Why people believe the Earth is flat and we should listen to anti-vaxxers

Why do we mock people who believe the Earth is flat or the anti-vaxxers? If our anger is stemming from a place where we want to change these views as they are misleading and/or damaging, then, as Elfy Scott, writing in The Guardian, appeals, we need to find a sense of empathy in order to understand how fear can alter a person’s belief system. Without this, we will continue to divide ourselves into ‘them’ and ‘us’.