How Do You Solve a Problem Like QAnon
theamericanconservative.comI've always thought that people believe in conspiracy theories mostly because their lives are unstable or out of control. Financial safety nets would likely solve a lot of the underlying fear.
I don't think that is the case. I think it is more a matter of frequency of exposure and less exposure to material to counter the conspiracies.
Most people are at least somewhat intrigued by various conspiracy theories. This has long been the case.
We had these things when I was a kid, for example. Erik von Daniken's book "Chariots of the Gods" was a bestseller. Art Bell's radio long running conspiracy/paranormal national radio programs were quite popular.
I found some of it interesting. I read von Daniken's book. I regularly bought "Fate" magazine. I don't think I listened to Bell often because he was on after my bedtime.
But after I read a book like von Daniken's, or read the new issue of "Fate", or if I had stayed up late and heard Bell's show...I had months before I'd find another similar book, a month before the next "Fate", and at least a day before the next Bell broadcast.
In the time before my next dose of conspiracy/paranormal/supernatural material, I was reading the newspaper, "Scientific American", "Popular Science", watching "Nova" on PBS, and reading science books from the library including ones that touched on the real explanations for some of the things I saw in the conspiracy/paranormal literature.
In this environment, the conspiracy stuff for most of us ended up at most a hobby or as entertainment. Unless you deliberately set out to make it so, it was hard for it to become more than that.
Compare to now. Now, once you show some interest, social media figures that out and will shift your feed to contain more and more of the conspiracy stuff until your whole feed is mostly conspiracy items. Now you almost have to deliberately work to not end up seriously believing at least some conspiracy theories.
God, Art Bell! It used to be pretty amusing, back when The X-Files was in its original run.. but if it existed over the past 4 years it would be downright terrifying.
Didn't George Noory still have Coast to Coast?
Maybe so. But there seem to be a lot of affluent qanon believers.
I believe there's also a neurological basis as well. It's been shown that belief in superstition is predicted by dopamime levels in the brain. Likely same for conspiracy theory belief. Elevated dopamine levels leading people to perceive patterns where they don't exist.
I think QAnon and this kind of stuff is an ideology. You won’t change their minds with facts.
There seems to be an obsession with a certain group of people telling another group of people what they should believe.
I don’t believe in god should I go out to all religious people and tell them god isn’t real and they’re wasting their time.
We live in a society and have to accept other people have different beliefs than us, and even if their beliefs are incorrect it’s their right to believe what ever they want.
The root of our real problem on the Right is that elites and the base want different things. So elites don’t train the base in how to actually produce change.
Huh.
Thoughtful and interesting analysis. I wonder if the author has considered his that proposal is a double edged sword.
I believe he misses one important difference between left and right. The left wing kooks are not in charge. They are fringes. They speak loudly, in part because the media loves the argument, but their goals don't become platform and their leaders don't hold high level office. Bernie Sanders lost twice, and both times supporters loudly shouted that the centrist candidate chosen instead was no different from the far right opponent.
That does not condone any of the kookiness, but the difference is too stark to draw the simplistic comparison. The right wing kooks put one of their own in the very highest office, and he enjoyed vast support until it literally turned violent. Even now it's not clear to me that the support has wavered, but is merely temporarily embarrassed.
To solve QAnon in your party you need to stop encouraging them. They are not an untidy extreme who happened to have had a big day. They are part and parcel of the party at every level. They have become tired of getting only dog whistles, and are now saying the quiet parts out loud. But they've been saying the quiet parts for decades and I don't believe you when you pretend that you didn't hear it. You were told many times, but you won't hear it from me because you've been telling them for many years that I am a liar and a traitor. Ceasing to do that is the first step, and you won't fix anything else until then.