Conspiracy theory is the new normal: 2024 was the year QAnon went mainstream

[Sympthsical]

3. A lot of the stuff she mentions isn't limited to Q-Anon or the Right

Luigi Mangione conspiracies, stolen elections, wild drone theories, the assassination attempt, the raw milk bullshit, etc. etc. etc. Yep. Read all about those in familiar spaces.

This may just be the age we live in where social media are out of control and people do not engage in critical or lateral reading of their sources. How many times a day are articles needing correction here, or a headline is different from the body and context of the article, and people only react to the headline and assume its truth?

All of the time. Constantly. Daily.

We have become a narrative-driven society that will pick up and discard facts in order to maintain the cohesion of the preferred story being told - being told to other people and the one we tell to ourselves as we claw together increasingly threadbare formed identities.

It's just how we are now. Dunno what to do about that one. You know what they say. An individual is smart, but people are stupid.

The Internet has created just about the biggest group of people managed in history. That lowest common denominator can always get lower.