Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories: What We Should and Shouldn't Believe - and Why

by Michael Shermer

Listening Length: 6 hours and 30 minutes

The stuff of conspiracy theories makes for great, entertaining stories in movies, books, and television. And there is no shortage of subjects: from who really killed JFK to the truth behind 9/11. And then, there are subjects from alien invasions to the Moon landing was simulated - theories that are truly out of this world, which according to some, is flat. Many of these crazy concepts have jumped off the pages or screens to become so pervasive in our culture that thousands - even millions - subscribe to them as reality.

Does the idea that millions of Americans buy into conspiracy theories feel like a ... conspiracy? Consider that:

81 percent believes more than one person was responsible for the assassination of John F. Kennedy;
One-third of this country believes 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; and
Seven percent believes the Moon landing was faked.
What causes people, frequently well-educated and highly regarded people, to advocate these unfounded - often disproven - ideas as reality? And more disturbing, why is the power of conspiracies so compelling - powerful enough to motivate people to act, to even participate in horrific undertakings?

In this eye-opening Audible Original, Professor Michael Shermer takes you through some of the most prevalent conspiracy theories of history, giving you a foundational understanding of how and why they came about, who was likely to believe and perpetuate them, and the reality behind the beliefs. Whether you are looking for the truth that is out there; fascinated by the psychology of why people buy into conspiracy theories; or interested in how conspiracy theories shaped and were shaped, by history, this course will provide you with all the tools you need to better understand the pervasiveness of conspiracy theories in our culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Psychology, Politics, Science, Conspiracy Theories

7 pages, Audible Audio

First published September 11, 2019

About the author

Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954 in Glendale, California) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating and debunking pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members.

Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family television series Exploring the Unknown. Since April 2004, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column. Once a fundamentalist Christian, Shermer now describes himself as an agnostic nontheist and an advocate for humanist philosophy.


more info:
http://us.macmillan.com/author/michae...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.



This was such an interesting look at the reasons why so many people believe in conspiracy theories - not the least of which is because conspiracies do happen.
But what's the psychology behind our obsessions with them? And why are they so hard to disprove? Why is it so much easier for us to believe that there are globally powerful and supernaturally nefarious forces at work behind the scenes, rather than to look at the evidence and follow the money?



Is it really somehow easier to comprehend Lizard People running pedophile rings on a flat earth, than to look at a who profits from misinformation about the dangers of smoking?
Yes. Yes, it is.



Apparently, our brains like to "know" the answers. That's fair. And it is far easier to believe something that claims to give you a black-and-white answer than it is to wrestle with the idea that you don't know the answer yet...or maybe ever.



And conspiracy theories give those pat answers.
They might be the wrong answer, but you have an answer that you can fall back on when things are seemingly out of control.
Which is another thing our brains don't like. The randomness of bad things. We want someone to blame, and the idea that sometimes bad shit just happens isn't going to cut it. When I'm worried about my job, my health, and the state of the world, the idea that multiple factors spreading back decades, including greedy humans, bumbling politicians, and plain old bad luck just doesn't make enough sense.
There needs to be some larger mechanism in play.
Because I'm important, dammit!



Big Pharma gave my kid autism! The Bush family engineered 9-11! The CIA killed Kennedy!
That's not to say that Big Pharma, the Bush family, or the CIA are on the side of angels, but it also doesn't make any of those statements true.



One of the things Shremer said that resonated with me was that you can ask people what would it take to convince you that {insert conspiracy theory} was wrong? and that most of the time, the answer is nothing but crickets.
There is no way to disprove it because the rationale is a loop. If you show documents, the documents are fake. If you speak to an expert, the expert is in on the conspiracy. If you produce a witness, the witness is lying or has been threatened. There's no way to show enough evidence to shake a belief that isn't rational to start with. I've seen this kind of behavior a lot, and it was interesting to learn some of the psychology behind it.
It's still frustrating, but now it's a bit more understandable.



It actually goes against our own ease to disbelieve something. And that makes it so much harder to be skeptical when your own confirmation bias starts to come into play. In other words, it's easy to believe what you want to believe. That's true for all of us, myself included.
If it sounds like something I tend to already agree with, then it's that much easier for me to nod along, and that much harder for me to make myself stop and ask for evidence.



There's so much interesting stuff in this short lecture, and I would really recommend this to anyone who is interested. Shermer might lean left, but I found him to be pretty unbiased when he discussed that both liberals and conservatives have their own equally silly pet conspiracies they like to marinate in, which I thought was a nice change of pace.

