"Fan Death" mirrors other anchored phenomena, like the anti-vaxxer movement and the flat-earthers.

An irrational fear is seeded, people spread the idea like a virus, and it takes hold in the non-critical minds of others.

Its also why crowd psychology dynamics work in gatherings of lots of people versus how individuals would act by themselves.

There may have been some evolutionary advantage to mental mimicry, but for now it seems to only perpetuate things that have zero survival advantage for any participant.

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.