• happybadger [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've been following Qanon since week one of r/CBTS_stream. Right after it left 4chan while the other attempts at it like FBIanon stayed. They had these Thursday night prayer threads where they'd offer prayers for and to Trump. The second I saw those, I knew it was the conspiracy. The way it engaged them, isolating lonely boomers on Discord and then making it seem like posting something they saw on facebook was research, was unique to it apart from gangstalking. Gangstalking had the limitation of requiring schizophrenia to find it attractive. Qanon just required you to be a reactionary of some kind hoping for a Millerite salvation. Unlike selective conspiracies such as UFOs where the UAP people try to distinguish themselves from the ancient aliens goobers, Qanon replicated the Fox News dynamic where they tune into the 24/7 hyper-real content stream and every contribution to it is equally valid. Making that contribution meant you could be the scooby doo sleuth that finally took down the most comically evil thing ever.

    It's essentially the Snow Crash neurovirus for boomer brains instead of programmer ones. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the most dangerous thing I could watch.

    • The_Dawn [fae/faer, des/pair]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Gangstalking had the limitation of requiring schizophrenia to find it attractive.

      You'd be surprised how susceptible the mind is to Simple Tricks and confirmation biases. As comforting as it is to say, you don't need to have a mental illness to start buying into these more batshit conspiracy theories. You just have to find community there when all others shun you.

      • happybadger [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Gangstalking isn't just a batshit conspiracy theory. It's each person's schizophrenic delusions being confirmed by the group under the guise that everyone is the same basic category of targeted individual. There isn't even a theory beyond that, just everyone's individual theories being brought to the potluck where you are obligated to confirm everyone else's. From the outside looking in on /r/gangstalking or the youtube channels for it, it's uniquely nonsensical.

        • The_Dawn [fae/faer, des/pair]
          ·
          2 years ago

          unless you feel specifically targetted by a shadowy institution that has total control. ya know, the kinda ideology Alex Jones has been directly peddling to his viewers for the past 30 years.

          the line between ideology and mental illness is so much blurrier than neurotypicals like to admit

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I don't remember where I read it but supposedly there are records of delusions similar to gang stalking recorded at least back in to the 1800s, with people who believed that they and everyone around them were being controlled by some vast ill-defined machine.

          • NarratingPassenger [he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Huh, sounds like an area ripe for research. Gang stalking as a manifestation of capitalist alienation that sprung into being within the overlap of schizophrenia and the destruction of tightnit communal bonds that previously existed.

        • Catherine_Steward [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I remember that person. Real sad stuff, because obviously there's nothing a random person on the internet can do or say to help them. I hope they broke through it and got help from someone who does have that ability.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          We're pretty crazy if you ask like 80% of the American working class.

            • Frank [he/him, he/him]
              ·
              2 years ago

              We routinely go in to deep rabbit holes of speculation about how far the CIA's grip extends. We're constantly talking about government, police, business, and intelligence agency conspiracies. I can see how someone with delusions of persecution might think this is a friendly place, at least for a little while.

      • SaniFlush [any, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Thank you, I need to be reminded that I am meat every once in a while.