main target demographic. Sadly older people are easily drawn in. They are more likely to be drawn into right wing rhetoric and less savvy when it comes to social media tricks. The young are equally gullible so they too are being targeted (see Andrew Tate for more top tips)

I'd love to see the evidence that conspiracy theories are disproportionately associated with older people, but I don't think you'll find it. You're more likely to find it among your sons than your parents.

Speaking as a 60 year old whose mother and grandmother are still alive, kicking and voting Labour, I'm getting a bit fed up of these lazy, ageist generalisations. Yes, I know Brexit yada yada. White people were also more likely to vote for Brexit, but I don't see white posters feeling stricken by collective guilt.

My DH watches too many videos on his phone, police behaving badly in the main. Katie Hopkins makes him laugh. However, he hates Farage. We can't discuss politics because he's right and I'm wrong. I just leave him to it.

I do think big pharma are robbing barons chasing patents to make more money at our expense.

I do like the joke

"What's the difference between the truth and a conspiracy?

6-12 months "

We're lied to consistently about some things by governments, the wealthy. We're not seen as individuals because there's so many of us. But no mind. I don't hold them in high regard either.

The same for my parents, GB "News" has rotted their brains.

OP the research into conspiracy theorists in its infancy, but some does exist. It us not caused by a lack of intelligence. Once you believe one conspiracy theory, you are more likely to believe another. It can also be linked to being lonely and spending too much time online.

How you tackle it is getting people engaged in real life more with groups and hobbies.

I think it’s GB news….
unfortunately my dh watches it so not sure it’s linked to an age group

You and my parents in their 70s would agree with all of your post. It's FiL's suddenly switch which is odd. I don't put it down to age, just post his wife dying, his world becoming smaller, but it's sad.

Old people are not a homogeneous group. We are individuals, even if you think we all look or think alike.

Why do you think people don't realise this? We know the older you were the more likely you were to vote Brexit, now this does not mean every older person voted Brexit but a fair few did.

As do both of my 80 something parents!

it's also more mainstream, look at the shite Trump was spouting

I'm mid 70s. I think Trump is an arsehole, Brexit was a mistake, Farrage is a manipulative fucker, chemical trails don't exist, big pharmacy is evil but are not trying to kill me and Gaza is one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

I'm radicalised, all right. I can see what Musk, Trump, badenoch at al are trying to do.

Old people are not a homogeneous group. We are individuals, even if you think we all look or think alike.

I know of a handful of people (mostly men but not all) who are in their 20s 30s and 40s who also believe these conspiracy theories.

Not in my circle, friends of friends who I've met, but they definitely walk among us and they're not all elderly.

the patronising self obsessed young posting here!. If tyour parents belief in these theories does not affect you then let them get on with it.

I don't think that's a normal thing to do, most people love their parents

This is true. The most successful counter-conspiracy tactics have come from AI, because it has access to the full details of the theories and is able to discuss them without blaming.

I don't know how they framed the questions. You could try asking ChatGPT something like "How should I persuade a conspiracy theorist that Bill Gates does not control the weather?"

You may have to try a few different approaches to your question, or maybe find one of the articles that reported on it to see if it tells you how they asked.

I'm really sorry your dad's given up his meds. This is so worrying.

My DP's dad has turned in a similar way, notably since his wife died. He's taking all his info from GB news. He's sad so we don't push it too much but do stop conversations and jokingly tell him that other news is also available but don't know what to do. He wasn't like this a year ago.

Im not young. But racism will never be tolerated.

the patronising self obsessed young posting here!. If tyour parents belief in these theories does not affect you then let them get on with it. It's no worse than the beliefs of so many younger people and possibly has more basis in truth.
certainly the widespread belief in many that men can be women.
There are very few older people that have fallen for this guff.