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My gut reaction: Vetted and official news also can get us to believe lies: * Iraq has a stockpile of WMD. * Japanese-American citizens should be rounded up.

My gut reaction: Vetted and official news also can get us to believe lies: * Iraq has a stockpile of WMD. * Japanese-American citizens should be rounded up. * You don't need to wear a mask, so don't go buying them up. * Collage is a wise investment. * You should fear $those_people because they will kill you. * Some civil rights are outdated and you don't need them anymore.

spiderfarmer 6y ago
Telling people to not believe the things they're seeing and hearing is probably one of the common denominators of all cults and religions.
pm90 6y ago
There is a difference between lies and conspiracy theories though. Lies have a lifespan after which they are exposed. Conspiracy theories are like lie factories, more lies will be manufactured to rationalize previous lies ad infinity.
tootie 6y ago
Pretty much everything on that list was the right-wing propaganda of it's time. You won't much if any factual reporting supporting any of it.
- prox 6y ago
  Don’t know why you are being downvoted, most of the points are indeed typically right wing afaik.
oneplane 6y ago
Seems like good journalistic news would write: * Pentagon said Iraq has a stockpile of WMD * White house reports Japanese-American citizens will be rounded up. * You don't need to wear a mask, so don't go buying them up, surgeon general said in press release. * Collage is a wise investment, according to College administrators. * You should fear $those_people because they will kill you, Senate discussed last night. * Congress argues: Some civil rights are outdated and you don't need them anymore. It's not news if it's opinion. It's news if it's a writeup of things that happen.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  This is how almost all news is presented, unfortunately many people don't seem to understand this - i.e. if it's in quotes it's not the editorial opinion of the newspaper! (Otherwise the BBC would be pro-left pro-right etc.)
- spiderfarmer 6y ago
  That's also something we should teach our kids.
- phtrivier 6y ago
  Surprisingly, about the first point at least, the reporting I remember is exactly that : "Pentagon says Irak has WMD, but the rest of the world is not convinced." Now, it might help that I'm French :P
  - Medicalidiot 6y ago
    France, the one country that challenged US intelligence because their own intelligence contradicted the CIA and NSA reports. Absolute studs.
    - D13Fd 6y ago
      And then we renamed French fries to freedom fries.
    - spiderfarmer 6y ago
      In the Netherlands no-one of any importance sincerely believed US intelligence, because nobody trusted Bush. But the thinking here was "Well, it's the US and they have us by the balls. The diplomatic thing is to say we understand their stance on Irak."
    - ashildr 6y ago
      Please add Germany to that list: [Excuse me I’m not convinced](https://youtu.be/_k_QbpFl7RM https://youtu.be/_k_QbpFl7RM) That sentence is idiomatic now for many people I know. (WTF is wrong with my markdown here?)
mhh__ 6y ago
You can also see counterarguments to all of those. QAnon is different because is it totally unfalsifiable in the eyes of those subscribing to it. There is no truth to any of it - whereas ,for example, Iraq didn't have nukes but they had used Chemical Weapons (WMD) on their own population. These QAnon people genuinely believe Trump is the culmination of a 20 year plan to defeat the deep state. Right... And who is us?
autokad 6y ago
I assume you meant college? If so, it is an extremely wise investment. It's not the only way, but its a very good path to take. It's not the best choice for everyone, but people who puppet 'college is a bad investment' are spreading dis-information that an hurt others.
- geek_at 6y ago
  agree that college is the way to go. Just not in the US system. The whole idea of college tuition is fucked up to the rest of the world
- jstarfish 6y ago
  No, as blanket advice goes it really isn't a wise investment. It depends entirely on the degree. Many Gen-Ys learned this the hard way after internalizing the notion that taking on lifelong debt to get a degree meant buying a one-way ticket to easy street. Doctor, accountant, lawyer, engineer? Sure. College is a good investment. Most other degrees qualify one to be management at Pottery Barn. Hardly worth the five-figure entry fee.
spaced-out 6y ago
There's a difference between believing a plausible lie that one can't verify on their own, like Iraq having WMDs, verses believing an insane conspiracy theory like that there's an Illuminati child sex/eating cult operating under a pizza shop. It's the level of fervor and delusion behind these beliefs that has me concerned.
- _up 6y ago
  QAnon also predicted the exact day/hour/minute of McCains death a month before he died. Trump also posted an image that had the file hash of the image start with "DOITQ" on Twitter. Can't blame people start to believe with these kind of predictions.
  - spiderfarmer 6y ago
    Your comment id is 24455736. If you Google that number, this article pops up: https://europepmc.org/article/med/24455736 https://europepmc.org/article/med/24455736 Why do you want to sedate infants? Are you abusing infants?
    - _up 6y ago
      An Image where people around Trump make a Q symbol thats starts with a phrase that probability of occuring is less 2^30. I would say is more than just luck. QAnon posted on 25.07.2018 4:28pm a image of McCain with his hands up and with a black backdrop. McCain died 25.08.2018 4:28pm. A day before QAnon also stated that McCain's dog days are over and to Compare the minute and month of the previous post. Qanon also stated month in advance that McCain will get in secret the death panalty, but only people following him will know.
      - UncleMeat 6y ago
        What explanation do you have for the dozens of times that Q has said a specific date that the mass arrests were coming and nothing happened? The best you have is a file hash?
      - 6y ago
fortran77 6y ago
> * Collage is a wise investment. It was for the person who bought and sold this: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/discoveries-john-pipers-seaside-collage https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/discoveries-john-pipers...
DougN7 6y ago
In my opinion, the problem is everyone thinks these things apply to others but not to themselves. There isn’t enough honest introspection.