Recommended.

[Zarin Ficklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book that talked about why people believe in conspiracy theories. Surprisingly, people of different political opinions, race, and gender believe in conspiracy theories at about the same rate—they just differ in *which* theories they believe in.

Michael Shermer breaks down all the biases that lead to belief and provides a framework for evaluating the plausibility of the most popular theories.

He also gets into the difference between conspiracies (which do exist) and conspiracy theories, and how to balance having healthy protective instincts while avoiding beliefs that leads to obsessive or harmful behavior.

Recommended to anyone that's into conspiracy theories or wants to know why other people are.

[Boudewijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, and host of his own science podcast you might expect to be in the safe hands of an excellent teacher. While he did touch upon some relevant points when dealing with conspiracy theories, I found his digression into 9/11 and the murder on JFK distracting. In need of an update.

[Dave Lockyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and educational.
Michael Shermer explains all things conspiracy, both the real and the imagined.
He explains why humans are susceptible to conspiracy theories through logic and a vast array of human research studies.
He goes through the 10 most common conspiracy theories rating them on a logic scale from 1 to 10.
Not having learnt much history in my educational years I enjoyed his dissertation on real conspiracies that included the successful plots to kill 4 American presidents , the conspiracy and murders that started World War One and his explanation of the famous Roswell incident and what subsequent sitings of UFOS actually were.
Far from being a series of lectures as listed on the cover I found this more like a one to one conversation that was delivered in a friendly concise way.
This book is well worth it for both conspiracy believers and non believers alike, because in one way or another we have all been touched by a conspiracy, be it real or a theory

[Dr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

An introduction to an imperial approach with massive broad strokes. Accuses others of making claims without supporting evidence, then proceeds to state things are wrong without providing supporting evidence. Rejects and accepts ideas according to his middle-left perspective without recognizing his own bias. He does go through quite a few at the end, so it gets better over time.

The paranoid would claim he is in on the conspiracy and part of the problem. Those who know God would just acknowledge he is blind to what he does not know and refuses to see.

[m ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was an informative listen on audible about the psychology behind conspiracies and conspiracy theories. the author also debunked some conspiracies theories while discussing them in depth. it was very straightforward and thoroughly done. overall, i learned a lot about the topics discussed

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jorge Buitrago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining while informative. The first half develops a framework on how to analyze conspiracies and why the human brain is prone to believing such. The second half debunks false conspiracy theories (e.g. JFK’s murder by something larger than Lee Oswald or Obama’s “false” birth certificate) or confirms actual conspiracies such as the murder of Frank Ferdinand by the “Black hand” organization rather than it being an orchestrated assassination by the Serb government. The course ends with an emphasis on why free speech and the rigor of the scientific method can protect us from the actual users of some conspiracy theories that undermine the progression of democratic societies.

[Kenneth Geary (KagedBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic is interesting, but when presented as a "course" it probably shouldn't lean so heavily on the author's bias.

[Leah Cramer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too boring. I thought it was going to go into detail about actual conspiracy theories, but it was just about the theory of conspiracy theories.

[Klee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook Review for "Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories" by Michael Shermer

I expected this audiobook to focus mainly on famous conspiracy theories - and while it does cover several intriguing cases (like WWI, 9/11, Area 51, MK Ultra, MLK’s assassination, and even the Chinese social credit system 🤯), what stood out most was the deep dive into why people believe in conspiracies in the first place.

Shermer explores how belief in conspiracy theories isn’t just about gullibility - it’s often tied to a mix of personality traits and motivations. People who rely heavily on intuition, feel antagonistic or superior toward others, or constantly perceive threats in their environment are more likely to fall into conspiratorial thinking. Fear and doubt play a major role, and Shermer does a brilliant job unpacking the psychology behind that.

He also offers timely insights into how modern conspiracy theories gain traction - not by proving anything, but by exploiting repetition and emotion, especially on social media. The burden of proof is often replaced by viral conviction.

It’s largely US focused, (kinda justifiably so), the balance between historical events and psychological explanation kept me hooked. Thought-provoking, unsettling in places, and absolutely worth a listen.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting series of lectures on conspiracy theories as well as actual conspiracies.

It includes a nice little checklist on what to look for to separate what is likely true from what is most certainly nonsense. Some historical conspiracies are discussed along with some of the biggest conspiracy theories of recent memory. This didn’t come out recently enough to really cover the true gravity of the QAnon nonsense, but there was plenty here to sink your teeth into.

Worth my time.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very pleasant and interesting and a good audio performance.

