Joseph Matheny's Blog, page 15

If QAnon Is a Game, How Do You Stop Playing?

This is Part II of our look at QAnon.  Click here  for Part I. As part of the  NYU/StartEd New Media Accelerator , we are joining with faculty from the NYU Carter Journalism Institute to talk about QAnon Friday, Feb. 19  on Clubhouse . Join us!

The U.S. Capitol was just another part of the gameboard. (: LA Times)

Ever hear of Ong’s Hat? Not the charming little town in New Jersey that we all know and love, but the internet conspiracy. Actually, Ong’s Hat is most likely the first internet conspiracy, which is interesting because it started well before the internet was even in the hands of the average citizen. Today, many credit the sprawling, transmedia experiment — and its foundational documents known as The Incunabla Papers — as the first Alternative Reality Game (ARG), creating the template for massive experiential mysteries underwritten by sources as unlikely as Brigham Young University, Microsoft, and the rock band Twenty-One Pilots. Ong’s Hat was a much less coordinated affair, beginning as crude Xeroxed pamphlets, then skipping around on zines delivered in the mail, radio, bulletin boards, CD-ROM, and back to the internet. While the ghost town that gave the game its name is real, the science fiction tale that lurched around for years, involving Princeton scientists, quantum theory, multi-dimensional travel, and much more, is a work of collaborative fiction by a small group of outsiders and pranksters. But this long-forgotten experiment has become relevant again because it gives us clues into what’s going on with some of the most politically and socially radicalized people in the world.

The January 6 deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol was energized by many people who follow QAnon to varying degrees. Last month, we wrote that understanding the movement in religious or cultish terms was a seductive mistake, and that it’s best understood as an ARG that has a found purchase with huge swaths of alienated and postmodern Americans. While most games are harmless, Ong’s Hat turned quite dark before its chief storyteller shut it down, and we’d argue that the real-world violence coming from QAnon disciples is following that same arc. Hopefully, there are some lessons in previous experiments like Ong’s Hat that can help us blunt the destructive force of this movement, avoid more violence, and bring people back to a shared reality and basic set of facts.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE: https://medium.com/caseworx/if-qanon-is-a-game-how-do-you-stop-playing-1489a388de75

Joseph Matheny Appears on How Conspiracy Theories Become Violent | Truth Hurts | VICE

https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/vice-how-conspiracy-theories-become-violent/5fcfa4408b7fc464401542c3?jwsource=cl

I made an appearance on VICE’s Truth Hurts series discussing the danger of right-wing conspiracy cults and why this is not a new phenomenon.

What’s the difference between someone who’s into conspiracy theories and someone who’s so influenced by them they become a mass shooter? From white supremacist Anders Breivik to jihadist Tamerlan Tsarneav, some of the perpetrators of the worst acts of mass killing around the world have been enthralled by certain conspiracy theories. In this episode of Truth Hurts, we look at the tipping point in the conspiracist mindset that can turn people violent.

Watch more from this series:

Where Conspiracy Theorists Steal Their Ideas From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4hpedzjQZ8

The Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory in the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7o3bVInA2A

Coming Soon: Highly Strange

We’re producing our first original on high strangeness. In it we explore the psyche of “strange” through the stories of three people in highly strange situations.

Season One – “Information Golem” looks at the life of Joseph Matheny as he dreams up what perhaps becomes the world’s first online ARG (Alternative Reality Game) known as Ong’s Hat. Launched in the ’90s as an innocent social experiment around story and information, things quickly went left of field. The oddities that surrounded Ong’s Hat are curiosities Joseph still struggles to understand to this day. Joseph has gotten a lot of attention lately from the press because of the Qanon craziness and the White House uprising. More recently he was featured on Slate Magazine’s Decoder Ring series. Also, there’s news of an upcoming Netflix feature on conspiracy creation he’ll appear in. His story touches on the issues that seem to dovetail at the volcanic crossroads where personality and mental health meets randomness and free information. Lots of unruly yet relevant questions get born there.

Listen to “Highly Strange” on Spreaker.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/41996383

Joseph Matheny & Prop Anon expose QAnon

Joseph Matheny, creator of Ong’s Hat, the world’s first Alternative Reality Game speaks with Prop Anon about QAnon, Robert Anton Wilson, Ong’s Hat, and how to survive the fast approaching wave of techno-mindfuckery that will arrive with increased technological development

http://www.prop-anon.com/

https://www.patreon.com/posts/46836443

The Mystery of Ong’s Hat – 3V Off The Books

Today the gang is diving into one of the OG internet conspiracy theories. The mystery of Ong’s Hat. But the real mystery is why did the gang decide to record this drunk? The world may never know.

https://jmatheny.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/ongshat_offthebooks.mp3

LINK TO SHOW: https://soundcloud.com/3vpodcast/the-mystery-of-ongs-hat-3v-off-the-books

Get your “It’s Time for Science” shirt at 3vpodcast.com also be sure to follow us on all the socials @3VPodcast!

