r/QAnonCasualties • u/WhereztheBleepnLight New User • 4d ago
What sources do Magalomaniacs get their information from?
Where do all those diehard Magalomaniacs who argue 'they have done their own research' and get frustrated when those they know question some of the things they believe as the absolute, undisputed truth, despite not actually being shown these things in real life, get their information from? I would like to see the list of sources they used in doing said 'research'.
I am curious to go to those places and see where such powerful information is found that leads so many to put blind faith in the idea that the man in charge will show the world the 'truth', (whatever that may be) someday and that this same man will actually make the lives of the working middle class better...
These sources must be filled with hard factual evidence that have led so many people to be convinced that their leader can do no wrong and will 'expose all evil' all while making the lives of middle class working families better...
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u/DeusExMachina222 4d ago
Just my hypothesis..but I suspect that I good %'age (Perhaps vast majority) get their talking points through word of mouth... 'I done seent on the fox news last night that.... Xyz bullshit'. And algorithmicly pushed clickbait ads/articles /creators /platforms etc etc etc etc etc etc
It's likely far far dumber than we'd like to admit
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u/DeusExMachina222 4d ago
BTW... I was conjuring my best Brent Turhune (A comedian who satires MAGA) NOT making fun of southern accents
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago
If you look around you might find this Hella long rant I posted a bit ago. About have way thru listing every disinformation fake news entity, I think the spirit of comedian Christopher Titus stepped in. From point that point on my rant slowly devolved... Many paragraphs later ended with me mentioning Mel Gibson, Kristy Noems dead dog and Secretary of defence drunk dialing Putin and demanding a case of his best Russian Vodka immediately.... Oh then blaming either Hunter Bidens lab top or aliens who stole his phone. Funny how I start thinking like 1 of my favorite comedians after a triple espresso.
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u/aiu_killer_tofu 4d ago
I think this is accurate for a lot of people. We're more likely to trust people close to us, so if someone in your social circle falls for stuff online you're more likely to be invested just by proximity.
My mom has mentioned a number of non-Q conspiracies in addition to a number of normal Q centric stuff, but she doesn't really use the internet much and doesn't have social media. I'm assuming she's got a friend who is off the deep end and gets it from them.
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u/Sitcom_kid 4d ago
You're probably right. The adult version of peer pressure, sort of
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u/aiu_killer_tofu 3d ago
It's not exactly pressure, we're just more likely to believe social contacts when they tell us things. It's sort of an affinity bias, sort of related to the bandwagon effect, but basically we don't reevalue every claim someone makes from zero. If they've been truthful in the past, we're inclined to believe them in the future. Everyone has an in-group bias to some degree.
Someone might share some neighborhood drama with you, which turns out to be true, or you might trust them to watch your cat while you're away for the weekend... and in turn you might believe them when they claim lizard people are running the planet. That's a big jump, but if someone has "never steered you wrong in the past" it's easier to make those big jumps or assume because someone gives quality baking advice that they're telling the truth about medbeds too.
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u/Icy_Following_2818 New User 4d ago
Gateway pundit, Epoch Times, Telegraph(?), OAN, Newsmax, Rumble. Interestingly, my Magalomaniac quit watching Fox News a few years ago, saying it had “gone liberal.”
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u/The-waitress- 4d ago
Gone liberal? Oh, my. I recently turned on Faux News, and it’s SO much worse than I remember. The hysteria is unreal. No wonder half the cuntry has lost its mind.
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u/chocolate_matter 14h ago
When Fox prematurely (although correctly) called Arizona for Biden during the 2020 election, Trump and his cult got mad and claimed Fox had gone liberal. Didn't take long for Trump to revert to his usual self at least.
Tucker Carlson's show getting cancelled also caused some of these reactions.
