QAnon

 There was an interesting article on the Washington Post site today about someone who got sucked into the QAnon conspiracy theory.  He said; “...it’s kind of embarrassing.” But, he reasons, if telling it prevents anyone else from falling down the same dark and twisted rabbit hole he did, then the potential humiliation is worth it."

"One day in December 2017, he tuned into Infowars, the media outlet run by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Two guests on the radio show were talking about the “calm before the storm,” a reference to an absurd theory that President Trump will soon wage a secret war against a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles and a slew of other evildoers. It’s one of the many tall tales believed by followers of the movement called QAnon, ranging from the false claim that the government created vaccines to track citizens to the ridiculous idea that Hillary Clinton and Katy Perry drink the blood of young children to gain eternal youth."

“It was pretty generic conspiracy theory stuff at the time, but because Alex had them on his show, it gave them an air of legitimacy with alternative media,” said the 32-year-old Sydney, Australia, resident in a phone call late last month. He was hooked. For the next 1½ years, he closely followed the movement, spending hours each day devouring as much Q-related content as he could find."

"QAnon can be traced back to 2017 posts on the online message board 4chan by someone named “Q,” who claimed to be a government insider with Q security clearance, the highest level in the U.S. Energy Department. The idea is simple: Q supposedly learns of classified information, then leaks it online."

“Really, it’s like an existential battle between good and evil. That’s how it’s framed,” he said. “Everyone is very okay with the concept of martial law. And I was part of this. I was so far in it. If Hillary Clinton had been executed publicly, I would have cheered. That bothers me to this day.”

"His sister, Joy Jajeda, "... realized how far her brother had fallen into this “quicksand” one night when their family was making a two-hour drive back from a “lovely” day trip. The entire time, Jadeja “spoke about this Q theory and the lizard people that ruled the world. “I remember thinking how ludicrous it sounded,” she said. “I remember thinking this was not unlike a religious cult.”

"...At one point, a QAnon believer posted online requesting Q to get Trump to say “ ’tip top tippy-top shape,’ as kind of a shout out.” Four months later, when speaking at the 2018 White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump used a version of that phrase. “For the longest time, I was like ‘Dude, that’s a very unique phrase,’ ” Jadeja said. But as he began questioning QAnon, he began looking more deeply — and stumbled upon a two-part YouTube compilation of Trump repeatedly using that wording. “It’s just something that Trump says from time to time. … That’s when my world kind of came crashing down.” "...“If I didn’t have family that loved me I probably would have committed suicide,” he said. “It was really a terrible feeling to know that you are this stupid and this wrong.”

It sounds like pretty classic cult stuff.  It doesn't have to make logical sense to get people to believe.  Conspiracy theories seem to flourish in times of insecurity and unrest. Which describes 2020 in spades. There is enough evidence of the human mind's ability to deceive itself in the present situation to provide ample fodder for doctoral theses in clinical psychology.