QAnon fallout following Inauguration

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Okay, so there is this conspiracy theory called Q Anon. Basically that Trump was just acting dumb and was really just bringing down the evil pedophile ring that runs American government. It came from known troll board 8Chan. Where trolls go to just **** post. A user going by Q started the conspiracy there (although I suspect just as a prank.) Since all users are labeled anonymous on the board, that’s where it got its infamous name, Q Anon.
Until now I refrained from googling it, just out of fear for what it would do to my recommendations. But helpfully because Biden was sworn in, news reporters have reported on the movement. The inauguration seems to have fractured the “movement.” With some becoming disillusioned and angry. Others desperately clinging to alternate theories. I think even the son of 8chans owner has tried to calm the mob, telling them to return to their lives. (Remorse perhaps?)
Bear in mind many Q Anon “influencers” were among the crowd of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.

Anyway, disinformation and (echoing an earlier thread about news echo chambers on here) people becoming more isolationist in their news stories is being blamed for creating devotees of this particular conspiracy theory.

But what do you think?
What’s going to result from all the fallout?
Why do people latch on to conspiracy theories?
Has this or another conspiracy theory affected you or a loved one?

Biden inauguration leaves QAnon believers in disarray

Colt · Jan 21, 2021

Yerda · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
But what do you think?
What’s going to result from all the fallout?
Why do people latch on to conspiracy theories?
Has this or another conspiracy theory affected you or a loved one?

I've been following this to some extent since a close friend of mine started talking about "pizzagate" and the leaked Podesta emails he suggested (thanks to Alex Jones) were code for the purchase of large quantities of children to be raped at Obama's White House.

It's totally bananas but if you're a Trump fan and uncomfortable with the horror that is his character then a narrative centring him in the fight against a cabal of "liberal elite" paedophiles might help settle the nagging feeling that you're onside with the bad guys. I think a lot of it boils down to assuaging the guilt of publicly supporting all sorts of malevolence.

The maddest (and most maddening) thing about it is he's possiby the cleverest person I know. Zero common sense but he'll talk your ears off about quantum field theory and fiber bundles over abstract topological spaces.

Dawnofhope · Jan 21, 2021

People will always be attracted by movements that offer simplistic or distorted narratives to make sense of whatever leaves them disaffected in life. In following such movements they see themselves as the special ones who see past all that is wrong in the world. When the promised judgement day fails to materialise as predicted the narrative is changed somewhat or abandoned altogether until a new movement is found that meets similar psychological needs. Others learn from the experience and are wary of falling into any further rabbit holes in the future.

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Jaiket said:
I've been following this to some extent since a close friend of mine started talking about "pizzagate" and the leaked Podesta emails he suggested (thanks to Alex Jones) were code for the purchase of large quantities of children to be raped at Obama's White House.

It's totally bananas but if you're a Trump fan and uncomfortable with the horror that is his character then a narrative centring him in the fight against a cabal of "liberal elite" paedophiles might help settle the nagging feeling that you're onside with the bad guys. I think a lot of it boils down to assuaging the guilt of publicly supporting all sorts of malevolence.

The maddest (and most maddening) thing about it is he's possiby the cleverest person I know. Zero common sense but he'll talk your ears off about quantum field theory and fiber bundles over abstract topological spaces.

Wow.
See this kind of fascinates me in a way. Because too often people dismiss conspiracy theories as just hair brained idiocy. And the believers as nuts. But it’s more complicated I think.
My mum’s current boyfriend. Wonderful chap. Very intelligent, sharp as a whip and a licensed mechanic.
But he believes in a couple of dangerous (imo) conspiracy theories. Very wary of the government, doesn’t believe in vaccination, thinks the recent pandemic is just a way to control us (though he will still comply with mandates.)
I usually bite my tongue around such topics with him. Because I’m not particularly articulate and I know I wouldn’t be able to successfully “debate” him.
But it is odd to see an otherwise intelligent person spout such nonsense

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
Okay, so there is this conspiracy theory called Q Anon. Basically that Trump was just acting dumb and was really just bringing down the evil pedophile ring that runs American government. It came from known troll board 8Chan. Where trolls go to just **** post. A user going by Q started the conspiracy there (although I suspect just as a prank.) Since all users are labeled anonymous on the board, that’s where it got its infamous name, Q Anon.
Until now I refrained from googling it, just out of fear for what it would do to my recommendations. But helpfully because Biden was sworn in, news reporters have reported on the movement. The inauguration seems to have fractured the “movement.” With some becoming disillusioned and angry. Others desperately clinging to alternate theories. I think even the son of 8chans owner has tried to calm the mob, telling them to return to their lives. (Remorse perhaps?)
Bear in mind many Q Anon “influencers” were among the crowd of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.

Anyway, disinformation and (echoing an earlier thread about news echo chambers on here) people becoming more isolationist in their news stories is being blamed for creating devotees of this particular conspiracy theory.

