This happens all the time. Many axioms people take for granted have been arrived at by simple osmosis coupled with a desire to conform. Truly independent thought can lead you to conclusions that are simply unacceptable in polite company. This can make you rich but it can also cancel you.

Like getting downvoted on HN for proposing TSLA or Bitcoin as good investments over the past 10 years.

I have a theory that is related, but a little bigger in a sense.

Essentially, I think people desperately cling to what they know. You can lose your job, your spouse, and your hair, but you know what you know. You (hopefully) will always have that. So when someone tries to take away something that was supposed to be yours forever, people get extremely defensive. I have witnessed this in politics a lot in the past decade.

I think it's called Cognitive Dissonance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance