Confessions of a Qanon Believer

[joigus]

2 hours ago, Area54 said:

I thought schadenfreude would be the more usual word choice, rather than epicaricacy.

None of those is very usual in my neighbourhood. Where I grew up, I would've been beaten to within an inch of my life just for saying "I don't care for your schadenfreude."

"Don't be so epicaricacious" wouldn't have fared much better, TBH.

The problem with humour that tries to be too "gentle", "inclusive", "non-discriminatory", politically correct, etc.; is that it's not very funny; nor is it very convincing, IMO.

Maybe that's why humour is an art, perhaps. I do believe in its power to convince, though, if done right.

[MigL]

I find your post funny, because I can relate.
( my friends would think I was a pompous ass if I used those words in conversation )

Looks like you've mastered the art.

[joigus]

10 hours ago, MigL said:

Looks like you've mastered the art.

I had to. I must deal with both delinquents and academics. Humour has helped me with both. For Qanon believers, I don't know what kind of humour would do the trick.

[dimreepr]

21 hours ago, joigus said:

"Love" is perhaps not the word I would have chosen for the brilliant point he makes, but I understand.

What word would you have chosen? 

21 hours ago, joigus said:

As to Trump and his only-too-obvious scratching anybody's back as long as they scratch his... The only possible antidote I see is education. Not his, it's too late for that.

As to his ilk, it's too late too: Once people are in their forties+ they're just too set in their ways. I hope it's not too late for the upcoming generations.

Perhaps we need an "Ex-smoker" to rally the troops (or spread the word); there's few more zealous in educating other's.

21 hours ago, joigus said:

Good standards of education that only the most ignorant of course will fear as indoctrination, ignoring the extent to which they have been indoctrinated by others. Education in critical thinking is critical.

Indeed, but since the current system, at least here, falls woefully short of the ideal; we could do worse than fall back to the word love, as an aim; it seems resistant to critical thinking, if applied correctly.

[iNow]

In order to reach and attempt to "de-program" a QAnon follower, it might be useful to explore the science of getting someone extracted out of a cult. This same approach may also sadly be required to reach a sizable share of ardent Trump supporters. 

[joigus]

46 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

What word would you have chosen? 

Perhaps we need an "Ex-smoker" to rally the troops (or spread the word); there's few more zealous in educating other's.

Indeed, but since the current system, at least here, falls woefully short of the ideal; we could do worse than fall back to the word love, as an aim; it seems resistant to critical thinking, if applied correctly.

I would have chosen "understanding," "empathy" => "sympathy," etc. Looking at the world with the other person's glasses, if only for a moment of consideration.

I totally agree that "love" is a good stand-for in the thinking. My problem with "love" is that it's been such an overused word, and it's just too easy a substitute for many different human emotions. Most people are really full of it, but try and do the experiment of telling them to be more concrete, to really put their actions where their mouth is: help, empathy, forgiveness, understanding, etc. Those are so much harder to master, because they require you to go from the abstract to the concrete.

Remember Oliver Cromwell? "Love the sheep, love the Sun, blah, blah" In the meantime he was sending soldiers and police to keep people's thoughts and actions under control.

"Love" is a very suspect word for me.

2 minutes ago, iNow said:

In order to reach and attempt to "de-program" a QAnon follower, it might be useful to explore the science of getting someone extracted out of a cult. This same approach may also sadly be required to reach a sizable share of ardent Trump supporters. 

Absolutely, and back on topic.

7 minutes ago, joigus said:

Remember Oliver Cromwell? "Love the sheep, love the Sun, blah, blah" In the meantime he was sending soldiers and police to keep people's thoughts and actions under control.

I'm sure the Spanish Inquisition was full of the word love too!

[dimreepr]

6 minutes ago, joigus said:

Most people are really full of it, but try and do the experiment of telling them to be more concrete, to really put their actions where their mouth is:

That's why we need an ex-smoker...

[joigus]

27 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

That's why we need an ex-smoker...

Anyone in mind? Though I think we need much more than that to deal with Qanon. Ideological/mythological detox is the hardest.

[dimreepr]

4 minutes ago, joigus said:

Anyone in mind? Though I think we need much more than that to deal with Qanon. Ideological/mythological detox is the hardest.

You can't fake a detox...

[Airbrush]

After thinking about this subject, and going down a Qanon rabbit hole, I think Qanon is the power of suggestion used on suggestible people.  You will see a blurry photo that could come from anywhere, maybe a scene from "Saw" perhaps.  Then a narrator explains what the blurry image is and tell a story that follows the script about Satanic, vampire, cannibal "elites" torturing children to stay young.  A suggestible person may bite the bait.  Perhaps some of the Qanon material could be of Russian origin, since that would be consistent with their objectives, to help Trump.  The letter I posted at the start of this discussion looks like a clever person worked out a plausible fiction in a form letter to anyone interested, to rope them in.  It looks as stupid as hell to me. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Airbrush

[iNow]

The right became powerful in Japan upon the formation and dissemination of falsehoods one 2Chan. Then 4Chan came up and some of the boards became extremely popular for peddling conspiracy theories. The board got shutdown and turned into 8Chan where QAnon posted. He’s likely the guy who funded 2Chan and 8Chan, just with bigger Rupert Murdoch sized ambitions. It then grew in the US into something organic and internal just like occurred in Japan. 

Divide from within then conquer. 

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/llhe5nm

[joigus]

Update

QAnon believers are in disarray:

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-55746304

I don't know what it means when a group of numb nuts are "in disarray". Was there any array, to start with?

They seem to imply that a shockwave of disbelief is going through their ranks.

[iNow]

25 minutes ago, joigus said:

Update

QAnon believers are in disarray:

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-55746304

I don't know what it means when a group of numb nuts are "in disarray". Was there any array, to start with?

They seem to imply that a shockwave of disbelief is going through their ranks.

Exactly. They’d been informed Trump would declare martial law and stay in office since the election was clearly rigged/stolen. Power would not be transitioned because Q told them it wouldn’t. 

However, when Trump flew away for the last time on Air Force One and Biden took the oath of office, the only viable explanation remaining was that Trump himself must've part of the conspiracy, not that Q is a bunch of horseshit. 

Edited January 21, 2021 by iNow

[Phi for All]

25 minutes ago, joigus said:

They seem to imply that a shockwave of disbelief is going through their ranks.

It's more like a shockwave of understanding that's left an eggy residue on some painted faces. Golly, did a New York carpetbagger take us in, again?! What's River City going to do with all these trombones now we know the Trouble isn't real?

[joigus]

Somehow a shockwave of disbelief is easier for me to swallow than a shockwave of understanding. I imagine going so deep into a rabbit hole implies some kind of inertia. It must take some time to get out.

What ever happened to the denial-depression-anger-bargaining-acceptance chain?

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, joigus said:

What ever happened to the denial-depression-anger-bargaining-acceptance chain?

Overridden by the righteous zeal of those who just want justice for baby eaters.

[joigus]

1 hour ago, Phi for All said:

Overridden by the righteous zeal of those who just want justice for baby eaters.

This may be relevant to the topic at hand --especially 0:00 to 2:30--:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment

Maybe QAnon believers will recycle the leftovers of their faith into a makeshift second-coming kind of faith. Adventists of 2024.

That's why it's so important to impeach Trump --so that he can't run again. That and stopping him from getting a pension for life from American tax payers. 

[iNow]

24 minutes ago, joigus said:

That's why it's so important to impeach Trump --so that he can't run again. That and stopping him from getting a pension for life from American tax payers. 

Just to be pedantic, he’s already been impeached. Twice, by the House of Representatives. For those other things to come to pass, however, the Senate must convict. 67 votes are needed to do so. Only 50 of them are Democratic. 

[joigus]

30 minutes ago, iNow said:

Just to be pedantic, he’s already been impeached. Twice, by the House of Representatives. For those other things to come to pass, however, the Senate must convict. 67 votes are needed to do so. Only 50 of them are Democratic. 

17 Republican Senators turning on Trump sounds like asking for a miracle* --although nobody would have thought 10 --10 was it?-- in the Congress was likely at the time of the 1st impeachment. Any cooling-off period will only cut down the chances. What with people already focused on other, more urgent matters, like Covid. How long does it take to get to the Senate, and how many Senators are positioning themselves?

* Maybe that's the miracle that Trump will achieve: At the GOP's hands, his own sacrifice, Jesus-like. QAnon will have a martyr instead of an avenger --just managed to keep on-topic by the skin of my teeth.

[iNow]

8 minutes ago, joigus said:

1 hour ago, iNow said:17 Republican Senators turning on Trump sounds like asking for a miracle* --although nobody would have thought 10 --10 was it?-- in the Congress was likely at the time of the 1st impeachment.

Zero republicans in the House voted for the first impeachment. 10 in the House voted in favor last week for the second one. I knew what you meant, though. My pedantry simply knows no bounds

8 minutes ago, joigus said:

17 Republican Senators turning on Trump sounds like asking for a miracle* --although nobody would have thought 10 --10 was it?-- in the Congress was likely at the time of the 1st impeachment.

Text editor really really crapped the bed on this one. Was trying to quote this part ^

Edited January 22, 2021 by iNow

[MigL]

Bill Maher is especially funny at about the 8th minute.

Talking about QAnon, he asks " If K Harris really is a lizard person, why didn't she eat the fly on M Pence's head, during the debate ?"

[joigus]

21 hours ago, iNow said:

My pedantry simply knows no bounds

I'll never forget your "beyond any reasonable doubt" correction. I stick it everywhere: "That was fun, beyond any reasonable doubt".

 

21 hours ago, MigL said:

Talking about QAnon, he asks " If K Harris really is a lizard person, why didn't she eat the fly on M Pence's head, during the debate ?"

I find Maher, if not hilarious, with one of the best ratios of being funny/making a case at the same time. Although you have to agree that lizard people, children-eating elites, and a saviour in the form of T**** is a gift from heaven as comedic material.

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, joigus said:

Alhough you have to agree that lizard people, children-eating elites, and a saviour in the form of T**** is a gift from heaven as comedic material.

To us, yes, but I've heard professional comedians complain that it's too much too fast. You update your dead baby jokes and QAnon has moved on to pedophilia, so you stay up all night writing but nobody's listening to your act because now they're talking about lizard people taking over. The speed of crazy exceeds the speed of funny, sadly.

[Moontanman]

I used to think religion was the great filter, it was easy to think that religion would eventually kill us all but I've changed my mind. IMHO information will end up ending our civilization, information without conformation given in quantities so vast that conformation is impossible and the tendency to accept what we want to be true. At first information is a good thing but as it becomes a vast quantity of randomness coupled with the human tendency to try and make sense of the input you get outrageous conspiracies that need to make sense so we don't feel stupid. 

The more outrageous the information the greater the need to make the info make sense. I was genuinely surprised number 45 didn't go for broke and say aliens were threatening us and he was the only one who could stop them.  

[MigL]

You were right then, and you are still right now, Zap.
Information without evidence, or rational reason, is Religion.
Based solely on belief, and can be 'twisted' subjectively by the believer.
No need for a deity; a cult of personality will do.

And while you expect it of people in the Middle Ages, it's really surprising how many people still fall for 'cults' to this day.