But what do you think?
What’s going to result from all the fallout?
Why do people latch on to conspiracy theories?
Has this or another conspiracy theory affected you or a loved one?

Biden inauguration leaves QAnon believers in disarray

Nice!
I'll have to find it, but the New York Times ran a piece about the Proud Boys breaking away from Trump, denouncing him as weak, lame, and even pathetic as he just walked away from the White House and apparently failing to pardon many if them arrested over the Capitol riot.

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Shadow Wolf said:
Nice!
I'll have to find it, but the New York Times ran a piece about the Proud Boys breaking away from Trump, denouncing him as weak, lame, and even pathetic as he just walked away from the White House and apparently failing to pardon many if them arrested over the Capitol riot.

Oh I heard about that. Just wow.
The fallout from all this will be quite the train wreck to gawk at for some time, I think.

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
Oh I heard about that. Just wow.
The fallout from all this will be quite the train wreck to gawk at for some time, I think.

I'm celebrating this dysfunctional madness and lunacy unraveling and falling apart. They're turning on and abandoning their emperor just as he would to them.

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

Found it.
‘A Total Failure’: The Proud Boys Now Mock Trump

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Shadow Wolf said:
I'm celebrating this dysfunctional madness and lunacy unraveling and falling apart. They're turning on and abandoning their emperor just as he would to them.

Hmm. I think we call that “Karma” lol
I don’t blame you.
Still a part of me is somewhat incredulous.
Like why make a politician your entire identity? Why go to battle for Trump of all people? He will throw you under a bus, no doubt

Have you heard of this website called “Liberty Hangout?” I’ve been watching people mock it for some time now. They claim to be patriots but wanted Trump to become King. Which I thought was specifically against American ideals? Foundational ideals I mean. Whatever. They’ve been crying about Trump losing for a while now and I can’t help but join in with the schadenfreude and I’m not even American

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
Still a part of me is somewhat incredulous.
Like why make a politician your entire identity? Why go to battle for Trump of all people? He will throw you under a bus, no doubt

Reach out and touch faith.
He was their own Personal Jesus.
Except he wasn't. They were just deluded enough to think Trump cared about them.

Sunstone · Jan 21, 2021

The science on this has found again and again that the further someone is from first hand knowledge of what's going on, the more likely they are to believe conspiracy theories about anything.

It makes sense. At least to me, because it's true of just about any subject there is, the less you know about it, the more susceptible you are to believing falsehoods about it.

Just to add something here that is more or less about the same thing...

Rich and poor. What do they really know about each other these days?

The rich think they know enough about the poor to judge them.
The poor think they know enough about the rich to judge them.

Now, right there you've got a situation begging for a demagogue to roll on it. Best of all it's an equal opportunity situation. A demagogue could come from either side.

Me, I treat every conspiracy theory that notably encourages hatred or fear like it was capable of being weaponized at any time by anyone or anything short of a banana.

But I might be a little excessively cautious, there, even given the obvious fact the Russian and American intelligence agencies have joined in common cause to get me.

I'm telling you... Putin and Biden. On top of the bed sheets, enemies. Beneath those very same sheets, something far, far darker....

And don't get me started, just don't get me started about exactly who owns the 'Chinese Laundry' responsible for keeping those bed sheets lookin' white, over-starched and clean for 'all the world to see'!

Scared yet?

You ought to be, because logically our only hope as a world now is to gather up all of our money and send it to me so I have the resources I'll need to fight for good against evil. It's the one and only one thing that makes sense in this bizarre and crazy universe where everyone is lying to you except me. I'm your only hope of ever turning back the clock so we can all once again have normalcy and sanity.

Uncle Sunstone
"On RF Since 2004 Busily Shoveling Reality into a Black Hole"

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

Sunstone said:
The science on this has found again and again that the further someone is from first hand knowledge of what's going on, the more likely they are to believe conspiracy theories about anything.

It makes sense. At least to me, because it's true of just about any subject there is, the less you know about it, the more susceptible you are to believing falsehoods about it.

I just mentioned this recently in another thread, but in regards to covid and how people with no medical field experience or knowledge of the amount of documentation and paperwork that goes on are the ones I've encountered promoting the idea of hospitals artificially inflating covid numbers for money.

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Shadow Wolf said:
Reach out and touch faith.
He was their own Personal Jesus.
Except he wasn't. They were just deluded enough to think Trump cared about them.

How does a figure like Trump even inspire such things?
Maybe because I was inundated with mocking caricatures of the guy from a young age (mocking The Apprentice.) Its hard for me to fathom. But I suppose proof is in the pudding. He got them to follower him I suppose

Shadow Wolf · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
How does a figure like Trump even inspire such things?
Maybe because I was inundated with mocking caricatures of the guy from a young age (mocking The Apprentice.) Its hard for me to fathom. But I suppose proof is in the pudding. He got them to follower him I suppose

He knows how to appeal to those with misguided and misplaced anger, rebels without a clue, and those among the lowest common denominator. As well as those who are fed up and frustrated with many of the same things most Americans have frustrations with, but he appealed to those who aren't necessarily apt for fact checking.

