Conspiracy
Why the Rational Believe the Irrational
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Narrated by:
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Michael Shermer
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By:
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Michael Shermer
About this listen
Best-selling author Michael Shermer presents an overarching theory of conspiracy theories—who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them.
Nothing happens by accident, everything is connected, and there are no coincidences: that is the essence of conspiratorial thinking. Long a fringe part of the American political landscape, conspiracy theories are now mainstream: 147 members of Congress voted in favor of objections to the 2020 presidential election based on an unproven theory about a rigged electoral process promoted by the mysterious group QAnon. But this is only the latest example in a long history of ideas that include the satanic panics of the 1980s, the New World Order and Vatican conspiracy theories, fears about fluoridated water, speculations about President John F. Kennedy's assassination, and the notions that the Sandy Hook massacre was a false flag operation and 9/11 was an inside job.
In Conspiracy, Michael Shermer presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories—who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them. Trust in conspiracy theories, he writes, cuts across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status—and even political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged (LBJ's 1948 Senate race); medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care (Tuskegee); your government does lie to you (Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Afghanistan); and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits.
This engaging book will be an important listen for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who's watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The problem isn’t that liberal authors present their opinions or interpretations of history from an obvious left-wing bias. Students learn, for example, that the Founding Fathers were elitists who drafted the Constitution in order to protect their own economic interests; that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation only because he needed black soldiers; that racist groups such as the KKK represented our society in the early twentieth century.
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amazingly accurate...
- By Anthony on 01-23-16
By: Larry Schweikart
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In Defense of Troublemakers
- The Power of Dissent in Life and Business
- By: Charlan Nemeth
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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We've decided by consensus that consensus is good. In In Defense of Troublemakers, psychologist Charlan Nemeth argues that this principle is completely wrong: left unchallenged, the majority opinion is often biased, unoriginal, or false. It leads planes and markets to crash, causes juries to convict innocent people, and can quite literally make people think blue is green. In the name of comity, we embrace stupidity. We can make better decisions by embracing dissent. Dissent forces us to question the status quo, consider more information, and engage in creative decision-making.
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A Good Review of Group Thinking
- By J. Justice on 03-20-24
By: Charlan Nemeth
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 36 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
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I'd kill for another book this good
- By Eric on 11-11-11
By: Steven Pinker
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Republic of Lies
- American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power
- By: Anna Merlan
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar, Anna Merlan - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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American society has always been fertile ground for conspiracy theories, but with the election of Donald Trump, previously outlandish ideas suddenly attained legitimacy. Trump himself is a conspiracy enthusiast: from his claim that global warming is a Chinese hoax to the accusations of “fake news”, he has fanned the flames of suspicion. But it was not by the power of one man alone that these ideas gained new power. Republic of Lies looks beyond the caricatures of conspiracy theorists to explain their tenacity.
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even-handed and thought-provoking
- By Lenny Pozner on 04-17-19
By: Anna Merlan
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Cover-Ups & Secrets
- The Complete Guide to Government Conspiracies, Manipulations & Deceptions
- By: Nick Redfern
- Narrated by: Ellis Evans
- Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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More and more people are beginning to realize that we are being manipulated and lied to. We are denied access to secrets that shouldn’t be secrets. Our politicians obfuscate, deny, and outright lie. No one knows whom to trust. The nightly news is being replaced by carefully orchestrated propaganda. Our iPhones are monitored, as are our laptops and our landlines. As for social media, that too is ripe for spying by men in black suits. No wonder, then, that the last few years have seen an incredible rise in conspiracy theories about deceptions and cover-ups.
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An encyclopedia of conspiracies
- By ReviewrRob on 10-02-19
By: Nick Redfern
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The Science of Fear
- Why We Fear the Things We Should Not - and Put Ourselves in Great Danger
- By: Daniel Gardner
- Narrated by: Scott Peterson
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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From terror attacks to the War on Terror, bursting real-estate bubbles to crystal meth epidemics, sexual predators to poisonous toys from China, our list of fears seems to be exploding. And yet, we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Irrational fear is running amok, and often with tragic results. In the months after 9/11, when people decided to drive instead of fly - believing they were avoiding risk - road deaths rose by 1,595. Those lives were lost to fear.
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A rational assessment of the world we live in
- By K Head on 08-29-09
By: Daniel Gardner
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The Structure of Power in America
- By: Milton William Cooper
- Narrated by: Chris Buchanan
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook includes information about the power structure in America. The chapters and topics covered in this audiobook include: The Balance of Power, Stormy Weather, Opposing Forces, Maladies Galore, Militias and the Sheople, The Revolution Will Be Dramatized, and Ask a Lithuanian.
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Bill's predictions coming to pass.
- By Wes Sonmore on 08-13-24
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Future Babble
- Why Expert Predictions Fail - and Why We Believe Them Anyway
- By: Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In Future Babble, award-winning journalist Dan Gardner presents landmark research debunking the whole expert prediction industry and explores our obsession with the future. The truth is that experts are about as accurate as dart-throwing monkeys.
