There's an open goal for a politics/psychology book right now. A lot of reactions that people have seem to be just the kinda thing that somebody on their side or their position would be expected to say, rather than any kind of informed commentary looking at data, evidence, logic etc.
It's endlessly depressing.
I agree to some point, but Question Time is definitely playing its part in creating that new culture. My guess is that the Indy company in charge has been tasked with creating 'social engagement' and 'buzz' - both of these are fine when it's entertainment, but it's incredibly dangerous when the format is current affairs. Each edition I've watched recently appears to select a target group- whether it's Brexiteers, Remainers, Pro-Indy supporters in Scotland, Labour voters, etc. The audience appears to be overwhelmingly weighted to one side of an argument, and the show focuses heavily on that one issue. The natural response from the producers is to argue that they've created balance over the whole series, but it doesn't work like that.
The simplest solution is for the BBC to take the show in-house and task the BBC News division with its production. That said, Mentorn appears to have listened to the complaints in Scotland. The new 'Debate Night' show, which is largely a Scottish version of Question Time has proved to be overwhelmingly well received in the press, on social media and among all audience groups (Left, Right, young, old, Yes, No, etc). So, the company DOES know how to fix the problem. It's clearly just not willing to on Question Time.