Sunstone · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
How does a figure like Trump even inspire such things?

It's so easy to do, Random, it's child's play. The low hanging fruit of leadership. Even people like Idi Amin have been able to do it.

Here's the three core requirements stated in general terms....

A message that will gin up fear.

A compelling presentation of circumstances as an 'us v them' situation.

A means of getting an attentive audience for the above.

Everything beyond that is bunting and finesse. Charisma, brains, and social skills included.

It is exceedingly useful to remember those three things if you wish to accurately evaluate any measures that might be taken to foil this sort of thing. That's because if those measures fail to kick out at least one of those three, there isn't much chance they'll work in practice.

SomeRandom · Jan 21, 2021

Sunstone said:
It's so easy to do, Random, it's child's play. The low hanging fruit of leadership. Even people like Idi Amin have been able to do it.

Here's the three core requirements stated in general terms....

A message that will gin up fear.

A target for that fear to be turned on.

A means of getting an audience for the above.

Everything beyond that is bunting and finesse. Charisma, brains, and social skills included.

Well I guess that does make sense. Fear is a very powerful tool in politics

Sunstone · Jan 21, 2021

SomeRandom said:
Well I guess that does make sense. Fear is a very powerful tool in politics

Indeed! And even beyond politics. For instance, I've known many, many B and C grade supervisors who employed fear, sometimes just as I've outlined above. As I said, it's the low hanging fruit of leadership, which I think most likely explains why you see its use concentrated in the ranks of more or less incompetent bosses. It's not rocket-science. You don't need to be any smarter than anyone else to use it.

Back when I paid attention to the new business books coming out, I noticed a few 'How-to' books about supervising people that were essentially based on using fear to do so. When your goal is to sell books to the mass market, it's essential you offer something most everyone can understand.

It works for a simple reason. It diminishes or shuts down the brain's ability to reason well. That is, it shifts control from the regions associated with higher cognitive functioning to a structure associated with identifying threats and initiating the responses to them. The person then becomes exceedingly vulnerable to being provoked into fast, thoughtless, and knee-jerk behavior. Lovely how it works.

On the other hand, I think it's easy to see how and why these behaviors evolved in us. Just imagine a group of us RFers standing around on the African savanna, calmly debating what to do about the pride of lions charging in our direction and looking as happy as if they'd just spotted their equivalent of a fast food drive-through window.

Uncle Sunstone: But do we know they're lions? For that we must examine our means or method of knowing.

@Left Coast: Define 'method'.

@Audie: Guys!

@Vouthon: I am preparing a definitive statement to address that concern.

@Audie: GUYS!

@SalixIncendium: Lions! I should have worn my leopard print tights!

@Audie: GUYS! NOT TIME FOR GOVERNMENT! TIME FOR LIGHTING RESPONSE CAPITALISM! MOMENT FAVORS IMMEDIATE SHIFT IN ASSETS!

Evangelicalhumanist · Jan 21, 2021

Sunstone said:
The science on this has found again and again that the further someone is from first hand knowledge of what's going on, the more likely they are to believe conspiracy theories about anything.

It makes sense. At least to me, because it's true of just about any subject there is, the less you know about it, the more susceptible you are to believing falsehoods about it.

Just to add something here that is more or less about the same thing...

Rich and poor. What do they really know about each other these days?

The rich think they know enough about the poor to judge them.
The poor think they know enough about the rich to judge them.

Now, right there you've got a situation begging for a demagogue to roll on it. Best of all it's an equal opportunity situation. A demagogue could come from either side.
Me, I treat every conspiracy theory that notably encourages hatred or fear like it was capable of being weaponized at any time by anyone or anything short of a banana.

But I might be a little excessively cautious, there, even given the obvious fact the Russian and American intelligence agencies have joined in common cause to get me.

I'm telling you... Putin and Biden. On top of the bed sheets, enemies. Beneath those very same sheets, something far, far darker....

And don't get me started, just don't get me started about exactly who owns the 'Chinese Laundry' responsible for keeping those bed sheets lookin' white, over-starched and clean for 'all the world to see'!

Scared yet?

You ought to be, because logically our only hope as a world now is to gather up all of our money and send it to me so I have the resources I'll need to fight for good against evil. It's the one and only one thing that makes sense in this bizarre and crazy universe. The only thing that can return us to normalcy and sanity.

Uncle Sunstone
"On RF Since 2004 Busily Shoveling Reality into a Black Hole"

Oooh! The cheque is in the mail...

Evangelicalhumanist · Jan 21, 2021

Shadow Wolf said:
Reach out and touch faith.
He was their own Personal Jesus.
Except he wasn't. They were just deluded enough to think Trump cared about them.

And that is the part that I found so impossible to understand. All I had to do was watch the man, for just a little while, to know that if it looked like a burger, he'd eat the hand that fed him.

QAnon fallout following Inauguration

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