To feel intimidated by conspiracy theorists

[famousforwrongreason]

I have a lot of friends who seem to have moved into plandemic territory, masks are evil etc. Some people are who I'd least expect to have these beliefs, rational people.
They have linked covid to 5g and are now crusading for the save our children campaign saying anyone who doesn't join them is complicit in child abuse and people trafficking.
They literally say this.
this is not even one group of friends, but disparate unconnected from each other.
I feel like they're dropping like flies.
I have every reason to believe that these campaigns have right wing connections, many of them are using American spelling for things which are also being shared by qanon people and there is some crossover.
I am not keen on our government, not overly happy with masks but also not overly bothered, I'll do what I can to help get things back to normal, maybe I'm being naive there
I just want to rant really, I keep inadvertently insulting people when I bring it up irl and each time a new person tells me their thoughts on it all I just become more alarmed!
I would also do anything I can to protect children, I just feel that linking up with these militant groups is not the only way.

Plus the friends who are heavily involved seem to have become friends with some really heavy and sinister Tommy robinson types.
I feel worried about the mass hysteria, but also sad I'm losing friends and worried about where this will end.
Is anyone experiencing this?
Aibu to feel this is slightly sinister?

My hairdresser turned into a conspiracy theorist over lockdown. She spent the whole appointment loudly going on about how we've all been conned into believing there's a pandemic, implying we're too stupid to realise what's going on.
It was embarrassing, I could see other people rolling their eyes.

@gurglebelly

Oh dear, don't know what to believe? Do you believe that Obama was born in Africa, that democrats are selling children in pizza restaurants or on a public furniture website? That there is a new world order coming? These are all part of the same conspiracy - and funnily enough Trump is going to save the day. That's why 'they' created the 'covid conspiracy' so that he wouldn't be re-elected. FFS these morons believe that Trump is signalling you them by wearing a certain colour tie!!

No.

Thing is, in order to fact check even the most basic of headlines you have to spend time navigating the internet, trying to separate fact from fiction.

When I say I no longer know what to believe any more, I'm not just talking about the conspiracy theorists, I'm talking about all news and all media outlets.

@Thoroflo - I think you're right about those with anxiety being far more vulnerable to these sorts of media tactics.

@MahMahMahMahCorona no...you very specifically said "I sometimes get sucked in and don't know what to believe". There is literally no ambiguity in that statement...you are saying that you are having to think about whether what you are reading 'down the rabbit hole' is true!! It isn't!! It is complete and utter bullshit nonsense 🤷‍♀️

[quote GinWithRosie]@MahMahMahMahCorona no...you very specifically said "I sometimes get sucked in and don't know what to believe". There is literally no ambiguity in that statement...you are saying that you are having to think about whether what you are reading 'down the rabbit hole' is true!! It isn't!! It is complete and utter bullshit nonsense 🤷‍♀️ [/quote]
@GinWithRosie - and where does the complete and utter bullshit (media) nonsense stop, and the "real" news start? Enlighten me.

I've not met these people personally, but I know they exist and I certainly believe the OP because I keep seeing reports of protests, e.g. anti-lockdown protests, anti-mask protests etc. There were quite a number of them last weekend and I was shocked that the London one seemed to have thousands of attendees. I always thought these people were a fringe group and I was really shocked by the numbers of people involved. And the number of people who follow David Icke really astounds me. I mean there'll always be a few of them anywhere, but just the number of fans is bizarre.

My ex is like this - he went from having a ‘you can’t believe every thing on the news’ type attitude a few years ago to full on ‘plandemic’ in the last few months. It’s sad. He thinks peer reviewed information from real scientists is all part of the ‘conspiracy’.

Frankly, I think the problem is that a lot of people who think these things did not have a great education, so are easily taken in by conspiracies and then believe that they know something that others don’t. My ex was certainly insecure about his level of education and it would come out in this way - he’d go on and on about how you don’t have to finish school to be smart - and I agree! But I think the conspiracy stuff is a way to ‘get one over’ on the people and power structures that dismiss people who don’t have formal qualifications or a nice middle class background.

And fear of course. We need ‘things’ to help us understand the unknown and scary things like pandemics. Before people used religion to rationalise. Now we don’t really have that like we used to, so people turn to science or indeed conspiracy. It makes them feel safe.

Frankly, I think the problem is that a lot of people who think these things did not have a great education, so are easily taken in

a bit harsh

@LadyLairdArgyll

Frankly, I think the problem is that a lot of people who think these things did not have a great education, so are easily taken in

a bit harsh

That’s no a reflection on them personally - the system of education offered to them was not good. That is not their fault.

OP, I am certainly seeing this, and from the most 'normal' of people.

Turns out my neighbours on one side are raging conspiracy theorists and believe David Icke, on the other are anti vaxxers and a bloke up the road is a covid denier.

I live rurally and have few neighbours and so to discover how wide spread this is is really very alarming.

