People are saying about Q-anon that...

[Binkie The Clown]

... it is an experiment being conducted by some sociologists to see how many ridiculous falsehoods they can get the American people to believe. It has succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, but now they realize it's necessary to reveal that it was all a hoax perpetrated on a gullible public.

I've heard this from several sources already, but I haven't yet seen any official announcement. I imagine it will be coming shortly.

In the meantime, spread the word: Q-Anon come clean!

[MizLibby]

1. what people??

[Binkie The Clown]

3. Many people. All the best people. nt

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Many People Are Saying!

That's what I've heard!
Many(!) people are saying it!

[First Speaker]

2. The morons who swallowed all this would call them liars if they did "come clean"...

...this sort of thing never dies...

[Karma13612]

10. Same thought I had.

Somehow there needs to be a source of information that is believed by all people. Unfortunately since we are so divided, even around the world, there is no ONE entity that all humans will believe for factual information.

When people can’t agree on facts or trust ‘the experts’, what can you do?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Oh, fer chrissake.

[Binkie The Clown]

12. Hey, even if it's not true, it's a way to fight fire with fire. So spread it around. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

32. Spreading it around only legitimizes it.

[Binkie The Clown]

33. Which is thew whole point. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

37. Why the fuck would you want to legitimize bullshit like that?

[OhNo-Really]

5. Link source?

[greenjar_01]

7. You need IRB approval to conduct an experiment on ONE person

This is a deeply stupid theory.

[uncle ray]

8. nobody reputable would perform an experiment that could have real election consequences.

[Binkie The Clown]

14. Which proves those who are conducting it are not reputable. That proves my point.

Spread it around.

[lapfog_1]

9. It's been done before

that experiment was named "Scientology"

create a religion based on ridiculous notions... and see how many people buy in.

Or, going back further, while not an experiment but just a con run by a con man... Mormonism...

History is replete with other examples

[central scrutinizer]

16. This!

I was going to post the two same examples.

[tblue37]

39. Slenderman was a similar hoax, and it led two young girls to try to murder their "friend."

Though I realize you're pretending here, it has been done before.

[lapfog_1]

40. pretending?

I'm not even sure what you mean. Not pretending

[Lady Freedom Returns]

11. Thinking back to my old Sociology teacher, shout out to Mr. Locker,

I can't say it isn't possible.

[Binkie The Clown]

13. And the more often we repeat it, the truer it becomes. nt

[intrepidity]

15. Well, there's no doubt that it's a hoax.

But whether perpetrated by sociologists... doubtful. Unless loosely defined as incel larpers.

[Binkie The Clown]

17. You could be right, but either way, when they come clean later this week or next...

...it will be a real bombshell.

[intrepidity]

20. I heard something about Ron Watkins resigning

from 8kun or something. That could have something to do with something.

Google Fredrick Brennan for background.

ETA: changed header to Ron (son) from Jim (dad)

ETA2: Now I'm unsure about which one i heard this about...

ETA3(!): it was Ron. Per Slate:

On 8kun, the seedy imageboard where the movement’s anonymous leader Q posts messages to his followers, QAnon followers can’t quite agree on how to process Trump’s likely defeat. As NBC’s Ben Collins reported, Q has not posted anything since Election Day, and his followers are becoming more and more agitated at the silence. Ron Watkins, son of 8kun’s owner Jim Watkins and the administrator of the site, also resigned from his role on Election Day. With his site privileges, Ron was able to control the Q account whenever he wanted and very likely has some sort of working relationship with whoever is posting as Q, who claims to be a government official with “Q-level clearance.”

https://slate.com/technology/2020/11/qanon-election-trump-8kun.amp?

[lapfog_1]

41. Q-level

https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/national-security-code-designations-security

If the National Security Clearance Level is a Department of Energy "Q" Clearance (DOE Q), the position is designated as Critical Sensitive, FPPS Code 3. The position is subject to Drug Testing, FPPS Code H.

Not a very high level of clearance.

[Celerity]

38. 'sociologists' who got their 'degrees' from a tin of beanz

[KG]

18. americans been believing outrageous shit long before q-anon

[JDC]

19. Aubrey Huff already said he thinks QAnon

Is a liberal ploy to distract and confuse MAGA.

And F Aubrey Huff.

[Boogiemack]

21. If it is such an experiment, the MAGAs will over perform. nt

[fierywoman]

22. Or is it the rwnj's projecting their horrible behavior (once again) on the left, a la Goering?

[Binkie The Clown]

23. I don't know for sure, but maybe it's Russian sociologists. That would explain a lot. nt

[StClone]

29. I get it

[LaMouffette]

24. Shades of "War of the Worlds."

You would think people would have become less gullible since the 1930s, but QAnon proves otherwise.

