Your first sentence is belied by everything else you wrote.
Saying weird/extreme shit and then building a movement is a way of qualifying initiates and those willing to rally to the cause. It's part of the cult programming playbook. You build an in-crowd and you aim their energies at the out-crowd. It often leads to more unhinged positions too.. these things don't self-correct.
Thiel's a loon, Elon's a loon, Trump's a loon, Vought's a loon.
Pointed dismissiveness completely misses the point.
Saying weird/extreme shit and then building a movement is a way of qualifying initiates and those willing to rally to the cause. It's part of the cult programming playbook. You build an in-crowd and you aim their energies at the out-crowd. It often leads to more unhinged positions too.. these things don't self-correct.
Thiel's a loon, Elon's a loon, Trump's a loon, Vought's a loon.
Pointed dismissiveness completely misses the point.