I find it depressing tbh and it really affects my mental health if I let it

@Abendintheriver

I have a Facebook friend like this, constantly posting about how stupid people are for wearing masks and all these links to utterly ridiculous conspiracy theorist crap (apparently McDonald's burgers are made out of Jewish children). He's always been a bit like this but covid seems to have pushed him over the edge. what's scary is the amount of people liking and agreeing with him. I've blocked him now though which is much better for my blood pressure 😄

Yes, I have one of these on FB. He's always been a bit nuts but as you say this seems to have made things much worse. I have agreed with myself that I will unfriend him the next time he posts such tosh.

Unfortunately I have a few ‘friends‘ like this. They insist that we are being microchipped when we get tested for Covid and that Bill Gates is the devil incarnate. They are anti masks and insist that they will never have the Covid vaccine if it is ever made available. I have no time for these deluded people.

They are boring people OP. A family member is like that, everything is a conspiracy and he's such a fucking know it all but he actually knows nothing.

[quote Roguesausage]My friend is a conspiracy theorist. He believes there is a New world order consisting of unelected millionaires taking over the world and all sorts of other stuff. He can get frustrated and rude when you won't engage. I generally avoid these subjects.

But, i was very worried to see that The World Economic Forum has launched The Big Reset. The plan is to reset society in every conceivable way. They are indeed unelected billionaires and this plan has been in the pipeline for quite some time. Prince Charles worryingly refers to the pandemic as a "Golden opportunity".

I can't help but be worried about this.

www.weforum.org/great-reset/[/quote]
You mean that RICH PEOPLE have power and people who have power are RICH?

Shocking. Never had that problem when Kings were in charge by the decree of the Almighty.

We've got a guy like this at work, I used to have to be professional towards him as I was his line manager. If he starts now, he just gets told to fuck off.

Yes, I do think there is a level of bollocks reported about covid, but it's certainly a thing.

Yes!! It’s both frustrating and slightly alarming that supposed rational people can’t apply a bit of thinking before re-posting pure conspiracy shite.

I can see amongst my friends, it’s generally those that left school after GCSE’s who aren’t used to looking beyond a silly headline and if something written sounds vaguely plausible, simply accept it as fact. Those silly posts that start with ‘I’m an ICU doctor and all our hospitals are empty because Covid is a lie’ and other daft nonsense’. They actually believe it must have been written by an ICU doctor 🤦🏻‍♀️

This morning one of the school mums was circulating a post about why do we need a vaccine for Covid when virtually 100% of sufferers recover alongside a chart showing alarming death rates for other illness including an 80% death rate for the Marburg Virus. (Who has heard of this outside medical research facilities?)
Interestingly, there is no column showing numbers infected and if you bother to do a simple google search for the WHO data, the fact that less than 600 people worldwide have contracted Marburg suggests that it’s perhaps not a cause for alarm.

I have a very Left leaning friend who posts this rubbish and I’m hoping they might stop and think after I posted info. showing conspiracy theory links with Far Right organisations. But I doubt it.

This article attempts to explain a bit of the background behind the QAnon conspiracy bollocks and why people fall for it:
www.cracked.com/article_28514_5-ways-dumb-conspiracies-suck-in-normal-people.html

I’m surprised how many people I know are anti masks wittering on about their civil liberties and now the buzz term is Deprivation of Liberty

I have had the 5g link explained to me but I know these people do have serious mh issues

How they have all become connected baffles me

It’s interesting it crosses right to centre to left politics

And my experience many have been university educated and because they have they take on the role of challenging experts and advising everyone else to not follow them like sheep

Still hearing lots of well I had it last year and so did my dp/sister/neighbour etc

And no I am not intimidated by someone who is totally lacking in critical thinking skills and whose idea of 'research' is reading Facebook posts and memes and watching videos by cranks on YouTube.

Funny how they will say you can't trust anything in the 'MSM' or on fact checking sites, as it's 'all lies', but will accept without question that the information on a Facebook meme or post, or on a YouTube video by some shouty bloke I have never heard of, or on some obscure blog hardly anyone has ever heard of is 'the truth'.

At least it distracts them from the earth being flat for a while.

I think most flat earthers are probably just people who enjoy trolling. :) It's so easily debunked and such a ridiculous thing to believe, that I think they only pretend to believe it in order to entertain themselves with people's reactions.

My brother used to be the most down to earth guy ever, but in the recent months he's got into the "Covid is a hoax" idea and is spreading it like someone who has just discovered the gluten free diet. He's also a newly enlightened anti vaxxer and I'm a bit disappointed with him. At first I kind of liked that he messaged me more often, but now it's every day about how much we don't know about the "real risks" of Covid and how it's all to do with bitcoins or some astral vibration or something. It is tedious. I don't know what to do about it though because I don't want to drive him away by saying that I think it's all bollocks.

@WonderTweek That sounds very difficult for you. If that was my family member, I would worry about his mental health tbh. (I do have a brother with serious MH issues myself, and he used to get obsessed with ideas.)

I think people have suddenly had everything they know thrown up in the air. Everything they thought was clear cut now no longer is so they latch onto things that look like they offer certainty (no matter how far fetched).

For so long now everything has tracked towards siloed black and white thinking. Now this is gone with rapid changes being the norm
To them it’s better to believe in something that has no ambiguity And doesn’t change.