QAnon Is More Important Than You Think - American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase.

" To look at QAnon is to see not just a conspiracy theory but the birth of a new religion." QAnon is emblematic of modern America’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories, and its enthusiasm for them. But, it is much more than a loose collection of conspiracy-minded chat-room inhabitants. It is a movement united in mass rejection of reason, objectivity, and other Enlightenment values. The group harnesses paranoia to fervent hope and a deep sense of belonging. The way it breathes life into an ancient preoccupation with end-times is also radically new. The power of the internet was understood early on, but the full nature of that power—its ability to shatter any semblance of shared reality, undermining civil society and democratic governance in the process—was not. The internet also enabled unknown individuals to reach masses of people, at a scale Marshall McLuhan never dreamed of.