Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories
What We Should and Shouldn't Believe - and Why
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Narrated by:
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Michael Shermer
About this listen
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.Listeners also enjoyed...
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About the Professor
Dr. Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the Science Salon podcast, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101, a course in how to think like a scientist. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. Dr. Shermer is the New York Times best-selling author of numerous books including Heavens on Earth, The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain, The Mind of the Market, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, and Why People Believe Weird Things. Dr. Shermer received his BA in psychology from Pepperdine University, his MA in experimental psychology from California State University and his PhD in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University. He has been a college professor since 1979, has appeared on such shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, and Dateline, and is a guest on such popular podcasts as The Joe Rogan Experience. Dr. Shermer was co-host and co-producer of the television series Exploring the Unknown.
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In 1992, the deadliest year in Chicago’s history, seven-year-old Dantrell Davis was shot and killed in front of his elementary school inside the public housing complex Cabrini-Green. What happened to Dantrell led to a truce among Chicago’s gangs, but it also ignited a national panic about poverty and violence in America’s cities. Dantrell’s name would soon be used to demolish all of Chicago’s high-rise public housing, displacing tens of thousands of low-income families.
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A Gripping and Necessary Work
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Ho Tactics
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I have discovered a group of women who refuse to be exploited, are immune to manipulation, and who never settle in the name of love. These ladies know what they want and take what they want by beating men at their own game. Utilizing the secrets exposed in this book, these women gain power, money, and status. Men call them gold diggers, women call them hos, but they call themselves winners. This is the book that society doesn't want you to listen to….
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I spent $24,000 in 4 months
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
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it's Nearly perfect
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The Philosopher's Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room
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Taught by award-winning Professor Patrick Grim of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, The Philosopher’s Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room arms you against the perils of bad thinking and supplies you with an arsenal of strategies to help you be more creative, logical, inventive, realistic, and rational in all aspects of your daily life.
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This should NOT be an audio book
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My Big TOE: Awakening
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My Big TOE: Awakening, written by a nuclear physicist in the language of contemporary culture, unifies science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal. The entirety of human experience (mind, body, and spirit) including both our objective and subjective worlds is brought together under one seamless scientific understanding.
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What a Trip (but to where?)
- By Michael on 11-26-13
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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t)
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Based on seven years of ground-breaking research and hundreds of interviews, I Thought It Was Just Me shines a long-overdue light on an important truth: Our imperfections are what connect us to each other and to our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses; they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we're all in this together.
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I'm sure its great if you are a mother ....
- By Leslie A Hill on 08-09-11
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Mythology: Mega Collection
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- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
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Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
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An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
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Shermer's Books Are Getting Less Good
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Very good! I wish I would have began listening to the Great Courses sooner.
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About As Accurate As Any Woke History Prof Can Get
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Interesting but Troubling
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The Life and Times of Prince Albert
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In 10 lectures, award-winning historian Patrick N. Allitt transports listeners to England in the 1840s and 1850s. During those two decades, Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, became one of the most influential people in the country and remains a figure of fascination even today. In fact, the British royal family as we know it wouldn't exist without the private and public actions of this detached, impartial, and upright political figure.
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A Master Storyteller
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Education can be enriching and transformative. It can also be downright excruciating—even demoralizing. When it comes to learning, why are some of us lovers and some of us haters? Welcome to the world of educational psychology, which uses science to explore what causes people to engage and learn, and what we can do to make learning opportunities more enjoyable and impactful. Spoiler alert: Teachers can only do so much. Students, too, must take control of their learning. Unfortunately, many of us never, ahem, learned the skills to do just that.
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Like sitting through a middle school class
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Witchcraft in the Western Tradition
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Interesting, but not great
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What listeners say about Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories
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- david malaguti
- 01-21-24
misleading, disappointing
The first 7 lectures were spent explaining this inquiry as an academic pursuit.
(about five lectures too much..)
Schermer's politics also make make me suspect his motives;
He vocally defended the Trump- Russia hoax. he called the wuhan lab leak theory a "right-wing hoax" and he dismissed hunter's laptop.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lisa Gilkison
- 11-02-21
Explained well.
I like how it's broken down & explained how good people believe these conspiracies.