In the first year of Traitor Trump's "presidency," I grasped onto the slim and highly unrealistic hope that it, too, was an experiment (a hoax, if you will) and that Hillary Clinton had been president all along. The purpose of the experiment? To show Americans what could happen if a ruthless, amoral, totalitarian, narcissistic, sociopathic dictator became president and set about destroying all of the United States' norms and institutions, flouting every law, lying at every opportunity, colluding with foreign adversaries, calling into question the integrity of the press, enriching himself, his family, and his friends, and inciting violence and divisiveness among American citizens.

Then, on January 1, 2017, I hoped—in this fantasyland of mine—that Traitor Trump would reveal the truth: He was not the president, Hillary was! Whew! And his one-year mock presidency was just an experiment, a teachable moment, meant only to wake up America to the dangerous loopholes in our system that could be exploited, should a madman really be elected. Trump would chide us for being so foolish as to fall for his hoax.

Turns out it really was an experiment, but a "natural" one that arose unintentionally (like the one Rachel Maddow reported on that happened in Kansas this year when the majority of Kansas counties went maskless and a few others followed a public mask policy: Guess which counties had surges in Covid?). And alas, Hillary had not actually been president all along.

I just hope we learned something from this "unnatural" experiment. Some of us did. The others . . . not so much, I'm sure.

[samnsara]

25. just google Mels Hole..started by some local DJS on a late night shift..

..they called into Art Bell with a wild story that grew legs very fast..esp since MY HOUSE is supposed to be where it is and I had paranormal groups knock at my door.

[intrepidity]

31. No way! You live on top of Mel's hole?!?

Hey, but I bet it's nice to have a place to dump that old couch...

[Skraxx]

26. I'd Like To Have a Word With the IRB that Approved That!

Immediately.

[Binkie The Clown]

28. Russian sociologists wouldn't bother with such a technicality. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

36. And they would be happy to throw the US into chaos

I mean, the whole Q thing didn't come out of thin air. Someone started it and it did have some "stories" that were just as ridiculous as pizzagate. John Kennedy Jr is 1) alive 2) going to present himself and endorse Donald Trump and 3) is THIS guy (on the right)?



People really believe this. It's like "Can You Top This" for RWNJs.

[Redleg]

43. Indeed- I posted about his below

Hell, at my institution, IRB doesn't even allow us to administer electric shocks to our subjects any more because too many undergrads complained. Just kidding!

[Skraxx]

47. LOL! Damn Undergrads!

[Roland99]

27. I've heard said from some people. Many people. The best people even

Yes. It’s true. People are saying so

[Catherine Vincent]

30. I would not be surprised

But even if it is revealed, the Q nuts wouldn't believe them. They'd have to prove it.

[Codeine]

34. So many people are saying that!

I mean, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I sure keep hearing it.

[WyattKansas]

35. Does everyone remember the commericial with the ditzy young woman...

Who believed that nobody was allowed to put anything on the internet, unless it was true?

Everyone in the country KNEW that she was stupid and naive to believe anything on the internet was fact.

The Q-Anon believers need to be laughed at, made fun of, mocked, shunned, and ridiculed by all for being so incredibly stupid for believing what someone put on the internet knowing for a fact that nobody cannot take anything they seen on Q-Anon into a Court of Law in the U.S. without fearing being labeled as insane.

[Binkie The Clown]

46. Peer pressure and ridicule are tools with a long, successful history

of working to root out nonsense.

[Redleg]

42. I think this would be a violation of the American Sociology Association's ethical research standards

I don't know that for certain since I am more familiar with the American Psychological Association standards regarding research.

I also don't see how this is an "experiment," at least not in the sense of research design. What is being manipulated and what is being controlled? What is the sample and what information do the researchers know about the sample population and about the individuals within the sample? I don't see how this can be useful research, much less ethical.

Anyone doing this as research seems to be clueless about the profound negative effects this might have on some people in our population. It seems quite irresponsible to me. If it was created to see how it might influence political thought and choice, it was probably done so by non-professionals (e.g., not trained as social or behavioral scientists).

Just my 2-cents, a behavioral scientist struggling to stay focused on teaching my online courses and shitting out some research this year.

[mnmoderatedem]

44. there's always been the theory that the more preposterous a notion

the more likely a person is to believe it.

Case in point. Qanon posted as fact that the bin Laden attack failed, and Biden had the Seal Team 6 killed to cover it up.

Trump re-tweeted that.

Let me repeat. Trump re-tweeted that.

Lends credence to the theory.

[Earthshine2]

45. I've heard that Q followers are pedophiles who drink human blood while in pizzerias.

Also, happens to be one of my least favorite Star Trek characters.