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 just reported a post, now deleted, from someone spamming this thread with that site (the paper, not the wiki link).

Sorry. I didn't see that .

Will you be reporting mine? I don't think we should be in the business of burning books - this is a democracy.

Again this shows prejudice. You don't agree with the views in the DM or GB news. That's fine. But they are not connected to the extreme, anti-reality views expressed in the OP, so they cannot be reinforcing that world view The world view of conspiracy theorists is that there is a shadowy, 'them' controlling the world for their own nefarious purposes. This is not the news you get in DM or GB. By trying to link them you are simply trying slander one thing you think is bad by linking it to something else you think is even worse.

my aunties the same since her other half passed away and her kids are grown shes gone off the deep end =p

which makes her more isolated as other family members start shuffling away when shes spouts all this crap

No. That one was clearly a spammer, trying to get people to visit the site, as opposed to participating in the conversation. Which is why I reported it and MNHQ clearly agreed as there's no sign of it now.

Is it actually worth getting offended in advance for something I haven't done and don't have any intention of doing?

I reported it too. It was obvious spam.

Where did I say I was offended? I asked a direct question of were you going to report it ? That seemed reasonable in response to you telling me that you had already reported and had deleted a link to the same " paper".

I have reported my post to mn myself to offer it to be deleted if they think it should be.

No. I'm telling you, factually, that the two people I know who have gone in this direction also consume GB News and the DM as their main sources of 'mainstream' news. I do not know whether it reinforces this world view - although I do know quite a lot about Fox News and their largely fact-free coverage - but I do know that whatever these sources are presenting them with does not conflict enough with their reality to penetrate and/or be shunned/disbelieved as they do with other mainstream sources.

p.s. Nothing I've said can remotely fit the definition of slander, but nice try.

Well, the burning books implication seemed a bit on the offended end?

There is absolutely no reason for me (or you) to have reported your post.

You are participating and contributing to a discussion. I was just pointing out that it was amusing that whoever distributes or publishes that publication is clearly watching out for more opportunities and jumped onto this thread with a link. I can almost guarantee that anyone who clicked on it would end up in an algorithm designed to lure them down precisely the path under discussion.

Peace?

Yup peace. Burning books is never a good thing although I did chase the old guy in my village down the street and tell him not to deliver his 💩 to my house again. 😂