Source: Markus Winkler/Unsplash In a study published this year, Brian Hoyoda defines a conspiracy theory as a set of ideas involving the secret “collusion of various individuals or entities for a malevolent purpose. The claims encompassed in conspiracy theories are unverified, unverifiable, and sensationalistic, and they rebut more coherent and logical explanations for the topic at hand” (2022, p. 125). How common is belief in conspiracy theories?
More than half of American adults subscribe to common conspiracy theories (“9/11 was an inside job,” “the government/drug companies are keeping cures for cancer from us,” etc.). So the American public has an established willingness to subscribe to conspiracy theories and to see them, no matter how bizarre in content, as valid explanations (Oliver & Wood, 2014).
Let’s drill down on one particular conspiracy theory: QAnon. (Note: I’m not making any of this up).
On October 28, 2017, the self-proclaimed “Q” created the post “Calm Before the Storm” on the site 4chan (a forum frequented by white nationalists, militia members, and insurrectionists). This person claimed to be a government official with connections to the Trump administration and “Q clearance.”
Dropping alleged “intelligence” as breadcrumbs, Q predicted (i.e., totally made up) that then-President Trump would initiate this Storm, an attack against the deep-state actors responsible for a global pedophile cabal. QAnon followers believe that the “storm” is when Mr. Trump retakes power after vanquishing his enemies, having them arrested and possibly executed on live TV.
That is a whopper of a mythos. But conspiracy theories, no matter how farfetched, have a way of taking off, as they are subject to confirmation bias, and early on, it's hard to “prove they’re not true.” Plus, folks like being part of something bigger than themselves, and what's bigger than believing in a secret, global conspiracy?
Source: Wesley Tingey/Unsplash QAnon spread like a virus. Back in the day, folks got their news from one of the four major TV networks and newspapers, and their views were influenced by the local communities and civic institutions to which they belonged. Holoyda states that with the rise of social media, “Problems associated with disinformation… are becoming increasingly apparent and include the loss of a shared sense of reality [and] political polarization” (2022, p. 126). Social media permits conspiracy theories like QAnon to propagate quickly and globally. From November 2019 to June 2020, 2.8 percent of QAnon-related tweets came from the United Kingdom, 2.7 percent from Canada, and 1.7 percent from Australia. QAnon could thus be deemed a successful American export, if propagation around the world of a collection of utterly baseless, paranoid, and violent fantasies could ever be “a success.”
This brings us to this past week. The song “Mirrors” was played on September 17, 2022, at a rally in northern Ohio. It was also chosen as the soundtrack to a video the former president played at the arch-conservative CPAC meeting and posted on his social media site “Truth Social.” “Mirrors” sounds strikingly like the QAnon theme song, and scores of attendees in Youngstown, Ohio raised their index fingers high in the air in response to hearing it. Why is this important?
The former president’s relationship with QAnon has always been more than a flirtation. It is estimated that he himself promoted the conspiracy theory at least 265 times via retweets of QAnon-associated accounts between October 2017 and October 2019 alone (Kaplan, 2020). And last week, he posted an image of himself on his site, wearing a Q pin on his lapel with the slogan “The Storm is Coming.”
Yes, the basic tenets of QAnon are totally unverifiable and absurd on their face, but they are also a dangerous incitement to violence. When a September 2022 CPOST/NORC poll asked, “Is force justified to restore Trump to the White House?” 5 percent agreed. That’s an estimated 13 million people agreeing with the idea that violence is justified in restoring 45 to the White House. This presents a real problem in a Constitutional republic with aspirations to representative democracy and the rule of law.
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Do UV Tanning Beds Really Prolong Lifespan? What happened when QAnon believers showed up in Dallas on November 2, 2021 for the return of JFK Jr. (from the dead) to become Donald Trump’s running mate? No doubt some were disappointed and confused when a dead man failed to show. Some might even have begun to question their faith in Q.
But it’s likely that many doubled down and became even more convinced that the next prediction would come true. The F.B.I. has warned that some QAnon followers could become violent as predictions continue to not pan out. As cognitive dissonance increases, so can agitation and frustration. For instance, some might attempt to usher in the future in a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is where belief in a conspiracy theory enters a psychological, political, and law enforcement nexus.
It's important to carefully reflect on whether to support candidates for elected office that promote false beliefs (e.g., the fraud of voter fraud or the Big Lie) and violent conspiracy theories (e.g., QAnon). When it comes to certain candidates cozying up to falsehoods and conspiracies for a buck and a vote, rock-bottom clearly has a basement, and a sub-basement.