Prevagen. Healthier Brain. Better Life.
Better Life. >>> ALL RIGHT.
SO THE CONSPIRACY GROUP WHOSE
THEORIES MAKE ALIEN INVADER
CLAIMS SOUND MORE MAINSTREAM
JUST SHOWED IT HAS MORE SELLING
POWER THAN ANYONE’S GUESS.
QANON’S BOOK SHOT TO NUMBER ONE
ON AMAZON’S BEST HE WILL ISSELLE
THE CATEGORY OF POLITICS.
QANON GRABBED THE SPOTLIGHT WHEN
THEY BEGAN SHOWING UP AT
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RALLIES.
EXPLAIN THIS TO US.
FIRST OF ALL, WE CAN JOKE A
LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE
CONSPIRACY THEORIES.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES. BUT THERE IS AN UNDERLYING ISSUE
THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED HERE
WHICH IS HOW CONSPIRACY THEORIES
LIKE THIS CAN GET MADE,
MATERIALIZE, AND ULTIMATELY HAVE
TRACTION WITH A LARGE PART OF
OUR SOCIETY.
OUR SOCIETY. >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. AND WRITE THIS OFF AT YOUR OWN
RISK, BY THE WAY.
TWO MONTHS AGO A GUY MURDERED
HIS BROTHER BECAUSE HE WAS ON A
QANON FORUM SAYING HE WOULD TAKE
OUT THE I WILLLLUMINATI.
IT REALLY HAPPENED.
ANOTHER MAN POSTED A QANON VIDEO
TO HIS PARENT’S ACCOUNT.
THIS SORT OF THING IS
EVERYWHERE.
EVERYWHERE. UNFORTUNATELY A LOT MORE PEOPLE
BELIEVE IN THIS THAN YOU THINK
THEY DO.
THEY DO. WHILE IT IS WILD AND INSANE TO
US THAT PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT
HILLARY CLINTON IS LITERALLY
EATING CHILDREN, IT ISN’T TOO A
LOT OF PEOPLE, BECAUSE THE
ALGORITHMS TARGET VULNERABLE
PEOPLE AND THEY GET SWEPT UP
INTO IT.
INTO IT. >> LET ME READ THIS TO YOU.
THIS IS FROM YOUR WRITING.
QANON BASELESSLY CLAIMS THAT THE
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CREATED
AIDS, POLIO, LYME DISEASE, SOME
NATURAL DISASTERS, TWO INDIANA
JONES MOVIES.
JONES MOVIES. HOW DID THE BOOK GET ON AMAZON’S
RECOMMENDED BOOKS PAGE IN THE
FIRST PLACE AND ULTIMATELY DO
YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO HOW
THE ALGORITHM WORKS?
IS IT PURELY A POPULARITY ISSUE
OR IS IT HAPPENING ON THE DARK
WEB WHERE PEOPLE ARE CLICKING ON
IT AND IT’S DRIVING SALES?
>> SURE.
>> SURE. WHAT THESE GUYS DO IS FIND THESE
ALGORITHMIC BLACK BOXES.
IT USED TO BE THIS WAY ON
YOUTUBE, PEOPLE WOULD GAME THE
ALGORITHM.
ALGORITHM. THERE’S NO WAY TO FIND OUT HOW
MUCH THAT SPREAD.
THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING ON
AMAZON.
AMAZON. WE DON’T KNOW WHO IS BEING
RECOMMENDED WHAT.
RECOMMENDED WHAT. WHEN WE ASKED AMAZON ABOUT IT,
THEY DIDN’T RESPOND TO US.
SO YOUTUBE HAS DONE SOME WORK,
FACEBOOK HAS TOO, NOW AMAZON IS
THE NEXT PHASE FOR THEM.
THIS IS WRITTEN BY A DOZEN
PEOPLE IN THIS MOVEMENT WHO ARE
EFFECTIVELY ANONYMOUS BUT THEY
KNOW HOW TO GAME THESE SYSTEMS
TO MAKE IT SO THESE VULNERABLE
PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
WHO ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THIS
GARBAGE, AND THEY FEED IT
DIRECTLY TO THEM.
>> A LOT OF PEOPLE MAY HAVE
FIRST HEARD ABOUT QANON IN THE
CONTEXT OF THE 2016 ELECTION.
THEY POPPED UP IN SOME OF
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RALLIES.
HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING MORE
ABOUT THE GROUP, THEIR POLITICAL
ORIENTATION, THEIR IDENTITY, AND
MORE IMPORTANTLY, DO WE KNOW WHO
SHINED
SHINED BEHIND THIS BOOK, WHO WROTE IT,
WHO IS FINANCIALLY BENEFITING
FROM THESE SALES?
>> SURE.
>> SURE. THE STATED AUTHOR IS A PHRASE,
IT’S MORE THAN ONE PERSON.
SOME OF THEM SELL STUFF, THEY
SELL TRINKETS AND STUPID STUFF
LIKE THAT.
LIKE THAT. AT THE HEART OF THIS IS
MERCHANDISE GRAFT, THAT’S WHAT
THIS IS.