Radicalisation of older people

[colinthedogfromaccounts]

My dad (late 70s) has gone full gangster conspiracy theorist. His long list of increasingly radical beliefs include:

Chemtrails control us
WHO created the pandemic
The EU is evil.
Big pharma is poisoning us (he has given up all his life saving meds)
Vaccinations are a control mechanism
Bill Gates is responsible for the weather
The Democrats wanted world war
Gaza is not real - it's all made up to persecute the Jews

The list goes on. My worry is that this radicalisation is putting his health at risk, so I would like to really understand the psychology to approach this with as much evidence as possible.

Sources are sketchy online (specifically relating to how and why older people become radicalised) - wondering if anybody has any research based insights into this.

I don't think it's ageist in an offensive way. Any more than setting blocks on children's gadgets is ageist. If your relative is older tell them about the latest scammers. HMRC, bank, etc.

@SwedishEdith If he has always been like that, not much you can do.

It's addictive. Once you think you're in on some big secret and need to decode what's 'really happening' you get a superiority complex about how everyone else is so stupid/blinkered that they can't see the truth.

It would be an absolute anticlimax to go from that exciting world where everything is a conspiracy to the real world where there are some controlling Machiavellian types but mainly things happen by bumbling along a bit chaotically.

It's by no means all older people but SOME older people fall for it through loneliness, feeling disconnected etc.

As far as I remember, the research suggests that one someone believes one conspiracy theory they’re more likely to believe another.

Just checking - has stating somebody is older, when it is relevant somehow become unpc?

They are older. This is relevant - on account of the fact that it would less of an issue if they weren't older and more vulnerable (particularly health wise due to being erm... Older).

Sometimes I swear people just read ONE word and forget the rest. It is very frustrating.

Please read all of my comments before making throw away statements that are nonsensical.

Thank you for this suggestion. I think I would be wasting my money - he simply wouldn't engage with it because it's sensible.

What I am getting from this thread is that social isolation, AI content and algorithms have created a perfect storm for this guff to take hold. I also hear and echo a few posters who have mentioned / asked about dementia. Dad seems pretty lucid and his memory is reasonable - I will definitely keep an eye on this though.

Ai slop. It's a scourge and I can't talk to Dad about it without seeming patronising. I truly don't think he understands how much the content he looks at drives a flood of validating content and so it goes. Arghhh, in the meantime, the blood thinners and other meds have been replaced by a carnivore diet.

One of the theories about belief in conspiracies is that people can’t cope with the idea of random chaos and need to make up stories about there being some kind of grand plan and control. It’s too scary otherwise. I wonder if folk become more fearful and therefore more prone to this as they get older? Not that young people aren’t susceptible as well.

I was thinking this just sounds like religious belief and wondered if there was any data on whether the religious may be more prone to believing conspiracy theories. But I guess it's probably the opposite - religion provided that structure and, now it's influence has fallen away, those who fear randomness now resort to conspiracies.

I have found fit sporty strong people who get old and start having mobility issues and health issues seem to get more anxious about their security. They are used to feeling strong and able to look after themselves and others. Not being able to, and maybe for the first time feeling threatened by groups of teenagers, seems to hit these people hard.

I don't think religiosity has much influence one way or the other for belief in conspiracy theories. US conspiracy theorists tend towards the religious but so does US society as a whole. UK conspiracy theorists less so.

Plenty of older people dislike Trump extremely. My elderly (90) mil detests him, despite voting Tory.

Also, all this "art of the deal" stuff. There's no art. It's just common or garden bully boy tactics.

There was an interview on woman’s hour today with a woman talking about how to deprogramme the radicalised.

She said that you can’t tell them what to think, tell them they are wrong as it cements the belief

Better to reconnect them to society and positive relationships.

I wonder if older people become more isolated and this more vulnerable.

Because no one is saying everyone over 70 suddenly falls for conspiracy theories and it’s an inevitable part of age to lose discernment.

This is out of character behaviour from these people, which is why people are raising it.

And perhaps like teenagers, we need to keep them healthily occupied with real world relationships to bolster them against the creep of isolation.

This is what happens when you get your news from Twitter. The problem is you follow enough nut jobs then all you'll every see is nutty crazy stuff that will eventually turn the most sensible people full blown crazy whacks

Misinformation is this century's new poison. Now Trump has won the tech giants have removed what filters we had so unfortunately our leaders in Europe will have to make a choice....do we allow it in the name of free speech or do we take it down ...I'm edging towards banning certain platforms altogether... because I don't think it's worth the risk of ending up with someone like Tommy Robinson in a seat of power.

Really @MyWiseMaker? You think posting a far right conspiracy theory paper on this now quiet thread is the way to go. It's almost like you might not be a genuine poster... Think I might flag this posting up to MNHQ

Another day, another ageist thread.

My parents too. Mind you my dad (80) is a fan of Jeremy Corbyn so he's all good 😂

OP, not sure if you're still about, but you might find this podcast episode interesting and relevant - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4vqMyjMPaLZc06BBSzBEk3. (or access the transcript here - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1112270/episodes/6725503-losing-relatives-to-fox-news)

Radicalisation of older people is a very well observed phenomenon in the USA.

it would REALLY worry me if AI came back with "how do you know he isn't?" 😂

God, old people are shit, aren’t they? Mumsnet is so right.

Be careful - Grandmothersnet will come after you! In seriousness, I’ve found personally it has much less to do with age and much more to do with education levels.

I do think it's pretty obvious the OP was referring to some older people specifically, not 'old people' generally, so that seems a bit unfair?

@DefinitelyMaybe92 I suspect that's right, but I also think that the social isolation many older people experience is a big contributing factor.

I would definitely agree with that as a factor, yes. Lack of exposure to multiple viewpoints and healthy debate takes its toll.

The people saying its due to the Daily Mail or GB news need to check their own prejudice and conspiracy theory adjacent mindset.

The beliefs OP highlighted are not from Daily Mail or GB news, they are full on conspiracy theorist world views which long ago detached from reality. Those of us who have had real life conspiracy theorists in our circle will recognise views like this.

Sorry OP, I don't what you can do. People I have met who have formed these beliefs have a strong psychological attachment to these views and often an online, and maybe real life too, community that they are also very attached to. You can't reason with them as any evidence present is from sources that are part of the conspiracy...

I think you're right, but I also think that people who do go that route are not consuming the FT and BBC as they're more mainstream sources. Judging by the two I know, they are watching/reading the DM and GB News where, maybe not the specifics, but their general worldview is being reinforced.

Anecdotal, I realise, but I know someone, very well-educated and interesting, who is now widowed and unwell herself, who has gone completely down that rabbit hole and she's moved from The Telegraph (not my cup of tea, but still relatively mainstream) to those two sources.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_(newspaper). In my village there is an old guy who delivers this shit to all the houses. Maybe this is the source.