The tendency for groups of individuals to adopt nonscientific shared beliefs is part of the bonding system of our distant ancestors.

And remember: before The Scientific Method, everything was pseudo-science.

Fear is what makes it so appealing.

They, along with religions and folkloreism etc., also have specially appeal to the narcissist and their vanity. Because if you go with the mainstream thought and evidence based science, then you are no different from anyone else. Unless you really are smart enough to be a leader at the cutting edge. But for the fragile ego of the narcissist which can not endure the thought that they may be ordinary, let alone have the strength to lose, then they have to take a long odds bet against the evidence.

Which is fine for the narcissist, but not so great of those who maybe deluded into following them. Sometimes, perhaps once in a million, evidence based thinking may get it wrong, and it may be true that putting feathers up your nose really can cure toe nail fungus. But when it comes to advising people about cures for their cancer, environmental breakdown and social problems like crime, then the narcissist's vanity project becomes a real danger.

Who's got time for real science? The real deal turns out to be wrong, quite often, so why not just go with the one that's easier? For instance, Quantum Physics seems poised to disprove gravity in favor of magnetics and Dems shove gravity at us all the time. Besides, humans who talk like a science book (reciting numbers and math) are boring. Pseudoscience has very few numbers involved so it's much easier on the average mind. The bake sales are often better, too.

Pseudosciences are marketed for commercial gain. The promoters seek to make them appealing. What is concerning is when quasi-scientific organizations promote bogus unscientific 'debunking' of other presumed pseudoscience in favor of political orthodoxy. As example, the way CFI promotes debunkers like Mick West, Joe Nickell and the rest. They assume interstellar travel is impossible and presume to dismiss all evidence that goes against their assumption, even when the evidence comes from multiple witnesses and sensor platforms. And even when the military itself has admitted that UAP are real but that the disinformation program is needed to preserve social stability (Christianity).

People are always looking for the Cheat Codes(tm) in life.

They want simple shortcuts to success even if the longer version is (or even isn't) possible.

Because, unlike real sciences (or reality itself), they do what you want them to do, or prove what you want them to prove.