WHO Gaslighting

[j.p.]

This explains why arguing based on facts will not work. Facts no longer matter to them. Given the facts, they are be unable to come to sensible conclusions, even in their own best interests.
In Mass-Formations people become radically intolerant of dissident voices. This person threatens to wake the people up and they get angry when confronted by the initial anxiety and discontent they experience by challenges to the official doctrine.


The crowd direct all their aggression at dissident voices.

At the same time they are radically tolerant of their leaders who pronounce the mainstream narrative. These people can lie and cheat and do everything they want and will always be forgiven by the crowd. All the lying, dishonesty and misbehavior is seen by the crowd as doing it for their own safety.:


Let's repeat this very salient point:
The crowd direct all their aggression at dissident voices.

"Aggression" is a bit theatrical. But I agree that the professional contrarians are vilified, and it has nothing necessarily to do with Covid. It is the fact that they are against everything, "rebels without causes" if you will. The professional contrarians are generally steeped in conspiracy and devoid of facts. They know this but keep going because they have a small but rabid audience who hang on their every word. You may know someone like that.

Mainstream on the other hand, in this context, generally means "consensus". I think that's what trips up the professional contrarians, it would definitely hurt their street cred if their followers knew that they could ever agree with generally accepted opinion and science.