Audiobook9 hours
Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational
Written by Michael Shermer
Narrated by Michael Shermer
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Best-selling author Michael Shermer presents an overarching theory of conspiracy theories—who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them.
Nothing happens by accident, everything is connected, and there are no coincidences: that is the essence of conspiratorial thinking. Long a fringe part of the American political landscape, conspiracy theories are now mainstream: 147 members of Congress voted in favor of objections to the 2020
presidential election based on an unproven theory about a rigged electoral process promoted by the mysterious group QAnon. But this is only the latest example in a long history of ideas that include the satanic panics of the 1980s, the New World Order and Vatican conspiracy theories, fears about
fluoridated water, speculations about President John F. Kennedy's assassination, and the notions that the Sandy Hook massacre was a false-flag operation and 9/11 was an inside job.
In Conspiracy, Michael Shermer presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories—who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them. Trust in conspiracy theories, he writes, cuts across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status—and even
political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged (LBJ's 1948 Senate race); medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care (Tuskegee); your
government does lie to you (Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Afghanistan); and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits.
This engaging book will be an important read for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who's watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking.
A supplemental PDF is included with this audiobook.
Nothing happens by accident, everything is connected, and there are no coincidences: that is the essence of conspiratorial thinking. Long a fringe part of the American political landscape, conspiracy theories are now mainstream: 147 members of Congress voted in favor of objections to the 2020
presidential election based on an unproven theory about a rigged electoral process promoted by the mysterious group QAnon. But this is only the latest example in a long history of ideas that include the satanic panics of the 1980s, the New World Order and Vatican conspiracy theories, fears about
fluoridated water, speculations about President John F. Kennedy's assassination, and the notions that the Sandy Hook massacre was a false-flag operation and 9/11 was an inside job.
In Conspiracy, Michael Shermer presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories—who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them. Trust in conspiracy theories, he writes, cuts across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status—and even
political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged (LBJ's 1948 Senate race); medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care (Tuskegee); your
government does lie to you (Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Afghanistan); and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits.
This engaging book will be an important read for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who's watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking.
A supplemental PDF is included with this audiobook.
Author
Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University. Alex Grobman is President of the Institute for Contemporary Jewish Life and the Brenn Institute.
Related to Conspiracy
Related audiobooks
The Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ape that Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Irrationality: A History of the Dark Side of Reason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Necessity Of Atheism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Open Society and Its Enemies: New One-Volume Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Free Will Explained: How Science and Philosophy Converge to Create a Beautiful Illusion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grand Unified Theory of Bullshit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Morality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War on Science: Who's waging it, why it matters, what we can do about it. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Post-Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Propaganda For You
Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King in Orange: The Magical and Occult Roots of Political Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Pravda: My Fight for Truth in the Era of Fake News Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Propaganda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism, and Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Right and You're an Idiot - 2nd Edition: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How They Are Washing Your Brain and Controling Your Mind: Explaining Propaganda and Thought Modification Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Propaganda Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Psychology: The Power of Psychopathy, Control, and Manipulation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Psychology: How to Avoid Manipulation and Become a Human Lie Detector Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Psychology: Seeing through Manipulation, Blackmail, and Psychotic Mind Control Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood - and America - Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Need New Stories: The Myths that Subvert Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Psychology: How Brainwashing, Narcissism, and Persuasion Influence Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of “The Big Lie” Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5American Injustice: My Battle to Expose the Truth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWeak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Conspiracy
Rating: 4.142857128571428 out of 5 stars
4/5
7 ratings0 reviews