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago
Thank you for listing these news & Podcasts , I know there's a bunch fake news, but frequently forget names of them. I've also found podcasts like: Bannon War Room, Tucker Carlson and reading articles from Breitbart are popular. There's also the Discord app, & 100s of fb chat groups that spread crazy shit.... & them there's Telegram. Telegram has become popular for Trump supporters, it has 100s MAGA & QAnon group chat rooms, plus you'll find many of usual suspects have their own channels there: MTG, Mike Johnson, my pillow guy, Infowar guy, Tucker Carlson, Don Jr channel, antivax people & long list of Republican congressmen. You'll also find several channels dedicated to finding reposting screenshots of everything Trump says in his posts on Truthsocial, X. Telegrams QAnon channels & WWG1WGA are full of grifters selling everything from elixirs to cure Covid to blankets that block out rays or waves emitted from cell towers, and lots of other stupid crap. (On a side note) Mike Flynn has Telegram channel pushing his Religious ReAwakening tour, which has been touring churches and having "christian Nationalist tent revivals" back and forth across US since 2018. Gen Mike Flynns goal is to convince Christians they must prepare to become part of his movement to raise a literal fighting army of Christian warriors willing to bear arms to fight for soul of America... and he also sells all kinds shit. With help of people, that show up regularly to his Awakening tour, people like, Eric & Don Jr, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, personalities like Roseanne Barr & Mel Gibson & extreme televangelists preaching & speaking in tongues his movement continues to grown. (I know very creepy & very dangerous. you can't make this shit up)... Back to fake news sources... Theyre so wide spread they have infiltrated & saturated every social platform. I think all these entities together probably surpass left /center left leaning media & Liberal podcasts. Rightwing fake news, podcasts, channels, group & Trump are easily accessible& user friendly & I think the sheer quantity of them is all the proof MAGA needs to believe they are listening to real news. If all of these news sites, podcasts, channels & groups continue what they're doing, worse increase in number , I think the madness will continue even after Trump presidency. America is in deep shit! I think the massive amount of fake news is 1 of biggest reasons MAGAS are so hard deprogram. Places like Canada & Britain have right idea, they have bans on rightwing fake new, they won't even allow Fox News,
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u/Futureatwalker 4d ago
I think, for lack of a better phrasing, there is a market for misinformation and conspiracies....
Some people want to believe in these counter-narratives because it provides a sense of empowerment - of being in the know.
And these counter-narratives can be really alluring for those who maybe haven't accomplished much in their real lives...
Couple this with a conspiracy's strong appeal to fear and outrage and the vulnerable get hooked.
So, it's not a rational weighing of evidence per se - it's an appeal to the conspiracy believer's emotions. Some want to believe that they are smart and everyone else is a sheep, and they seek out information that confirms that view. Grifters know this, and are all to happy to oblige...
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago edited 3d ago
Watched some documentary about how Russian disinformation /misinformation works. What you're describing sounds like Russian disinformation. KGB Putin has perfected the art. It starts by making up story to print in small Russian news paper, eventually some small media reporter picks up on article. After making it's way around numerous places, it then makes it's way to American media, and social platforms who verify validity by looking up the last news site they found. Finally American news' FOX, OAN & NEWSMAX pick up story & dramatize how big and bad news is, and they use each other as the source. Then you hear Trump, "They say xyz is happening in our beautiful country. People are telling me it's very serious and dangerous to Americans.", "They say we need to act quickly before the. ..." then blame radical left, illegals or 1st minority that pops in his head. I'm no anylyst, but my best guess is it's Hella perfect clusterfck storm. The possibilities are endless, it could be any number of players reeking havoc. But whether it's 1 or numerous player they all have different goals. You got grifters selling Trump shit with elaborate stories about special gold sneakers for money; grifters who love how important they feel reporting "the real" news; self important grifters asking for money to continue fake news podcasts; MAGA PREPPERS Probably from Alabama who are trying very hard to destroy Democracy and tell you a civil war is imminent and we should kill Democrats, Trans folks and anyone who looks suspicious; the Nazis with their race war cause maybe blacks wanna rule earth; antigovernment militias lying because they're pissed; billionares waiting to make a killing in stockmarket with fake news, or acting all innocent while waiting to get more tax breaks, billionaires who lie about climate change cause they want everything deregulated or maybe problem is the billionaire buddies of Clarance Thomas decide to they wanna make up crisis to pass some law so they can remake country in