Interesting article explaining the draw of QAnon

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Here's an interesting (albeit lengthy) article that helps explain how and why so many people fall for conspiracy theories like QAnon.   

 

The author is a professional game designer who understands the various mechanisms and psychological elements of gameplay that makes for an exciting and successful game environment....and he goes into detail as to how QAnon attracts followers and draws people in by using these same elements. 

 

A few small excerpts....it's an interesting read:

Quote

When I saw QAnon, I knew exactly what it was and what it was doing. I had seen it before. I had almost built it before. It was gaming’s evil twin. A game that plays people. (cue ominous music)

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QAnon grows on the wild misinterpretation of random data, presented in a suggestive fashion in a milieu designed to help the users come to the intended misunderstanding. Maybe “guided apophenia” is a better phrase. Guided because the puppet masters are directly involved in hinting about the desired conclusions. They have pre-seeded the conclusions.

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QAnon uses the oldest trope of all mystery fiction. A mysterious stranger shows up and drops a strange clue leading to long-hidden secrets which his clues, and your detecting power, can reveal.

 

It doesn’t work that way. The fictional mysterious stranger already knows, but instead of telling you the answer in the first ten minutes, they give you clues. Hard to follow clues. Ambiguous clues. They say things like “Follow the money. Don’t let them fool you. This goes all the way to the top.”

There is no reason for this in reality, but fictionally, this is what creates the whole plot, the sense of mystery, and everything entertaining that is to follow. This is the white rabbit. This is the breadcrumb trail out of the forest.

 

https://medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analysis-of-qanon-580972548be5

[OILERMAN]

I read this a few days ago, absolutely hilarious