Apophenia

 Recently, some of my FB friends have been pushing a couple of films/videos on the insidious way AI is used on FB to sell stuff. I haven’t watched them, because my friends’ reports tell me there’s nothing surprising or pernicious going on.

OTOH, QAnon is a pernicious phenomenon. People with guns are being told that their fellow Americans are pedophiles and, in some cases, have acted violently because of it. To me, the QAnon phenomenon—that so many people are willing to embrace deeply nonsensical and dangerous beliefs—has been surprising in 21st century America. Then, I read this link posted by FB friend Shane Dyer, and I guess I should no longer be surprised. QAnon has been using well-tested gamer techniques to motivate people to abandon critical thinking and Occam’s razor in favor of exotic and implausible plotlines.

“In fact, the difference between apophenia and science is just the scientific process and the reliance on proof [actually no, science doesn’t rely on “proof,” it relies on the weight of evidence and falsifiable hypotheses—JCE]. People make the connection before they know for a fact if it’s real or not. Maybe it is apophenia, maybe not. It’s a hypothesis. A theory. THEN YOU TEST IT. The facts determine the outcome and then, whether it feels good or not, you accept them. Even scientists may not want to let go of a good theory that just isn’t panning out. The feeling of correctness is over-powering. This is why people need to have peer-reviews. Colleagues need to be able to replicate results. Solutions need to be tested and the facts harnessed.

“In Q, the proof is more apophenia! Another arrow in the dirt in an endless cycle back to the central propaganda. It has to because there is no truth. The answer is whatever feels the best, makes the most sense, and helps the story. Any truth is just fuel for the propaganda and reinforces the conclusions of the apophenia and central narrative.”

If you are frightened by the benign information gathering of FB, you should be very frightened by this article. Yes, I know you can’t just watch a slickly produced film or video, you have to read. There are plenty of links, if you want to follow up. But I believe it will repay the effort.

https://medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analysis-of-qanon-580972548be5