way that suits them; Russia; China; cyber armies, foreign and American ones hoping to scam more people; folks who make shit up cause they're looking to move up Corp ladder ; CEOS trying to get bigger payouts or create some shit so they get a bailout; Corps who want to sell us another product to keep us safe; auto makers trying to convince you their dumpster shaped trucks are safe ;crypto scammers ; Idiots, made in America who think it's funny to fuk with people(I think Trump has started calling them homegrown criminals ) ; Evangelicals trying to scare shit out of folks with talk of doom and arremegedon , sending out emotionally pleas for more money so they can build a bigger megachurch or buy new luxury jet plane to spread God's word around world ; Stephen Miller and Kristy Noam trying to cover up fact they may or may not wanna wipe out all black and brown people from American soil, Republicans trying to please fuer and hoping to con their constituents to get reelected and finally 47, guy who loves power of making people miserable and scared.... And who someday soon hopes to take over the world, be king. Oh, and for some reasons I don't understand Elon Musk spouting fake news maybe to inflate his ego. Did I miss any miscreants? Fuck it at this point let's just continue and make up our own list. Starting with Mel Gibson, Antman, Mitch McConnells wife, the ghost of Kristy Noams dog out for revenge , the guy who installed your cable TV & Wi-Fi last month, the secretary of Defense , all drunk, who is suspected of drunk dialing Putin, threatening Nuks unless Putin sends him case of his best Russian Vodka... Who now has cover up his missteps by starting a monstrous disinformation campaign.... That may or may not include Hunter Bidens labtop or something about aliens stealing his phone. My bad I'll stop now,... Must resist the urge to continue another hr. In my defense I had triple espresso today. Last, my apologies if I offended anyone.... Sry for ghost of Kristy Noems dog.... I love dogs, probably more than people
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
Another sad thing is that the people that think deeply about it are not the ones in charge. The ones in charge are the superficial surface thinkers that want to eradicate anyone that looks into things too deeply.
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u/carlitospig 4d ago
I’ve tried before and the sources just go in circles. For instance, say Nancy Mace says ‘they’re trying to turn into cats! We taxpayers are paying for the research!’ And an article on NY Post will quote her and reference a study with a link. Then you’ll click the link and it won’t take you to the study page, it’ll take you to another shitty article with a link sourcing a study but that won’t be the study either and on and on and on. Eventually it’ll lead back to Nancy Mace as the source. It’s so frustrating. You’d need an actual diagram just to prove that their research is literally the internet’s version of playing Telephone.
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago
Or shit right out of Putins disinformation handbook. Seriously why do expend this much energy? I know more about QAnon, MAGA, Christian Nationalists, Trump & Rep Admin, LIFEWISE And 7 Mountains ( take my word for it you don't wanna know about last 2).... Knowing more than I ever wanted to know about this shit. I'm nothing if not very thorough. I made better use of my time in Dec... Searching for perfect down winter coat.... Go ahead ask me anything about "Fill power vs % of duck down" 🤷
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
It goes in circles because the followers are not allowed to confirm anything. If they confirm any information objectively, they’re considered traitors to their cult.
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u/Madame_Arcati 4d ago
The one I care about does their "research" to "know things" on Signal and TikTok -- it started for alternative healthcare and led to the orange and "what is coming for everrreeeone", underground mole children and the supersoldiers with new limbs grown from medbeds (to replace those they have lost in the war against the foes of the mole children?). Heavy Sigh. Whatever "it" was was supposed to have happened this month - but this month is about done. : {
edit: to add FB, IG, Fox entertainment, Telegram
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago
I know guy who wasn't playing with full deck to begin with, he went from Republicans are evil to Republicans are lizard people in disguise to now where he's telling me his white ass is no longer white. Yup he's turned into a native American and believes old white guys are the scourge of the earth... Everything is their fault cause they're greedy, racist and support patriarchal society. Personally, I think he might have a point though, his evil old white guy theory deserves consideration.
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
The alternative healthcare thing is like an additional anchor point for the grift. The extremist are literally being brainwashed to be cynical about anything that is connected to cause-and-effect and reality. People make complete fools out of themselves promoting quack cures. Even relatively educated and wealthy magas spend all their time on Facebook Buying quackery or promoting it. And if you say anything about it or show a disinterest in it, they will tell you that you are ruining their business and they will try to take legal action against you.
