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44167 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 08:11:15
From: The Hierophant, [DNS_Address]
Subject: An informative read about ensnared in conspiracy |
URL: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/days-of-darkness-how-one-woman-escaped-the-conspiracy-theory-trap-that-has-ensnared-millions/ar-BB1hyhTV?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=c1886cda8c14440b874c8871db0dfa8c&ei=11 |
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that is too lengthy to post entire content here, but am
providing the link. Below is a condensed version
"Days of Darkness: How one woman escaped the conspiracy
theory trap that has ensnared millions
At first his stories seemed harmless. Tales about
secret organizations plotting to take over the world,
about the good guys working to save it, and about the
proof that, if you knew where to look, was hiding in
plain sight.
To Ramona, her boyfriend Don's tales of conspiracy
theories sounded like a movie. A lot of it didn’t make
much sense, but Ramona would nod along anyway. Don
enjoyed telling his stories and showing off what he’d
read online. He always knew the answer.
The couple moved in together as COVID-19 swept the
globe. To Don, the pandemic and the global response to
it were filled with clues pointing to some kind of
conspiracy, orchestrated by America's leaders and the
media. Maybe the virus was accidentally leaked from a
lab; maybe it was a bioweapon. Don also suspected the
lockdowns had a nefarious purpose, and he believed the
vaccines were unsafe, perhaps designed to kill.
Don’s wild stories had seemed innocent and even silly
before, but in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic
they suddenly seemed plausible. At a scary time, when
questions about the virus outnumbered answers, the
conspiracy theories filled in some of the blanks.
“I have a lot of fear about what I can’t control,”
Ramona, now 23, said of her vulnerable mindset as
COVID-19 spread. Ramona agreed to tell her story to The
Associated Press after she detailed her experiences on
a forum for recovering conspiracy theorists. The AP is
not fully identifying Ramona or her ex-boyfriend to
protect her privacy and safety. “The stuff he was
telling me, it made me feel like at least we
understood. He had an explanation for what was going
on. I didn’t realize what I was getting into.”
Isolated from friends and family, distrustful of the
explanations offered by officials and the media, Ramona
and Don began to prepare. The military might try to put
Americans like them in concentration camps run by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. They had
to be ready to flee.
The AP spoke with more than a dozen people whose lives
were disrupted by conspiracy theories — either because
they believed them or because a close loved one did.
Many spoke of the social isolation that comes from
spending more and more time on conspiracy theory
websites and message boards.
They talked about money lost to investment scams or
products that claimed to reverse aging or cure COVID-
19. They talked about a mounting sense of paranoia and
distrust as they began to lose faith in their community
and their fellow Americans.
Former believers said conspiracy theories offered them
meaning when they felt empty, even if those promises
proved to be hollow themselves.
Belief in conspiracy theories is a common, and usually
harmless, part of people's instinctive need to identify
threats and explain the unknown. They can be an
entertaining diversion for many, though for some,
obsessive interest in these claims can lead to social
isolation, paranoia and distrust.
Such beliefs also create their own community.
Websites, streaming podcasts, online forums and
Facebook groups have created virtual refuges for
conspiracy theorists. They are places to speculate and
swap information without worrying about the mockery of
outsiders, virtual clubs where, for a few hours at
least, the unseen forces behind the headlines can be
seen and understood.
Similar online communities have sprouted for the family
members and loved ones left behind when someone is
consumed by conspiracy theories such as QAnon.
On forums on Reddit and other sites, they mourn lost
relationships and bemoan the fantasy worlds that
consumed their loved ones.
People choose what to believe. They build a worldview
day by day, using it to understand the past and present
and to make decisions for the future. But if people
pick the wrong stories, they risk lying to themselves,
and to each other.
“We are the stories we tell ourselves,” said John
Llewellyn, a professor at Wake Forest University who
studies conspiracy theories and why people believe what
they believe. “We’ve landed on the moon, and now we’ve
got artificial intelligence — for better or worse — but
no matter how advanced we get, we still have to deal
with the human brain.”
But the stories people tell themselves aren’t always
the same as the truth, and the difference, as Ramona
found, can be the difference between freedom and a
prison.
Alone and isolated because of lockdowns, Ramona read
and talked more and more about conspiracy theories.
Though Ramona and her boyfriend didn't use the word
themselves, their views were consistent with QAnon, the
sprawling conspiracy theory that claims Donald Trump is
fighting a secret, satanic cult of world leaders and
celebrities intent on world domination. The QAnon
thinking goes that this group, known as the “Cabal,”
not only controls world events but also traffics
children for sexual exploitation, and consumes human
blood in order to extend their lives.
Initially inspired by an anonymous online poster who
claimed, without evidence, to have insider government
information, QAnon has become a nexus for several
related conspiracy theories relating to COVID-19, Trump
and U.S. elections.
The conspiracy theories didn’t do much to help Ramona’s
anxiety, but they did offer answers. They provided an
outlet for her fears and gave her the idea that if she
just did enough research, perhaps she could have power
over them. She joined Facebook groups dedicated to
QAnon. She started visiting online chat rooms and
forums dedicated to conspiracy theories.
“The world is scary enough without conspiracy
theories,” she said. “But when you believe them, at
least they can give you answers. If you’re scared of
the unknown,” conspiracy theories offer “an answer, no
matter how farfetched it is.”
At first, conspiracy theories helped Ramona make sense
of the world. But now her anxiety was increasing. The
constant drills, the steady stream of content about
child sex trafficking and satanic sacrifices were too
much.
