Conspiracy Theories with Dr. Michael Shermer

Conspiracy theories are all crazy, right? Well, maybe not. There's some history as to why so many people believe in them. What we really need is a conspiracy theory detection kit and that's what we have in today's episode.

Our guest today is Dr. Michael Shermer. Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the host of the Science Salon Podcast, and a presidential fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Why People Believe Weird Things and his latest book is Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist.

Show Notes:

• [1:40] - Dr. Shermer's magazine is called Skeptic Magazine which is devoted to teaching critical thinking skepticism and scientific reasoning.
• [2:03] - None of us are omniscient. We can't know anything with certainty. Most of the decisions we make in life are made with uncertainty. So how best should we best make decisions?
• [2:39] - For centuries, we have developed methods, tools, and technology to help us with this problem of uncertainty.
• [4:47] - Finding the cause of something has many variables and once you start getting into economics and politics, things get messy.
• [5:50] - It is important to separate the correlation between seemingly cause and effect relationships. Dr. Shermer uses the fraudulent connection between vaccines and autism to demonstrate.
• [7:48] - The curse of knowledge is the Hindsight Bias. After the fact, it is clear what should have been done, but at the time it wasn't clear. Dr. Shermer shares several great historical events as examples of this.
• [9:27] - There's let something happen on purpose and make something happen on purpose and it is unfair to place blame on others using the Hindsight Bias.
• [11:40] - There is a difference between conspiracy and conspiracy theory. A conspiracy is something that actually happened and a conspiracy theory is the idea that there is something that is happening.
• [12:08] - The main reason people believe conspiracy theories are true is because many shocking conspiracies have actually happened. They are not so far out of the realm of possibility.
• [12:55] - It is not completely crazy to think that something will happen because historically something similar has happened. Dr. Shermer uses examples from the Kennedy administration.
• [14:49] - Another reason people are quick to believe conspiracy theories is because of the messiness of the world. Our brains are wired to try to simplify things.
• [15:39] - Money is a proxy for power and a lot of people believe that these people who have power are actually more powerful than they are. For example, Bill Gates is the center of some conspiracy theories, but in reality, what power does he actually have?
• [16:10] - This is not unreasonable for people to believe because there have been powerful people with money who have rigged the system.
• [16:58] - It is easier to believe that horrific things that happen in the world are controlled by a small group of people. This is an example of the human brain trying to simplify things.
• [17:17] - The fact is, nobody is running the world. And in a way, that is scary.
• [18:27] - The more people that have to be involved, the less likely the conspiracy is true. People don't typically keep secrets and have big mouths.
• [19:56] - Dr. Shermer uses a 9/11 conspiracy theory as an example of how crazy the theory sounds due to its complexity.
• [21:05] - Some conspiracy theories are harmless, but many can be harmful.
• [22:40] - An example of a dangerous conspiracy theory is the one surrounding Hitler's rise to power. Hitler's initial platform was spreading the conspiracy theory that the only reason they lost the first world war was because they were stabbed in the back by the Jewish community.
• [23:25] - People are very confused about the term freedom. You have to give up certain freedoms for security.
• [24:54] - The United States and Italy are examples of countries with a loose culture. This means that they are not rigidly following guidelines and the spread of COVID-19 is rapid in nations like this.
• [27:12] - Chris and Dr. Shermer discuss the title of Dr. Shermer's new book Giving the Devil His Due which was inspired by the play A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt.
• [29:12] - The book is a series of essays on the theme of free speech.
• [29:27] - The only way to make sure you haven't gone off the rails and believe things that aren't true is to interact with people who think differently from you. This gets you out of a bubble and gives you a better ability to make your own decisions and form your own opinions.
• [29:58] - Dr. Shermer is concerned about the lack of diversity in ideas and opinions within politics.
• [31:00] - The new book has had mostly positive reviews.
• [32:12] - Even scientists need critical review. This helps us determine if we should be skeptical.
• [33:27] - It is important to know and understand the arguments behind a differing opinion from your own.
• [35:04] - Dr. Shermer predicts that there will be many changes and feels that this is not always a bad thing. Some changes will be good and bad.
• [38:01] - Dr. Shermer offers tons of free content on his website and also offers courses for more information. You can find them in the links and resources.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

Links and Resources:

• Podcast Web Page
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• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Michael Shermer Web Page
• Skeptic Salon Podcast
• Skeptic Magazine
• Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
• Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist by Michael Shermer
• Michael Shermer on Facebook
• Michael Shermer on Twitter
• Skeptic Magazine on YouTube