It did a great job of explaining where conspiracy theories come from, what types of conspiracy theories there are and their level of gravity, it also explained the difference between conspiracy theories and real conspiracies and came with chilling historical examples.

So give this a listen because "they" don't want you knowing this! :)))

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I definitely learned a lot about some of the classic conspiracies and why they're so much more common now than they were when people could just openly assassinate people for political power, but I was kinda hoping for more info on some of the more weird, newer conspiracies. But I literally didn't know the who killed JFK thing was as big a deal as it is.

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb introduction to actual conspiracies as well as the paranoid conspiracy theories afflicting so many of us.

Shermer does an excellent job presenting the psychology of conspiracy theorists as well as the logical fallacies they trip themselves up with.

Take notes and listen to it twice.

[Emily Carter-Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Anyone with a conspiracy theorist in their life should read this and encourage their person to read it too. The author does a wonderful job of breaking down the complexities of conspiracy and debunking common theories. Bravo!

[Doug Trani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given its brevity (6.5 hours), this is a highly informative introduction to conspiracies and conspiracy theories. Overall, the lecture series is objective, professionally researched, and well organized. The first lecture explains the difference between conspiracies and conspiracy theories. The next three lectures provide a framework for understanding the psychology of people who believe in conspiracy theories. What are the characteristics of believers, why people believe what they do, and what are the cognitive biases that foster these beliefs? Lectures 6 and 7 (“Constructive Conspiracism” and “The Conspiracy Detection Kit”) provide specific tools for differentiating between true conspiracies and highly improbable conspiracy theories. The remainder of the lectures deal with the application of these tools to help the listener understand why specific conspiracy theories are highly improbable, the facts and events behind real conspiracies, and the devastating consequences that ensue when people are manipulated into believing that conspiracy theories are true conspiracies. For example, the six-second spark in Sarajevo that ignited WWI was the likely result of actual conspiracy by The Black Hand, but the war itself resulted from a conspiracy theory implicating the Serbian government. Lecture 11 presents this series of events as “The Deadliest Conspiracy Theory in History”. If you are not inclined to believe distorted versions of reality simply because someone in a position of authority says, “A lot of people are talking about…” and then goes on to make a preposterous statement with absolutely no facts to support it, then you will be well satisfied with “Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories”. My only criticism is that there is no PDF outline to accompany this course. The result of a conspiracy, no doubt.

[Natalie Daydream Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and rational take on conspiracies and theories but I do wish there was more depth to the discussion of well-known conspiracy theories.

[Lei Feng · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star because this "skeptic" knows very little about history and the world outside of America.

The author claims that Stalin had no idea Hitler was going to invade the USSR and that he trusted Hitler. The historical consensus is that Stalin DID anticipate the attack but used the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact to buy the USSR time to build up as much as possible before the inevitable invasion.

He also claims that war becoming rarer in the 20th century was due to war being made "illegal" and that before the 20th century justifications for war were unheard of and countries just declared war whenever they felt like it. This claim is so moronic I had to double check that the author and skeptic had any kind of education and was not just some teenage Redditor.

He ends the book with a biased rant about China being an oppressive state. While doing so he calls Alibaba the Chinese equivalent of Google (it isn't btw, it's the equivalent of Amazon and Baidu is much more like Google).

With how dangerous and increasingly common belief in conspiracies can be, errors like these show a lack of proper research and would make someone who does believe in conspiracy theories very skeptical of all the lectures.

He does a good job disproving many conspiracy theories and discussing why people believe in them, but all the historical and geopolitical inaccuracies spoil the whole thing.

[Abdel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh just awful! This guy Shermer comes across as the personification of "nothing to see here folks, keep moving." He dismisses legitimate questions with such patronizing certainty you'd think he was being paid by the denial. His smug dismissal of anything outside the official narrative is so absolute it actually makes you more suspicious, not less. For someone who claims to champion critical thinking, he sure doesn't apply much to the accepted wisdom of powerful institutions. Seriously, who gave this guy a PhD? Has this man never followed more than 1 year of politics and never raised an eyebrow? Honestly, this is more likely to be psyops than the actual opinion of a professor.