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- Jt1111
- 04-07-22
Great
I will read anything Dr. Shermer puts out. His logic is so concise would recommend!
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- William
- 08-23-21
But I Heard on FB...
Another of the “Great Courses” of lectures by university professors, this course is a bit briefer than some but still complete enough. But, if you’re expecting a discussion of various conspiracy theories with arguments for or against them, note the subtitle. Professor Michael Shermer does pick up some theories and some that are not just “theories” but certainly real and true conspiracies and uses them as examples or illustrations, but the focus of this book if more on helping us to understand them and be better equipped to judge between those that are true or possibly true and those that are likely not or certainly not.
With that goal, Shermer has succeeded fairly well. He reminds us to make a distinction between conspiracies (secret plots) and conspiracy theories (what people think might be a secret plot). Shermer is not trying to convince you to disbelieve in all conspiracies. Conspiracies are real and are carried out by groups of individuals, government officials, and business. But, how can we decide which ones are believable? Some of the lectures touch on subjects that you may already have heard about, such as cognitive biases and why the theories can hold such sway. He discusses how to rate them according to probability. He talks about how difficult it is to carry out a conspiracy and thus the more complicated and the more people are involved, the more likely it is to fail. He gives us a conspiracy detection kit and then finally does review some of the more famous ones (from some that are almost certainly false to some that are proven to be true) including 9/11, Obama’s birthplace, the JFK assassination, the tobacco companies hiding of the tobacco/cancer link, drug companies, and what he calls “the Deadliest Conspiracy Theory in History,” the plot to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand which was the catalyst for World War I which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 million people, enabled the Spanish Flu (which started in Kansas, not in Spain) to spread around the world, brought on an economic collapse in Europe and the Great Depression, sped up the collapse of the Colonial Empires, and set the stage for the Russian Revolution as well as WWII. And, it was carried out by a group of 6 men.
There are some caveats. The author is strongly biased against any idea of a belief in transcendence and several times states that the theistic belief that “everything happens for a reason” allows some people to more readily look for a conspiracy to explain what may well be chance. But, he then evokes science as a search for the reason behind all things. He shows his misunderstanding of transcendentalists who can believe in a sovereign God who allows man to make choices, even evil ones. He disparages the idea of a God with a “secret” plan for the universe but misunderstands the distinction between “secret” and “mystery.” He also forgets that while science rightly seeks truth through data, this is still a theoretical ideal because scientists also have biases, preconceptions, and emotions. Transcendentalism is not intuitive any more or less than empiricism. Modern research has shown that we don’t believe because of data. We believe because of our emotional side and we tend to see the data that supports that belief. There are checks and procedures that try to minimize and overcome that, but it’s still true of scientists and of him.
Nonetheless, the lectures are worth listening to and there is much to learn. Despite this criticism, the lectures are quite balanced and they are certainly relevant to today when it seems that people see conspiracies in every corner.
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- Craig S.
- 09-18-19
Great listen!
Great listen! Shermer does a great job as always! Entertaining, enlightening and thoroughly engrossing stuff!
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10 people found this helpful
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- William
- 03-01-20
Not What I Thought
I thought this would be an interesting description of the conspiracy theories people believe. Instead, it was a lecture on what kind of people believe in them. OK, but disappointing.
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- CBH76244
- 08-23-22
Free pass on liberal media
I'm no Trump fan, but the kicking a dead horse Trump and his insane antics) while giving today's CNN and others narrative silence is unfortunate.
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- Roland
- 06-14-20
Informative, Interesting and Slightly Biased
While reading this book, one must remember that most conspiracies are unbelievably inconceivable until they have been proven otherwise. A conspiracy theory that has not yet been proven can not necessarily be labeled as false.
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- Alan
- 12-03-21
Excellent education on real and fake conspiracies
I had listened to the Believing Brain Audiobook so felt repetitive, but the best parts were the real conspiracies, sometimes they really are out to get you.
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- Faithful
- 09-12-21
Worth Your Time
A timely exploration and well researched explanation of what Conspiracy Theories are and what they have done and can do, to harm the social fabric of a nation via eroding public trust. With a close look at how real conspiracies have helped give plausibility to theories. Interesting content that does a good job examining scientific knowledge and historical facts.
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