For a long time now, we have had a small portion of the population believing in conspiracy theories of varied sorts. For instance, many believe that the moon landings were an elaborately staged drama to fool the world. Then there are the flat-earthers who believe that the earth is flat and anyone who says otherwise is part of a satanical conspiracy to destroy religion. Of course, we have had any number of COVID-related conspiracy theories as well. And now, a powerful far-right group of conspiracy theorists called QAnon are peddling their own theories to a gullible world.
At the end of 2016, right after the election of Donald Trump as POTUS, there was an incident where a man with an assault rifle burst into a Washington pizzeria for an ‘investigation’. This was based on the bizarre but persistent belief in a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and other supporters of the Democratic Party had been running a child trafficking racket from the premises of that pizza restaurant.
This particular conspiracy theory originated from a white supremacist Twitter account and then spread like wildfire among supporters of a particular political ideology. Dubbed Pizzagate, this incident has demonstrated why conspiracy theorists are not just harmless cooks with their pet theories; but actually dangerous. These theories typically proliferate within certain political /ideological ecosystems; where a series of unrelated events are presented as ‘proof’ of whatever deranged scheme is sought to be propagated; in this case Trump supporters.
Recently, some truly weird posts appeared on my Facebook wall: one was about furniture manufacturer Wayfair selling cabinets with names that supposedly were the same as some kids who were reported as missing. The conclusion drawn was that this was a child trafficking plot. All the usual suspects such as the Clinton Foundation and George Soros were mentioned of course. In addition, Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres and some children's charities also find mention. Then there is the even kookier story circulating along with a picture of a bunch of people in red shoes: apparently those shoes are made from the skin of children who have been ‘sacrificed’ as a result of some satanic ritual and/or child trafficking.
Some or all of these truly out-there theories seem to link back to something called QAnon – posters and believers of far-right theories on the imageboard 4chan. The central belief of QAnon supporters is that there is a massive ‘Deep State’ conspiracy against Trump. The ‘Deep State’ consists of prominent media personalities, members of government and some business people; typically presented as ‘Satan-worshipping paedophiles’. Another central tenet of QAnon is support for Trump and the belief that Trump is an undercover agent; the only one who will protect us all from an evil plot of the liberal elites who are also, all paedophiles.
These outlandish theories typically take a bunch of random occurrences to find patterns and/or causality. So, the Wayfair theory was based on the perception that the cabinets sold are large and overpriced and so they somehow must be linked to human trafficking. Those cabinets have names, some of which happen to be the same as the names of some kids who were reported missing (some of whom were found later). So, the conclusion drawn is that cabinets sold were somehow also 'selling' children.
All these theories may seem laughable in their extreme ludicrousness. However, they are worrying in terms of reach and the number of people who blindly believe them. There is a willingness to repose faith in these theories – which are not only absurd but also truly obnoxious in the way that they presume people of a certain group or ideology to be the worst possible kind of criminals. It is a common feature of QAnon theories that people with certain political/ideological leanings are most likely to believe them; banding together to propagate them. To be clear, these are not just some loony tunes groups that we can laugh at for a few minutes and then carry on with our lives.
QAnon supporters have made their presence felt at pro-Brexit demonstrations and Trump rallies. One pet conspiracy theory is that of the Coronavirus pandemic being a huge hoax. Anti-maskers believe this and that it some organised attempt to settle trade wars, make the whole world communist, and steal their freedoms. They may believe any or all of these to be true, with the result that they endanger themselves and others in the community with their reckless behaviour. Anti-vaxxers are another breed of conspiracy theorists; who believe that vaccinations are just a huge conspiracy – by Big Pharma and/or people like Bill Gates – either to sell more vaccines or to kill off part of the human population – or both! This has resulted in some diseases reappearing in society or emerging more virulent than before.
It is hugely problematic that some social media influencers and some of those in public life publicly support some of these theories. As Pizzagate and the pandemic showed us, belief in conspiracy theories results in very tangible, real-world harm. Social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok have cracked down on QAnon related handles, content and hashtags as well.
There is something psychologists call Illusory Pattern Perception – where the human brain tries to make sense of things; particularly when things or people upset or anger us. According to experts, there is an evolutionary imperative for human beings trying to find patterns even when there are none.
Also according to experts, QAnon and other conspiracy theories are not going anywhere anytime soon. It is up to us all to remain rational and inquiring and sceptical about anything like this --- though conspiracy theories are admittedly tempting to believe.
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