[James B · Rating 3 out of 5]

My original review was very harsh. I did manage to persevere and finish this audiobook. I have to say that the second half was a LOT better than the first half.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conspiracy theorists connect the dots of random events into meaningful patterns, and then infuse those patterns with intentional agency, believing that these intentional agents control the world, sometimes invisibly, from the top down, instead of the bottom-up casual randomness that determines much of what happens in our world.
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In the mind of the paranoid conspiracist, nothing happens by accident; everything is connected, and there are no coincidences.
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From a general psychological perspective, the problem is that transcendentalism is intuitive, while empiricism is not. You have to be trained to think like a scientist and a skeptic. We know from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, for example, that belief comes naturally, while skepticism is learned and often feels uncomfortable.
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Benedict Spinoza, a 17th-century Dutch philosopher, wrote with great insight that “mere comprehension of a statement entails the tacit acceptance of its being true, whereas disbelief requires a subsequent process of rejection.”
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“Feelings of control are essential for our well-being. We think clearly and make better decisions when we feel we are in control. Lacking control is highly aversive, so we instinctively seek out patterns to regain control, even if those patterns are illusory.” — Professor Whitson
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The economy is not this crazy patchwork of supply and demand laws, market forces, interest rate changes, tax policies, business cycles, boom and bust sequences, recessions and upswings, bull and bear markets, and the like. It’s a conspiracy of, say, a handful of powerful people, variously identified as the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Rockefellers, and the Rothschilds, and the like, somehow determining economic outcomes.
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Hindsight bias is equally evident in times of war, which are major generators of conspiracy theories.
(this is really hits home for me)
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Just because you're paranoid
Don't mean they're not after you.
Territorial Pissings. Kurt Cobain
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Dramatic events leave traces in mood and memory longer than good events. For example, a single childhood traumatic event, like sexual molestation, can erase years of positive experiences. Morally bad actions far outweigh morally good actions when it comes to our moral evaluation of other people.
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As Leo Tolstoy famously observed in 1875: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Evil contaminates good more than good purifies evil. As an old Russian proverb says, a spoonful of tar can spoil a barrel of honey, but a spoonful of honey does nothing for a barrel of tar. (usually shortened in Russian to a spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey - ложка дёгтя в бочке мёда)
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Progress is mostly made incrementally and in small steps, whereas regress can easily come about in one colossal calamity.
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Entropy is a fundamental physical rule that closed systems, those not taking in energy, move from order to disorder, from organization to disorganization, from structured to unstructured, and from warm to cold. Although entropy can be temporarily reversed in an open system with an outside source of energy, such as heating cold food in a microwave, isolated systems decay as entropy increases. As an outside source of energy dissipates, systems run down: warm things turn cold, metal rusts, wood rots, weeds overwhelm gardens, bedrooms get cluttered, and social, political, and economic systems fall apart.
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Science begins with the null hypothesis, which assumes that a claim under investigation is not true until proven otherwise.
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It is telling that among of tens of thousands of government e-mails, documents and files leaked in recent years through Wikileaks there’s not one mention a of UFO cover-up, a faked moon-landing or that 9/11 was an inside job. Here, the absence of evidence is evidence of absence. The concept of null-hypothesis makes it clear that a burden of proof is on a person asserting a positive claim not on sceptics to disprove it.
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Instead of “I came, I saw, I conquered,” these declarations read more like: “I was just standing there, minding my own business, when he threatened me. I had to defend myself by attacking them.” The problem with this arrangement is obvious. Call it the moralization bias—the belief that our cause is moral and just, and anyone who disagrees is not just wrong but immoral.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the Great Courses skew heavily left, and with a topic like conspiracies and conspiracy theories, I was bracing myself for a one-sided liberal rant against the idiocy of conservatives. But I have to hand it to the author/lecturer: while it's clear that he identifies as liberal, for the most part he was quite fair and balanced. He made the point early on that there is (and should be) a distinction between conspiracies and conspiracy theories, because of course, some conspiracies are true. The purpose of the book was to help the listeners identify which conspiracies are likely to be true, which are likely to be false, and how to tell the difference. This section was great--I even listened to it a second time so that I could take notes. He summarized his "BS detection" section with the statement that most conspiracy theories fail either the competency problem or the leakage problem: that is, too many people had to be in on it, had to be perfectly competent (which we all know isn't likely with humans), had to not lose their nerve or have an attack of conscience or anything else, and had to maintain absolute secrecy after the fact. The wider the network of co-conspirators that would be necessary to pull this off, the more likely it is that the conspiracy is false. Then he gave examples throughout modern history as examples to illustrate his points, dissecting classics like the JFK assassination and (this one was new to me) 9-11 "truthers" who believe that it was an inside job. He even assigns ranks to certain types of conspiracy theories as being more or less likely to be true (without stating whether or not they are so) on the basis of his criteria.

