
What Makes People Fall for QAnon? – The Dispatch - rrauenza
https://thedispatch.com/p/what-makes-people-fall-for-qanon
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Andys
IMO, figures of authority have abused public trust to an excess.

Combined with the Internet, this has resulted in wide-spread distrust, which
forms the basis for belief in false conspiracy theories.

The most easy to believe lies are those that are rooted in partial truth. Its
too rich for politicans, elites, or social media giants to complain about
conspiracy theories when they so regularly lie, cheat, or gain advantage
behind firmly closed doors. The dissymmetry breeds mistrust.

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hexbinencoded
Yes, and it happens when there are no _apparent_ viable alternatives, when
there are alternatives such as The Grayzone, TJDS, Chris Hedges, Ralph Nader
but they are buried, undiscoverable, inaccessible, and/or banished from the
mainstream for going against nationalist fervor.

So, it's much easier for people to make up an imaginary bogeyman or "they"
that they don't have to and can't do anything about because it psychologically
excuses them from internal locus-of-control and taking the initiative against
powerful forces who would likely crush them, i.e., Assange, Manning, or
activists and reporters in Mexico or Russia. Conspiracy theories also give
people a chance to tribally bond over some "secret, forbidden knowledge" when
their lives are otherwise so entirely horrible and devoid of a sense of
community.

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082349872349872
[https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/30/qanons-
cons...](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/30/qanons-conspiracy-
theories-have-seeped-into-u-s-politics-but-most-dont-know-what-it-
is/ft_20-03-18_qanon_1/) (March 2020) is a relief (3% to me counts as merely a
fringe of lunatics)

> _We 've only really been making a concerted effort on [the conspiratorial
> mindset] for 12 years_

I'd say since the seventeenth century, but I'm a cynic.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment)

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a3n
Ignorant layperson here.

"But it's like she just wants to be this warrior."

I think, for QAnon, this is especially relevant. Some people feel that they
have no way to make a significant contribution. Child abuse is significant,
and there's enough real child abuse for this part of the theory to hide in.

Also QAnon is "fun." Q drops are puzzles, and followers have to "do the work"
to figure them out. "Researching" the drops only requires you to sit in front
of your computer and scroll blogs and social media, and listen to podcasts.