Thanks for listening! If you liked this episode be sure to leave us a five star (or not) review! Also if you have any feedback or ideas for future episodes be sure to hit us up! Thanks again and have a kickass day!paranormalPodcasttrue crime3v podcaongsinternet mysteryongmysteryComedydrunkconstheoryconspiracy theoryThe Mystery of Ong’s Hat – 3V Off The Books by 3V Podcast is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

Ong’s Hat and the construction of a suspicious model reader

It’s refreshing to see someone make an attempt to understand what I was trying to do with Ong’s Hat and it’s encouraging to see them get it mostly right. Too many so-called journalists have focused on the more sensationalist aspects of my attempt, in the early days of the Internet, at an avant-garde art installation that was not constrained by space and time. 

In this paper, I have brought together concepts from media studies and semiotics of interpretation in an attempt to analyze a complex media phenomenon and its unforeseen persuasive power. This analysis could be built upon to analyze similar phenomena such as conspiracy theories and fake news.

Link to the full paper: https://letreraria.com/2019/01/13/ongs-hat-and-the-construction-of-a-suspicious-model-reader/

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Paranoids’ Game Night!

In this action-packed episode of FAILED STATE UPDATE, I break out a certain conspiracy theory-themed trivia board game (“Conspiracy Theory” by Neddy Games) and host an action-packed competition between four fascinating dudes. Come for the conspiracy questions! Stay for the learned discursions! With internet celebrities Joseph Matheny, JG Michael and Jon Marsh (and one international man of mystery, Kirk ‘Mad Dog’ Cooke).

https://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/staging/2020-10-16/ea0912e2-b354-53b4-7ff7-3150ef705aa8.mp3

Show page: https://anchor.fm/failedstateupdate/episodes/27–Paranoids-Game-Night-emipo4/a-a3s6k0a

Conspiracy Theory by Neddy Games: https://shopneddy.com/products/conspiracy-theory-trivia-board-game

Jonathan Marsh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/erieforage

Jon’s Construction Dorks podcast: https://www.constructiondorks.com/

Joseph Matheny homepage: https://josephmatheny.com/

JG Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ViewsParallax

JG’s podcast, Parallax Views: https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/

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Coincidence Control Network: File #100 – The Centennial

We welcome back some friendly faces, Matheny reveals he’s involved in every weird story we can bring up, and we discuss why the internet isn’t fun anymore.

https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/download/mpugra/CCN-100.mp3

Featuring: Ken Eakins, Joseph Matheny, Joe Nolan, Lil Ray, and Ted Heistman.

Show page: https://sittingnow.co.uk/coincidence-control-network-file-100-the-centennial/

Links:

Mexico’s devil castle overrun by Satanists

Quantum Jumping Cup Method

Books Matheny recommends:
Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller
Pale Horse Rider: William Cooper, the Rise of Conspiracy, and the Fall of Trust in America by Mark Jacobson
In our Place of Quarantine by Joseph L. Flatley

Youtubers are retarded. Randonautica. + retardation ken

Sex Drugs and Chess – The Queen’s Gambit and Deep Blue Down the Rabbit Hole

Also, The Great Chess Movie, and Bobby Fischer Against the World

Also this article about chess and insanity 

3Pac Documentary is live

Werner Herzog on chickens 

Black Tapes podcast
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward podcast

 
Coincidence Control Network

Did An Alternate Reality Game Gone Wrong Predict The Rise of QAnon?

In this fragment of SCHISM we interview the creator of ‘Ong’s Hat’, the first Alternate Reality Game, and ask what his experiences can teach us about the rise of QAnon. Is it possible that the ability to co-create and distribute our own narratives about reality could be altering its basic fabric? And has Noam Chomsky’s concept of ‘manufactured consent’ produced by centralized authority and corporate media now been outmoded by a new era of ‘manufactured dissent’, powered by networks, meme culture and supercharged shitposting?

LINK: https://youtu.be/brijcd-8oWE

Episode sponsored by Joystream, the video platform DAO: https://joystream.org   Support us on Patreon https://patreon.com/schismfilm   Credits, references & more http://schism.film/illusorytruths   Help share this episode, earn goodies: http://mop.to/schism3          

More Gunderson, Finders, QAnon, et. al

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Back by popular demand, this episode features more dirt on Ted Gunderson. It starts out pretty straightforward, with digital forensic investigator Ed Opperman talking about his experience with the disgraced former FBI agent. Then public satanist Lucien Greaves talks a bit about his investigations into the Satanic Panic, including his experiences with ol’ Ted. Finally, Joseph Matheny comes on for a wide-ranging chat about QAnon, the Finders as metaprogramming, the gameplay-theater-ceremonial magick nexus, and more! Things start out pretty down-to-earth, but by the end of the episode, there is plenty of esoterica for you to chew on. Get ready to have your mind blown, then press play…

But for chrissake, if you haven’t listened to the previous episode (24), please be sure to, so you don’t get too lost…

Listen now: https://anchor.fm/failedstateupdate/episodes/25–More-Gunderson–Finders–QAnon–et–al-elcm3k/a-a3k0etn