The earlier section of the book discusses the psychological characteristics shared among those who tend to believe in conspiracy theories, and how people come to believe them. This section seemed to assume that the conspiracy theories believed are false, since it discussed things like confirmation bias, cherry-picking data and examples, a psychological mismatch between the magnitude of an event and the seemingly random cause which makes people want to assign the event a greater meaning, and such.

Finally, the book ends with the flip side: tools used by real conspirators to obfuscate their intentions. They will deny or minimize the problem, call for more evidence, or blame-shift. They too will cherrypick their data to their own ends. They will attack the whistleblowers (the classic ad hominem approach). They will attack the alternatives to their own goals. Or they will hire front groups and fund scientists with conflicts of interest, set them up to appear independent, and get them to argue their case for them.

Overall, very well balanced. I find having clear categories like this to be very helpful when approaching both sides of an issue.

[Aaron Beall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short audiobook course, it was very to the point and summarized the nature of conspiracy theories and theorists fairly well, if not too in depth.

The first half of the book deals with the psychology behind conspiracy minded thinking, the kind of people found in studies to be prone to conspiracy theories, why people are capable of believing ideas without sufficient evidence, and how some conspiracies are real. It was pretty familiar ground for me but I still enjoyed seeing When Prophecy Fails and Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) summarized.

The second half of the book deals with examining various conspiracy theories and how they came to be, including 9/11 truthers, Obama birthers, JFK assassination, UFO and the like seen on X-files, and the "deadliest conspiracy theory of all time", the political assassination that led to World War 1. I only wish some more recent conspiracy theories had been examined.

A few notes:

• Conspiracy Theories make sense of what is otherwise confusing and chaotic facts about reality
• Conspiracy theories offer epistemic, existential, and social closure
• When there's a mismatch between the importance of an event and the insignificant of its cause, a way to reduce cognitive dissonance is to come up with a more significant cause - like the JFK assassination conspiracies, where a lone psychopath killer of the president seems unbelievable, a government conspiracy seems more believable
• In studies a loss of control leads to higher conspiracy thinking and illusory pattern recognition
• Those in power think they are in control more than they are, those without power think powers are out to get them more than they are
• Those with an external locus of control (focus on what others do to them) rather than internal locus of control are more prone to conspiracy theories
• Believing comes naturally, skepticism requires more work - brain processes true statements faster than false or unsure (Baruch Spinoza correctly predicted this)
• Brain activity shows processing true statements as rewarding and false or unsure as painful
• Belief in conspiracy theories are justified with cognitive biases and focusing on "unexplained" data, rather than strong supporting evidence
• Conspiracy thinking is influenced by overactive agency detection and negativity bias, Shermer calls this "patternicity" and "agenticity"
• When considering a possible real conspiracy "never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence or chance"

Overall it was an enjoyable, short, easy course, I just wish the philosophy and psychology of conspiracy theories had been more systematically analyzed and the examined conspiracy theories were more recent examples.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

The professor goes through various conspiracy theories showing where some are true and others are not. I agree. The MK Ultra conspiracy was true. Congress proved that. The Tuskegee Experiment happened. People were sterilized against their will in the USA (and that is STILL considered Constitutional even though all the laws permitting it were rescinded.) On the other hand, the Roswell Incident is so much BS. The 9/11 attacks were NOT an inside job. (At least it seems remarkably unlikely to the point of near certainty. I am convinced it was NOT an inside job.) Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald were not part of a vast conspiracy to assassinate JFK.

Many conspiracies are either confirmed or debunked, but the real value of this audio course is that the professor goes through a few rules to determine whether a particular conspiracy theory has merit or not.

I do have criticisms of this audio course. The professor was not comprehensive, but this is a short course. I imagine he wouldn't have glossed over a few important points if the course were longer. (OR WOULD HE!!!???) Just kidding. I think he would have gone more deeply into some important points given enough time.

I'll probably listen to this audio course again. There was a lot of information there.