spiderfarmer 6y ago

Telling people to not believe the things they're seeing and hearing is probably one of the common denominators of all cults and religions.

pm90 6y ago

There is a difference between lies and conspiracy theories though. Lies have a lifespan after which they are exposed. Conspiracy theories are like lie factories, more lies will be manufactured to rationalize previous lies ad infinity.

tootie 6y ago

Pretty much everything on that list was the right-wing propaganda of it's time. You won't much if any factual reporting supporting any of it.

prox 6y ago
Don’t know why you are being downvoted, most of the points are indeed typically right wing afaik.

oneplane 6y ago

Seems like good journalistic news would write: * Pentagon said Iraq has a stockpile of WMD * White house reports Japanese-American citizens will be rounded up. * You don't need to wear a mask, so don't go buying them up, surgeon general said in press release. * Collage is a wise investment, according to College administrators. * You should fear $those_people because they will kill you, Senate discussed last night. * Congress argues: Some civil rights are outdated and you don't need them anymore. It's not news if it's opinion. It's news if it's a writeup of things that happen.

mhh__ 6y ago
This is how almost all news is presented, unfortunately many people don't seem to understand this - i.e. if it's in quotes it's not the editorial opinion of the newspaper! (Otherwise the BBC would be pro-left pro-right etc.)
spiderfarmer 6y ago
That's also something we should teach our kids.
phtrivier 6y ago
Surprisingly, about the first point at least, the reporting I remember is exactly that : "Pentagon says Irak has WMD, but the rest of the world is not convinced." Now, it might help that I'm French :P
- Medicalidiot 6y ago
  France, the one country that challenged US intelligence because their own intelligence contradicted the CIA and NSA reports. Absolute studs.
  - D13Fd 6y ago
    And then we renamed French fries to freedom fries.
  - spiderfarmer 6y ago
    In the Netherlands no-one of any importance sincerely believed US intelligence, because nobody trusted Bush. But the thinking here was "Well, it's the US and they have us by the balls. The diplomatic thing is to say we understand their stance on Irak."
  - ashildr 6y ago
    Please add Germany to that list: [Excuse me I’m not convinced](https://youtu.be/_k_QbpFl7RM https://youtu.be/_k_QbpFl7RM) That sentence is idiomatic now for many people I know. (WTF is wrong with my markdown here?)

mhh__ 6y ago

You can also see counterarguments to all of those. QAnon is different because is it totally unfalsifiable in the eyes of those subscribing to it. There is no truth to any of it - whereas ,for example, Iraq didn't have nukes but they had used Chemical Weapons (WMD) on their own population. These QAnon people genuinely believe Trump is the culmination of a 20 year plan to defeat the deep state. Right... And who is us?

autokad 6y ago

I assume you meant college? If so, it is an extremely wise investment. It's not the only way, but its a very good path to take. It's not the best choice for everyone, but people who puppet 'college is a bad investment' are spreading dis-information that an hurt others.

geek_at 6y ago
agree that college is the way to go. Just not in the US system. The whole idea of college tuition is fucked up to the rest of the world
jstarfish 6y ago
No, as blanket advice goes it really isn't a wise investment. It depends entirely on the degree. Many Gen-Ys learned this the hard way after internalizing the notion that taking on lifelong debt to get a degree meant buying a one-way ticket to easy street. Doctor, accountant, lawyer, engineer? Sure. College is a good investment. Most other degrees qualify one to be management at Pottery Barn. Hardly worth the five-figure entry fee.

spaced-out 6y ago

There's a difference between believing a plausible lie that one can't verify on their own, like Iraq having WMDs, verses believing an insane conspiracy theory like that there's an Illuminati child sex/eating cult operating under a pizza shop. It's the level of fervor and delusion behind these beliefs that has me concerned.

_up 6y ago
QAnon also predicted the exact day/hour/minute of McCains death a month before he died. Trump also posted an image that had the file hash of the image start with "DOITQ" on Twitter. Can't blame people start to believe with these kind of predictions.
- spiderfarmer 6y ago
  Your comment id is 24455736. If you Google that number, this article pops up: https://europepmc.org/article/med/24455736 https://europepmc.org/article/med/24455736 Why do you want to sedate infants? Are you abusing infants?
  - _up 6y ago
    An Image where people around Trump make a Q symbol thats starts with a phrase that probability of occuring is less 2^30. I would say is more than just luck. QAnon posted on 25.07.2018 4:28pm a image of McCain with his hands up and with a black backdrop. McCain died 25.08.2018 4:28pm. A day before QAnon also stated that McCain's dog days are over and to Compare the minute and month of the previous post. Qanon also stated month in advance that McCain will get in secret the death panalty, but only people following him will know.
    - UncleMeat 6y ago
      What explanation do you have for the dozens of times that Q has said a specific date that the mass arrests were coming and nothing happened? The best you have is a file hash?
    - 6y ago

fortran77 6y ago

> * Collage is a wise investment. It was for the person who bought and sold this: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/discoveries-john-pipers-seaside-collage https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/discoveries-john-pipers...

DougN7 6y ago

In my opinion, the problem is everyone thinks these things apply to others but not to themselves. There isn’t enough honest introspection.