The question still is, why THIS kind of partisanship? The cult isn't primarily made up of what I call simple "legacy Republicanism"--the "good enough for dad good enough for me" syndrome. A lot of those folks are actually dissenting. After all, when a poll says "80% of Republicans believe" something really stupid, there are 20%--the famous 1 in 5--that don't.

My Facebook group is having an interesting discussion of "operant conditioning"--the power of positive reinforcement. Though this is no longer the be-all and end-all of psychology it was when I was an undergrad, it truly does work. And I suspect that this is as much a secret of the "echo chamber" as any evolutionary bent towards tribalism.

Everyone is subject to this, right or left. Everyone can be swayed by positive reinforcement. But as one watches all those Man in a Diner in Ohio interviews, the difference seems to be that those on the left can articulate what they find attractive in their echo chamber, explain reasons, cite specifics. The right seems more to react with labels, summing everything up with things like "he's a maverick"(true) or "he's a good businessman" (not true). That makes propaganda much more effective on the right, since propaganda pretty much depends on not relying on facts or reasons, and everyone who finds it easy and attractive gets a little thrill of "positivity" every time trump or their echo chamber mates repeats is.

Psychologists way better trained than I will be contemplating this far into whatever future there is.