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Comment by gimboland | Hacker News Reader

Interestingly, it's not just conservatives. I'm in the UK, and some of the circles I move in are a bit "hippy" (and thus not conservative/right wing at all) and some of those folks are absolutely lapping it up. It is bewildering to see.

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Right, it's infected the anti-vax and supplements community.

Of course. These conspiracies depend on how schizotypical people are. People who are more “fantasy prone” are more likely to believe in magic, the supernatural, aliens and various other kinds of woo. It’s hardly surprising that hippie types should be included - what is the fundamental difference between believing in crystal healing and laylines and believing qanon? There’s no rational basis for either.

It’s interesting to see how it swings the same way again. I hear the ‘masks are bad’ mantra from both the most right, and most left wing components of people I know.

> I hear the ‘masks are bad’ mantra from both the most right, and most left wing components of people I know.

"Masks are bad" was the official government policy in Nordic countries up until August. And still is in Sweden.

Fascinating. What kind of stuff? The whole qanon deal?

In Finland, QAnon is known to gain support in yoga studios and among people who are into wellness and alternative medicine.

https://www.is.fi/menaiset/ilmiot/art-2000006672495.html

Not so much that (I think Q has thus far been mainly a US phenomenon, though it _is_ making inroads here apparently), but mainly I'm seeing stuff around covid being a hoax and/or a control ploy, forced vaccinations, tracking chip injections, Agenda 21, Bill Gates, etc. — all that stuff. It sort of makes sense in a group of people tending to favour "natural" stuff (some of whom were also antivax tbh) but it's been surprising how far it's gone, and how fast, with some of them.

Yes I'm in the UK too. I have family members who believe the whole Bill Gates mircochip injections, 5G causing COVID, anti-vax nonsence. My experience is people who loose control of their own lives (job lose, health, etc) seem to grip onto all these conspiracies, as if to try and explain their bad luck.

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