[codyb]

It seems like as soon as any particular set of ideas starts to attract a dedicated following said group abandons reason in favor of dogmatism, lack of consistency be damned.

[aspenmayer]

Compare and contrast the following and you might find that this human tendency isn't new and isn't likely to change, but it can be gamed and guided.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwagon_effect

I was aware of that one, but this one, while being entirely obvious, is quite thought-provoking:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snob_effect