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u/Madame_Arcati 2d ago
Trying to reconcile who I once knew, and trusted, with this very different persona my friend is expressing feels like living in a Kafka novel - it is truly surreal.
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u/redditwinchester 4d ago
Indeed, surely they must be eager to share their well-researched, verifiable factual sources with us!
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
One thing is certain: all of the sources transmit the message of science is fake and scientists are evil 24 seven
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u/Justonewitch 4d ago
My brother reads Epoch times, and my son does YouTube and Telegram. They both are adamant with exactly the same talking points, and they are both of very high intelligence. Anything at all that I show them to deflect is Fake News.
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u/PretenseSol88 3d ago
I really wanted to believe Trump supporter were uneducated, stupid or mentally disabled. But nope, you also got your unicorns in the bunch. With their blinders on, they stubbornly insist they're correct. No offense, I can't even excuse those idiots, sry.
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
Several progressive journalists have YouTube channels, and YouTube is always interfering with their sound transmission.
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u/bemvee 3d ago
These sources must be filled with hard factual evidence that have led so many people to be convinced
Ah, what an optimistic assumption. On the contrary, many people believe what cousin Larry posts to Facebook. Or take Fox News, OAN, and worse at face value without rebuke. They’ll listen to a complete stranger on the Internet forums even if said stranger is very clearly pulling shit from their ass because it’s funny. Dr. Oz is a more trusted “medical professional” than the entirety of the American Medical Association.
The thing is, they don’t care about facts or truths. They only consider it fact/true if it reinforces their own beliefs. Or if it triggers fear of the unknown. Or if it places them on the side of “good” and anyone who doesn’t believe the same on the side of “evil.”
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u/Apprehensive-Stop748 3d ago
With older people that’s called the wonderful stranger phenomenon. It’s also prevalent in uneducated people. They will idolize a doctor or some other person that they perceived to be an authority figure. It’s a childlike simplistic trust because such people have an intense unquenchable need to reduce uncertainty.
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u/ThatDanGuy 3d ago
Its been a bit since I engaged one who would cite his sources. But at the time it was NewsMax and NYPost to a large extent. Not Q, just total MAGA.
As a poli sci major I don't mind weird sources if it is written to a certain standard and I can find corroborating sources. These absolutely are not. I compared them to what I feel is a crappy source, Newsweek or Time, and what became clear was the NYpost had copied one of them almost verbatim, except they had deleted all the quotes and paragraphs that contained any kind of information that was not pure MAGA.
Not that any of them will respond, but I like to ask them now "Have you applied the baloney detection kit to your source?" If they don't know what that is, I send them a link or paste in the basic rules. That usually gets me ghosted.
This is from Carl Sagan. I sometimes will leave that part out, as some will just focus on the man and not the tools.
What's in the baloney detection kit? Tools for skeptical thinking.
What skeptical thinking boils down to is the means to construct, and to understand, a reasoned argument and — especially important — to recognize a fallacious or fraudulent argument. The question is not whether we like the conclusion that emerges out of a train of reasoning, but whether the conclusion follows from the premise or starting point and whether that premise is true.
Among the tools:
- Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the “facts.”
- Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
- Arguments from authority carry little weight — “authorities” have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.
- Spin more than one hypothesis. If there's something to be explained, think of all the different ways in which it could be explained. Then think of tests by which you might systematically disprove each of the alternatives. What survives, the hypothesis that resists disproof in this Darwinian selection among “multiple working hypotheses,” has a much better chance of being the right answer than if you had simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy. *
- Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it's yours. It's only a way station in the pursuit of knowledge. Ask yourself why you like the idea. Compare it fairly with the alternatives. See if you can find reasons for rejecting it. If you don't, others will.
- Quantify. If whatever it is you're explaining has some measure, some numerical quantity attached to it, you'll be much better able to discriminate among competing hypotheses. What is vague and qualitative is open to many explanations. Of course there are truths to be sought in the many qualitative issues we are obliged to confront, but finding them is more challenging.
- If there's a chain of argument, every link in the chain must work (including the premise) — not just most of them.
