Semi-related to the posts above, but I highly recommend watching The Social Dilemma (documentary on Netflix). It goes into how the internet and social media in general are driving people to become more extreme versions of themselves and their beliefs because it surrounds people with what they want to see. So I end up in a nice comfortable bubble of people echoing my thoughts and opinions and rarely seeing opinions from the other side, which reinforces my belief that my way is right and how could anyone think the opposite? Don't they see how much x, y, and z is horrible and how a, b, and c are clearly correct? And the answer is no, they don't, because they are being surrounded by news articles and people stating how a, b, and c are horrible. It really kind of helped me understand that people in general are not usually this polarized and not necessarily intentionally hateful, but their brains are being conditioned and hardwired along a different path than mine. And of course people who are already predisposed to believe conspiracy theories are that much more susceptible to falling down these rabbit holes and embracing them.
Not sure if that made sense but it definitely helped me feel at least a little less like nearly half the population of voting Americans were just total a-holes, but rather differently informed.