The Human Mind Does Not Evolve to Randomness

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When that story broke, ii agreed with you on that, that this is going to be the mother of all conspiracy theories. But then when i saw that two cameras broke, i thought, il come on, that's so unusual. And then somebody n me who said, i used to work at that prison. Nothing worked there. The cameras were breaking. Now, ye, never minde her, we apply the principle, never toet to malice, but can be explained by incompetent throg the hands. Ye, ye. But and, and that's it's more compelling. Like, what were the systemic things that allowed this to happen? T why were the cameras broken? Why

Michael Shermer speaks with Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, about QAnon and its followers.

On October 5th, 2017, President Trump made a cryptic remark in the State Dining Room at a gathering of military officials. He said it felt like “the calm before the storm” — then refused to elaborate as puzzled journalists asked him to explain. But on the infamous message boards of 4chan, a mysterious poster going by “Q Clearance Patriot,” who claimed to be in “military intelligence,” began the elaboration on their own. In the days that followed, Q’s wild yarn explaining Trump’s remarks began to rival the sinister intricacies of a Tom Clancy novel, while satisfying the deepest desires of MAGA-America. But did any of what Q predicted come to pass? No. Did that stop people from clinging to every word they were reading, expanding its mythology, and promoting it wider and wider? No. Why not?