To take the virus analogy a little further, virology's need to study, not only the mutational history of their subject matter, but its means of transmission. Highly relevant here is a recent paper about why people share disinformation. The claim is that people are most likely to share disinformation when they are interested in increasing their own power: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563224003212
To take the virus analogy a little further, virology's need to study, not only the mutational history of their subject matter, but its means of transmission. Highly relevant here is a recent paper about why people share disinformation. The claim is that people are most likely to share disinformation when they are interested in increasing their own power: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563224003212
Thought-provoking piece: thank you.
René Girard’s writings on mimesis and scapegoating are another worthwhile avenue to pursue, I think.