Deep Disagreement and the QAnon Conspiracy Theory

...Conspiracy theories typically are based in accounts of secret dealings that not only run contrary to widely accepted views but are also evidentially sealed off from them. Because conspiracy theories are built around a contrast between what is widely believed and what is known only by those with special access to the truth, they can thrive only among a community of conspiracy believers. Accordingly, what outsiders present as evidence against the conspiracy theory gets explained away by those on the inside. Purported evidence against the conspiracy theory is often transformed into further evidence that those on the outside are deluded, duped, and gullible. In the end, conspiracy theories thrive partly because in adopting them, one adopts the view that all possible evidence confirms the theory. We can say, then, that it is part of the nature of conspiracy theories to be epistemically sealed in this way.

So it is with QAnon...

Scott Aikin & Robert Talisse

https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2021/01/deep-disagreement-and-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory.html