Watching funny videos on TikTok had been one of
Ramona’s favorite ways to relax. That diversion no
longer worked. Seeing people laugh or goof off just
made her sad. “I’d just think: Does this person know
what’s coming?”
Sometimes Ramona couldn’t catch her breath. She worried
about the future. She didn't sleep well.
“For hours at night, I’d just be scrolling and
searching and reading. The more I read, the more
anxious I got,” she said.
She also began to think more and more about how none of
the predictions and prophecies laid out in QAnon lore
had come true. Trump wasn’t reelected in a landslide in
2020. Vaccinated people weren’t turning into zombies.
There had been no public executions of “Cabal” members
on the National Mall in Washington. The 10 days of
darkness did not arrive. The storm hadn't come.
About this time, one of Ramona’s friends told her she
would be taking a break from social media — a
“cleanse,” she called it — to see if it helped her
mental health. Ramona was curious. On some level, she
knew her social media habits were connected to her
anxiety. On a whim, she decided to join her friend. She
now believes some part of her brain saw it as a way
out.
“Doomscrolling is how I used to cope with it,” she
said, referring to her anxiety.
The “cleanse” stretched from days into weeks, and
Ramona felt her mind unclench. She felt more present.
Her thoughts less troubled, her mind wandered. She
looked up old friends and thought more hopefully about
the future.
“I started to realize I had to get out," she says.
She moved out and stayed on friends' couches for a
while and then a few months later reenrolled in
college. She reconnected with friends and made some new
ones, too. She started hanging out with an old high
school friend. They started dating after a few months.
They got married in 2022.
Ramona last spoke to Don about two years ago. She had
just gotten vaccinated against COVID-19. When she told
him, she could hear him crying softly over the phone.
“He told me: ‘Well, you’re going to die within a
year,’” Ramona recalls.
That year passed, and then another. Ramona graduated
and got a job teaching fifth grade. Her days and
thoughts are filled with students and lesson plans,
instead of late-night drills and go-bags, and storms
that never came.
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Responses:
[44169] [44170] [44175] [44176] [44178] [44168] |
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44169 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 10:03:03
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: An informative read about ensnared in conspiracy |
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yeah...it's surreal to watch others in real time go
through this....and lose touch with reality to the
point of their own destructions, at times.
I had a bro-in-law (ex) who was very into both the
chemtrail stuff, and the planet Nibiru stuff years ago.
It got to the point where he wanted my sister to move
to a remote, off grid location and attempted to forbid
her to go outside.
It destroyed their marraige. She divorced him years
ago, too.
We've not heard from him in many years, although his
children are now grown. She's doing well, owns her own
business and got on with life without him.
And there are the cases in the news during the pandemic
where, even in an ER dying of covid, would reject care
because of their belief that covid was a hoax..denying
until death.
What starts as a fun puzzle, or interesting story can
eventually destroy people and even their families if
they can't find and retouch reality at some point.
Who doesn't like a mystery or a puzzle? Dan Brown made
lots of money weaving fact and fiction into conspiracy
and alternate realities. I've read the books..fun, but
I don't confuse them with reality. They're still
fiction. But, we've seen the influx of ct theories rise
after his first book and the threats of the
"Illuminati" fly across the internet.
What makes one person laugh, and another stay up until
3am doomscrolling because they want so much to believe
it's all true despite actual fact? I dunno. Psyche
papers will be written for many years on this
phenomenon.
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Responses:
[44170] [44175] [44176] [44178] |
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44170 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 10:14:32
From: blindhog 6th sense, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Where's Your Link Concerning Your Claim mRNA Vax is Safe/Effective? |
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LOL Redhart???
moving on...
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Responses:
[44175] [44176] [44178] |
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44175 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 15:05:06
From: The Hierophant, [DNS_Address]
Subject: SO funny! |
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This question coming from someone who can't post a SINGLE
link to ANYTHING they post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Responses:
[44176] [44178] |
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44176 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 15:19:32
From: blindhog 6th sense, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Sorry, I've Given Location Info all Along, Now Giving Info Plus Link(NT) |
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Responses:
[44178] |
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44178 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 20:12:51
From: The Hierophant, [DNS_Address]
Subject: just don't follow directions, do you |
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when posting a story with a link, you put the link in the
box that says 'Link UR' - in case you were not familiar
what that box was for.
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Responses:
None |
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44168 |
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Date: January 31, 2024 at 10:02:38
From: blindhog 6th sense, [DNS_Address]
Subject: I'm Glad Ramona Got Out of a Relationship that Was Stressful for Her. |
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I hope she was one of the lucky ones who got a
placebo rather than the ones containing mRNA.
However for those strong enough for the truth
regarding excess deaths since the introduction
of mRNA injections, before deciding to get any
or another mRNA injection, they may want to
read the facts* from the following site:
https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-p-
scores-average-baseline
According to facts early excess deaths rise to
14 year high in England.
For more facts (not conspiracies) go to link:
https://youtu.be/L6103jQREy8?
si=8CtSS7Zt4LK6lfZm
or, if easier for you:
YouTube Dr. John Campbell "British Heart
Disease Release"
* It is truly a conspiracy for anyone to lie
to the public, presenting to the public that
facts are nothing more than fallacy.
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Responses:
None |
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Wild Or Weird Or Wacky Stuff (WOWOWS) ] [ Main Menu ] |