What QAnon followers, butthole sunners and New Age spiritualists have in common

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, former NBA player Roy White became a vocal advocate of cutting police funding. In the months that followed He has performed at quite a few protests and demonstrations in Minnesota – Demonstrations that conservative politicians and experts.

Four years later, White accepted the support of the Minnesota GOP within the state's race for the U.S. Senate in 2024.

In the meantime, White appeared on the show by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, through which he denounced the “establishment” and the “corporatocracy”. During Steve Bannon’s podcast “War Room”he complained that ladies had develop into “too cheeky.” Elsewhere he criticized the LGBTQ+ movement as “Luciferic” and described Israel because the avant-garde of a “new world order”.

White's transition from NBA player to who advocated progressive causes to an acolyte by Jones is more common than you may think.

Many people associate conspiracy theories with certain demographic groups or political leanings. But the truth is way more nuanced. New research They concluded that there’s way more diversity amongst conspiracy theorists than scientists previously assumed.

Conspiracy theories are only as more likely to be supported by your uncle wearing a MAGA hat as by your best friend who a fan of the band Phish and goes to CrossFit 3 times per week.

Entering the margins

For the past 4 and a half years, I even have immersed myself on the planet of conspiracy theorists.

What began as an try to QAnon conspiracy movement quickly expanded into an exploration of a wide selection of other belief systems.

These include discredited intellectuals who promote racial science; Asshole Sunshine who imagine that they may live longer through the use of the sun’s rays; and Semen retention enthusiastsa practice that forestalls ejaculation and thus increases testosterone levels.

Most researchers have described conspiracy theories and alternative beliefs as a product of Bad Education or misinformation Distribution on social media. But recent research has found that support is obtainable to them no matter their level of education or income. Some of probably the most privileged people in US society, deeply conspiracy-theoretical views, in addition to sports fans, yogis and video game enthusiasts.

While many say that belief in UFOs or Bigfoot will not be such an enormous problem, these ideas could cause harm in the actual world. Sunbathing within the asshole, for instance, is associated with cancer.

Understanding how conspiracy theories and alternative belief systems intersect and evolve over time helps us see how anyone, no matter their political affiliation, could be captured by them.

Forbidden knowledge

Various conspiracy theories, types of pseudoscience and discredited beliefs – like the concept that the earth is flat – take up the identical space.

They are a part of a collective garbage can of discarded ideas, a phenomenon that political scientist Michale Barkun characterizes as follows:stigmatized knowledge.” Because they’ve been discredited by established institutions, they often only appear on the fringes of society.

Certain stigmatized narratives They also can develop into tools of politicians and influential media who will say or do anything to earn cash and gain power.

In her book “Conspiracy theories: How New Age conspiracy theories became a health hazard“, Derek Berry, Matthew Remski and Julien Walker document how contemporary New Age spiritualism was hijacked by social media influencers who then spread misinformation about vaccines and fueled distrust of the federal government.

Social media platforms offer financial incentives to individuals who have probably the most appealing content. Of course, what’s appealing shouldn’t be necessarily what’s accurate or true. During the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of these influencers became popular by suggesting that they’d “sacred” or “secret” Knowledge about the right way to defeat the virus.

In this manner, people can move from accepting seemingly harmless ideas like Bigfoot to being open to more radical beliefs like the Great Replacement Theorythe conspiracy theory that illegal immigrants are conspiring with Democrats to alter the ethnic composition of America and thus influence future elections.

The interface between politics and alternative beliefs shouldn’t be a brand new phenomenon.

Some of those beliefs, just like the imaginary continent of Atlantiswere utilized by the Nazi Party to create a connection to a mythical pure race. In fact, a key element of the Rise of the Nazis to power was the promotion of ideas which might be today generally known as New Age Mysticism – a spiritual movement that emphasizes magical experiences and the concept that spiritual forces connect every little thing within the universe.

The complexity of conspiracy theories

While many experts indicate, white Christian nationalists because the group most prone to conspiracies – and there are some truth on this statement – it can be crucial to pay attention to others who’ve conspiracy theory ideas.

The anti-vaccination movement is now a favourite topic of many on the fitting, but it surely first gained notoriety amongst wealthy liberals. One of the movement's most visible supporters is current presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Jacob Chansley, also generally known as the “QAnon Shaman,” is one other well-known example of this contradiction: he protested on behalf of each the far-right and the far-right. left causes and was present on the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

A survey by the Public Religious Research Institute found that 23% of Republicans imagine that “the government, media, and finance in the United States are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.”

The number could appear high, but it surely's probably not too surprising: It's one in all the core tenets of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory. But I discovered the poll's other findings a bit surprising – that 8% of self-identifying Democrats and 14% of independents also agreed with that statement.

What can we do now?

Although they appear unrelated at first glance, conspiracy theories comparable to QAnon and alternative wellness practices like drinking urine have common themes. They are united by their distrust of established institutions. They crave alternative belief systems that confirm their existing beliefs and ignore evidence on the contrary.

It is healthy to be critical of those in power, but there are also situations where trust in leadership is sensible – comparable to listening to firefighters evacuating a constructing or public health officials during a world pandemic.

To be fair, the variety of Americans who imagine in conspiracy theories doesn’t appear to be increasingAt the identical time, conspiracies were a central motivation for lots of the January 6 protesters who tried to peaceful transfer of power.

As a contributor to my upcoming edited collection of essays argueConspiracy theories not only undermine social institutions, but in addition strain relationships with fellow residents. They cause people to be suspicious of trustworthy sources of data – and to distrust one another.

None of this bodes well for liberal democracy.