New conspiracism weaponizes reality disputes as a demand for public assent

Evidence

The details of QAnon illustrate how the new conspiracism has brought us into a fight over the basic elements of reality and prompt the disorienting recognition that common sense is no longer common. What we see at a Trump rally where people hold up Q signs is not only the fact that we inhabit different realities but also an indicator of the intention of some to make their distorted sense of reality a public affair. QAnon is not dispassionate; it is the fighting face of the most bizarre conspiracist narratives in politics. What if QAnon or a concoction like it spreads? What if the question QAnon followers ask at the Trump rallies—“Are you with us?”—takes hold in electoral politics? What if the demand is made of candidates and officials to affirm this compromised account of reality? What if challenges to common sense increase and increasingly shape political life? — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 306

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The move from ‘we inhabit different realities’ to ‘making distorted reality a public affair’ names a distinct mechanism: conspiracism as coercive demand for affirmation, not just error.
• SEED: The demand ‘are you with us?’ forced on candidates is a real test of democratic legitimacy worth framing as an essay on consent under epistemic pressure.
• XREF: connects to: New and classic conspiracism share urgency but differ fundamentally. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 51; Conspiracism shifts attention from solvable public problems toward endless revelation — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 93; New conspiracism floats allegations disconnected from observable reality — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 64 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality #expands (0.95) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 373
• Conspiracism differs from bullshit in its emphatic demand for affirmation #corroborates (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 166
• New conspiracism abandons explanatory theory and targets democratic legitimacy #complicates (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 11