I try to keep in mind that if a con looks obvious to me, I'm just not the kind of mark the con was designed for. Why will a fish bite on bait that doesn't look edible to me? Because it looks delicious to them. It was made to look delicious to them though a long process of trial and error.

For a long while I was fascinated that people could get caught up in cults. It was very much not the kind of thing I would fall for. So I read a bunch of memoirs from people who had left/escaped cults and eventually it made a lot of sense to me. I would still never fall for one, but I can see how they take advantage of basic human drives and the weaknesses of their particular kind of victim.

I'm more interested in how I (apparently) avoided it all.

Methinks it's because I got it out of the way early on. I definitely have had my own phases for occult, religion, conspiracies, MLM, alcohol, outrage addiction, counter cultural impulses, protests, etc.

Further, I once thought I'd get into journalism, did student radio & TV, wrote for a bit.

I think seeing how the sausage is made, learning the craft, helps one develop an immunity.

Having a contrarian reading list probably helped. For example, Robert Anton Wilson and stuff like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius

Equating journalism with QAnon and recommending “contrarian reading” seems strange advise for avoiding conspiracy theories.

Early is the keyword. I got through a lot of conspiracy / UFO stuff as a kid, the way others go through paranormal phases. I outgrew it, just as I outgrew Santa.

Robert Anton Wilson is also good, because he presents all this stuff clearly marked as fiction.

What?

My advice is to study the techniques, to better guard against them. This much is obvious, no?

Though illustrative, I acknowledge The Illuminati and the Subgenius stuff are not very accessible.

Thank You for Smoking https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944 and Network https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958 are probably more your speed.