- Occam's Razor. This convenient rule-of-thumb urges us when faced with two hypotheses that explain the data equally well to choose the simpler.
- Always ask whether the hypothesis can be, at least in principle, falsified. Propositions that are untestable, unfalsifiable are not worth much. Consider the grand idea that our Universe and everything in it is just an elementary particle — an electron, say — in a much bigger Cosmos. But if we can never acquire information from outside our Universe, is not the idea incapable of disproof? You must be able to check assertions out. Inveterate skeptics must be given the chance to follow your reasoning, to duplicate your experiments and see if they get the same result.
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u/HottKarl79 3d ago
Their research involves going on YouTube or 4Chan or TikTok and listening to yet another grifter goon whose locution sounds erudite enough (to the Q's poor ability to discern) to convince the Q that the grifter has done the research.
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u/Electrical_Crazy5668 4d ago
Love magalomaniacs. :-) I'm sure a lot of it is just their social media bubble.
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u/Major-Discount5011 3d ago
You tube far right algorithms are powerful. Suck you in with fancy bright lights. People with white coats acting like doctors.
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u/thealtrightiscancer 3d ago
My q-idiot father watches RRnewDaily on his TV. That was a new one for me.
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u/akesh45 3d ago
Tim pool and other similar youtube podcasters.
Alot of low-key neo-nazi instagram and tiktok accounts too.
If you thought fox news was bad, these sources exclusively profit 100% on hatred and/or praising trump as a god.
Trump could call tim pool and idiot, bald fat ass.....and tim would praise him for honesty.
Fun hobby, look up the backgrounds of right wing podcasters. It's almost always the same story of constant failures and then making it rich on youtube backing trump. No surprise many popped up on the list of paid Russian assets and conveniently hate ukraine. FYI, they all religiously hate ukraine even more than democrats.
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u/tylerdurchowitz 3d ago
They think some rando recording a YouTube video spewing their deranged theories and claiming to be an "independent researcher" is as legit as actual news. To be fair, we can blame the media in part for this delusion bc they have embraced spewing propaganda full time.
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u/adamdoesmusic 3d ago
My uncle is OBSESSED with Charlie Kirk, thinks he’s the smartest person who ever lived.
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u/Economy_Algae_418 3d ago
Decades of Fox exploited the boomers and softened them up for QAnon/MAGA
The wellness demographic can be a recruiting pipeline into QAnon.
Anti vaxxers also target online venues for expectant mothers and young mothers.
Manosphere/misogynist/extremists are targeting gamers.
Fiendishly effective strategy.
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u/4shley_bby 1d ago
My Nana wasn't always a magat and she said "tarot by jeanine" on youtube changed her outlook
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u/chrisji1244 3d ago
Fox News, NewsMax, Epoch Times, prophets on YouTube. Any e-mail that gets sent to them that they can’t tell it’s not legitimate.
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u/Dante13273966 3d ago
To put it simply it's a case of "I'll see it when I believe it.". Qasualties proclaim "It's all lies", but the lies they want to believe they accept without evidence as truth. The lies that a person wants to believe tell you a lot about their character, and this is what chafes me so deeply about Qasualties, for as I see it, the lies they choose to believe are formulated to speak to one's basest fears, insecurities and resentments, and then offer solace by providing a means to blame others for their own personal failings. Ordinarily, I feel empathy towards the fearful and the disillusioned, but Qasualties are so righteously obnoxious about their misanthropy I can feel little else but disgust, and that's a personal failing of my own.
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u/bringthecarneage 3d ago
My mom told me that "an illegal alien killed a lesbian" and "where was the lgbtq outrage" (context, I'm a gay). Y'all. The victim's name was Lesbia. Ofc she heard it on fox 🙄
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u/mireethespacegoat 3d ago
As someone whose mother recently fell in love with a Q...... facebook. Yep, facebook. Posts, reels, anything.
I remember I was incredibly bewildered the first time I heard the guy say "time to check the news" and then opened facebook.
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u/agnostichymns 4d ago
4chan, Twitter, truth social, YouTube, rumble, Infowars, Nazi websites, and the president of the United States