[unfocussed_mike]

> You only have to take a look at what sects do to people to see the kind of gymnastics people can do in their reasoning because propaganda.

Or on the individual level -- I labour this point because I sadly see it in people I know -- at the kind of mental gymnastics an abused partner inevitably uses to explain away their situation and avoid challenging it.

The thing is, analysis paralysis happens even in situations without a malign actor.

Many malign actors have an instinctive, almost unknowing ability to exploit it.