I have a theory that climate change denial is an example of a cargo cult, not thought much about the motivations behind your other examples.<p>I suspect that the followers of a cargo cult don&#x27;t spontaneously all decide to believe whatever it is at the same time, someone will lead it and the rest will join in afterwards. I&#x27;m also guessing that the leader will be someone who has been a leader in the past and that the nature of the misunderstanding that is at the heart of the cult will reflect how that leader came to prominence previously.<p>I started wondering about this as I was trying to work out why the main group of climate change denyers in the UK had rented office space in the same street [1] as the Royal Society and other scientific bodies.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Carlton_House_Terrace" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Carlton_House_Terrace</a>