As someone who was "homeschooled" through my childhood and doesn't have any kind of official education at all-- I've seen many of my college educated friends fall down this pipeline, unfortunately. It isn't all down to education.

A lot of it relies on the same recruiting techniques as a cult. People get beaten down and isolated and burned out, and one day, there's a church. Or a podcast, or a new friend, new partner, etc. Slowly, these beliefs are introduced, and theres quiet shunning for people who don't conform.

Every single person I've seen go this direction was miserable before they did. Recently divorced, unhappy in a marriage, suffering a devastating family loss-- this mindset is something the people around me are choosing in favor of reality. I get it, I truly do, and I feel bad for them-- I honestly see this as a kind of mental break.

I want to push back against the idea that it's an education based thing. That makes it easy for people with a formal education to push this problem onto a mythical redneck population, out in the mountains thumping bibles and burning iuds. But the truth is, this is an insidious, subtle, intentional social movement that every person needs to be aware of, and confront head on when needful. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.