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The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer engages leading scientists, philosophers, historians, scholars, writers and thinkers about the most important issues of our time. Watch or listen here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, and TuneIn.

EPISODE # 303

Michael Shermer — Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational

Michael Shermer discusses his new book Conspiracy, out October 25, 2022. In Conspiracy Shermer:

  • reviews and integrates evolutionary, psychological, social, cultural, political, and economic conditions that fuel conspiracy theories
  • presents his own original three-tiered theoretical model of Proxy Conspiracism, Tribal Conspiracism, and Constructive Conspiracism
  • classifies and systematizes conspiracy theories in order to tease apart their different causes (incl. JFK’s assassination, the 9/11 Truth movement, Pizzagate, QAnon, the Big Lie, Project MKULTRA, Operation Paperclip, and the perennial conspiracy theories surrounding UFOs)
  • offers his Conspiracy Detection Kit on how to tell if a conspiracy theory is true, false, or undecidable
  • and suggests how to talk to a conspiracy theorist.
Praise for Michael Shermer's new book Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational

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This episode is sponsored by Wondrium:

Wondrium (sponsor)

This episode was released on October 25, 2022.

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