Yes, it's believable that this professor found something of interest in the way Burning Man organizes itself but did we real need paragraphs upon paragraphs of this woo-woo style writing?
Unfortunately, when you (as the reader) don't have any better connection to the subject mater, you might not notice how hamfisted, reductive and often denigrating their attempts at explanation are. Then those become the memes with which society treats that group. This happens all the time.
...that means more than 99.7% of the US, and 99.99% of the world has never gone and it is thoroughly alien to them. So a bemused anthropologist seems like the appropriate POV for a general audience.
Bit of a false dichotomy.
Surely there's a bunch of people who are familiar with Burning Man from photos and videos online but haven't attended personally.
I first heard of it many years ago, but seeing a few photos doesn't mean someone is "familiar" with it from an anthropological perspective. Especially since presumably it's changed a lot over the years.
I just meant that if you’ve read about it, it probably ain’t thoroughly alien to you.