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Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories

What We Should and Shouldn't Believe - and Why

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Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories

By: Michael Shermer, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Michael Shermer
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Summary

Millions of Americans buy into conspiracy theories. Did you know that...

  • 81 percent of Americans believe more than one person was responsible for the assassination of John F. Kennedy?
  • 1/3 of this country thinks 9/11 was an “inside job” by the Bush administration?
  • 21 percent believes aliens crash-landed in Roswell and are being hidden in Area 51?
  • 7 percent are convinced that the moon landing was faked?

What causes some people to advocate these unfounded—often disproven—ideas as reality? And why is the power of conspiracies so compelling that they can motivate people to act, some even participating in acts of violence?

In this eye-opening Audible Original, Professor Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine and the host of the Science Salon podcast, takes you through some of the most prevalent conspiracy theories in history, giving you a clear understanding of how and why they came about, who was likely to believe and perpetuate them, and the reality behind these beliefs.

Whether you are looking for the truth regarding popular conspiracy theories; are fascinated by the psychology of why people buy into them; or are interested in how they shaped and were shaped by history, this course will provide you all the tools you need to better understand the pervasiveness of conspiracy theories.

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC. Media Studies Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences Thought-Provoking Critical Theory
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Despite what other reviewers have said, this presentation does not mock creationists. What it does, however, is compare the kinds of mental processes that might make a person favour "conspiracist" view of world politics, with those that might make a person favour creationism. This position, it seems to me, is both well-supported by evidence, and actually fairly obvious. Conspiracist politics provides a relatively simple, overarching principle that explains at a stroke the messiness and confusion of real-world politics, while creationism attempts to apply a unifying principle to the complexities of biology. Both politics and biology suffer from being pretty-much incomprehensibly untitdy, so people who like order and regularity will be drawn to modes of thinking that attempts to simply and organize things.

If this amounts to 'mocking', then mock away, but it isn't mocking somebody to explain why he or she might think in a particular way.

Having said all that, Shermer's smug scepticism does get rather wearing. In his books, and in this presentation, I really do get the impression that he's preaching to the choir -- and preaching it good and hard. If you're sceptically inclined yourself -- and I confess that I lean in that direction -- you don't need to have the merits of science and logical thinking drummed into you. And if you're not, you're not going to be convinced by logical thinking, by definition. So we could have done with more of the facts, and less of the bombast.

Moreover, this isn't an easy listen, even if you're fascinated by the subject -- which I am. There's an awful lot of facts and figures crammed into a relatively short presentation. He frequently refers to the work of other academics -- which, of course, he should -- but you have to pay attention, which makes it hard to listen when you might be interrupted. To be honest, I think the whole thing would be better presented as a book.

Doesn't mock creationists

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I enjoyed this book a lot, not just because the conspiracy theory phenomenon is ever-growing and, it seems, more threatening to our democracy and social order. Sure, you get all the juicy details you might want to know about QAnon, but the book is really about humans and how we operate. Recommended.

It is a good course indeed.

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I like anything about UFOs and the section dedicated to the subject was fantastic. And there are many other subjects the book as a good look at, I thought it was a great read and the Narrator was top class.

Roswell, not sure now.

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I need to start giving sherbet more credit, he is a work horse and he isn’t scared of going there..I listen to the sherbet show all the time he has great guests and a no holds barred long form discussion..I enjoy when he talks to scientists like NDGT and RD or philosophers such as DD and DH,.Anyway regarding this book, He does his same old thing mentions true conspiracies and singles out others he believes to be false but he never ever fully debunked anything at all..he talks it down and moves on to the next..you end up with a list of his opinion on all the generic garden variety CT’s..and that’s it..THIS BOOK WILL NOT EMPOWER YOU TO CALM DOWN YOOR TIN FOIL BESTIE...And if won’t leave you any surer than you were before you DL’d it..but apart from those huge Con’s..I still enjoyed the “pro’s”..if you don’t expect to much you should find it highly enjoyable, as did I..but I didn’t take much away to be fair..I still can’t talk people down of the ledge like on TV..haha laterz peeps it’s worth a token

I was looking forward to this one BUT

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This is a good introduction to conspiracy and conspiracy theories - how they develop, how they get their claws into the public psych.
Of course the author has his own beliefs in what is real or remains a theory so some may not agree with how he portrays various subjects but isn't that the point?
It was an easy listen and if you don't have a set view on some major events mentioned it may give you food for thought. However if you're sure about the whole grassy knoll/bombs in the basement in 9/11 type of thing I doubt this will convince you otherwise.

Pretty good introduction to the subject

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