Contents
Lect 01 The Difference Between Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories (31:17)
Lect 02 Classifying Conspiracies and Characterizing Believers (33:16)
Lect 03 Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories (29:12)
Lect 04 Cognitive Biases and Conspiracy Theories (31:27)
Lect 05 Conspiracy Insanity (31:43)
Lect 06 Constructive Conspiracism (29:31)
Lect 07 The Conspiracy Detection Kit (32:19)
Lect 08 Truthers and Birthers: The 9/11 and Obama Conspiracy Theories (32:34)
Lect 09 The JFK Assassination: The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories (33:17)
Lect 10 Real Conspiracies: What if They Really Are out to Get You? (36:52)
Lect 11 The Deadliest Conspiracy Theory in History (32:26)
Lect 12 The Real X-Files: Conspiracy Theories in Myth and Reality (34:22)

[Joshua McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last week, a conspiracy theory about Wayfair spread amidst a resurgence of #PizzaGate and "the Rothschilds." It is helpful to have constructive paranoia and skepticism, especially these days with the social internet. It's a fact that some conspiracies are actually true. (See: Fred Hampton; MK Ultra; PORTLAND.) I thought it'd be helpful to have a framework and approach to vet theories.

The world is chaotic. Our brains want to move away from the cognitive dissonance that makes us uncomfortable to cognitive harmony. We wonder how some things could happen. Could it really be that simple? Our brains try to make sense of things by creating an explanation that matches the cognitive scale of those things. We're especially vulnerable when we feel we lack power or the agency to control our own outcomes or life situation.

Are we seeing random clusters as some type of orderly, meaningful pattern? Do we attribute those patterns to some someone or something with power?

Michael Shermer provides a framework to sift through the incessant flow of conspiracy theories and gives us the tools that help us quickly sniff out what has legs and what should be dismissed. Expeditiously.

"Never attribute to malice than can be explained by randomness or incompetence." Everything should start with a null hypothesis meaning not true until proven otherwise. Many people let their conclusion dictate their evidence instead of their evidence dictating their conclusion.

Remember, burden of proof is on the person asserting a claim not on the skeptic to disprove it. We generally are not very good at probabilities, and have a hard time explaining random occurrences.

Most of the time stuff just happens, and our brains just connect the dots.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lecture series that drills down on conspiracies and conspiracy theories. It’s a balanced, evenhanded study of the phenomenon and Shermer makes an effort to avoid presenting it through political perspective, to the extent that such is possible given how so many conspiracy theories have a strong foothold in reactionary politics. At the same time, he pulls no punches in calling out the unfounded bases of most conspiracy theories and pinning the tail on the asses who fall prey to them, be they conservatives or liberals.

IMHO, information like this needs to be disseminated as part of our secondary education schooling. The problem with this proposition, of course, is that the parents who have gone down the rabbit hole (and taken their kids with them) will object to anything that conflicts with their own conspiratorial beliefs. More than likely, such an educational program would itself be identified as part of a conspiracy to cover up other conspiracies. The possible solution to this is to design and present information not targeted at conspiracies or anything political, but that provides information and awareness of cognitive biases and the thought traps that are the vehicles driving conspiracy thinking and political/emotional reactionary patterns. This book doesn’t quite do that but contains some of the elements that could be part of that program.

[Alan Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conspiracy theories are compelling because some turn out to be true.

The course focuses on why people believe conspiracy theories and figuring out which are likely to be true or not. “Although the terms conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist and conspiracist do sometimes carry pejorative connotations meant to disparage someone or their beliefs, as in ‘that’s just a crazy conspiracy theory’ or ‘he’s one of those nutty conspiracists’, the terms, in fact, have a rich history not meant to disparage.”

Shermer, whilst indicating that conspiracy theories can and do become conspiracy fact, still couldn’t help himself in providing his own opinion on some popular “conspiracies” that still divide opinion, such as the JFK assassination and 9/11 whilst avoiding the biggest modern day conspiracy a huge proportion of the western world wrongly believed, that being that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction”, a conspiracy that was indeed just that but was widely believed and was the justification for the deaths of thousands.

The book may have been better leaving such opinion aside and focussing almost entirely around the cognitive approach and critical thinking that could be used to assess theories as they emerge.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I say the same thing just about every time I read one of Michael Shermer’s books, and it’s that he writes some of the best books on skepticism out there. This is a brief audio course on Audible that covers everything about conspiracies and conspiracy theories. What I love about Shermer’s books is that even though I read so many of his books, there’s always something different in each one so it’s not repetitive. I really enjoyed this course because it starts with various cognitive biases that make us believe in conspiracies as well as how our belief system works. Then, he has an epic lecture called “The Conspiracy Detection Kit” with a quick and easy way to question whether or not something is a conspiracy theory. For the last few chapters, Shermer dives deep into the 9/11, Obama, and JFK conspiracies, and he also explains how there are real conspiracies that have occurred throughout history. By taking this short audio course, you’ll be able to look at what you read with more skepticism. I went through most of this course after watching a Netflix docuseries about the Sons of Sam conspiracy, so I was able to put the course to practical use