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Future Babble Babble
- By Karen on 05-04-11
By: Dan Gardner
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Would You Kill the Fat Man?
- By: David Edmonds
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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A train is racing toward five men, tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. If a fat man is pushed onto the line, although he will die, his body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man? As David Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex, and important, than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.
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Wonderfully Rendered Book...
- By Douglas on 01-25-14
By: David Edmonds
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The War for America's Soul
- Donald Trump, the Left's Assault on America, and How We Take Back Our Country
- By: Sebastian Gorka
- Narrated by: Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Our country is at war with itself. On one side are American patriots, dedicated to freedom under the Constitution; on the other side are leftists campaigning not just to win elections, but to radically transform the nation. In this political war for the soul of our country, America’s patriots need a strategist with a blueprint for victory. Luckily, we have such a man in Dr. Sebastian Gorka - a former strategist for President Trump and now a nationally syndicated radio host and a fearless culture warrior.
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Great Book
- By Margie Books on 12-05-19
By: Sebastian Gorka
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The Blank Slate
- The Modern Denial of Human Nature
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits, denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
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Don't bother. Outdated science & poor logic...
- By ejf211 on 03-31-10
By: Steven Pinker
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The Believing Brain
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In this, his magnum opus, the world’s best known skeptic and critical thinker Dr. Michael Shermer—founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and perennial monthly columnist (“Skeptic”) for Scientific American—presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished.
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A reader's digest version of many other good books
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Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories
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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.
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No chapter titles!!???
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Giving the Devil His Due
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Who is the "Devil"? And what is he due? The devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety's sake, because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn't you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence "unpleasant" ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times best-selling author and skeptic Michael Shermer.
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Flawed Audio
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The Trump Files
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This is Citizen Jack’s book, a masterful demonstration of a personal view turned sociopolitical gold. —CHARLES R. AULT JR., Professor Emeritus, Lewis & Clark College Discover the truth about the Trump years with Citizen Jack's gripping and detailed account in The Trump Files. Renowned science educator, researcher, blogger, and author Jack Hassard vividly documents the nation's turbulent Trump years and brings readers back to those troubling days. Through sharp, clear-eyed prose, he takes on racial injustice, the Trumpist worldview, and how science was diminished in the Trump era. The ...
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Fantastic job screwing up a book
- By steve finkelstein on 08-02-24
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The Betrayal
- How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America
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- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
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In two previous highly regarded books on the US Senate, Ira Shapiro chronicled the institution from its apogee in the 1970s through its decline in the decades since. Now, Shapiro turns his gaze to how the Senate responded to the challenges posed by the Trump administration and its prospects under President Biden. Shapiro documents the pivotal challenges facing the Senate during the Trump administration, arguing that the body's failure to provide leadership represents the most catastrophic failure of government in American history.
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Short, sweet, and to the point
- By Mike on 06-28-24
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The Storm Is upon Us
- How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything
- By: Mike Rothschild
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Its messaging can seem cryptic, even nonsensical, yet for tens of thousands of people, it explains everything: What is QAnon, where did it come from, and is the Capitol insurgency a sign of where it’s going next? Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, has been collecting their stories for years, and through interviews with QAnon converts, apostates, and victims, as well as psychologists, sociologists, and academics, he is uniquely equipped to explain the movement and its followers.
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Great book, lousy narrator
- By Denise Lavely on 06-22-21
By: Mike Rothschild
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The Believing Brain
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In this, his magnum opus, the world’s best known skeptic and critical thinker Dr. Michael Shermer—founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and perennial monthly columnist (“Skeptic”) for Scientific American—presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished.
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A reader's digest version of many other good books
- By K. S. on 06-29-11
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Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories
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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.
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No chapter titles!!???
- By Nomad of the World on 09-21-19
By: Michael Shermer, and others
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Giving the Devil His Due
- Reflections of a Scientific Humanist
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- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
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Who is the "Devil"? And what is he due? The devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety's sake, because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn't you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence "unpleasant" ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times best-selling author and skeptic Michael Shermer.
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Flawed Audio
- By Private on 04-10-20
By: Michael Shermer
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The Trump Files
- An Account of the Trump Administration's Effect on American Democracy, Human Rights, Science and Public Health
- By: Jack Hassard
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
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This is Citizen Jack’s book, a masterful demonstration of a personal view turned sociopolitical gold. —CHARLES R. AULT JR., Professor Emeritus, Lewis & Clark College Discover the truth about the Trump years with Citizen Jack's gripping and detailed account in The Trump Files. Renowned science educator, researcher, blogger, and author Jack Hassard vividly documents the nation's turbulent Trump years and brings readers back to those troubling days. Through sharp, clear-eyed prose, he takes on racial injustice, the Trumpist worldview, and how science was diminished in the Trump era. The ...
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Fantastic job screwing up a book
- By steve finkelstein on 08-02-24
By: Jack Hassard
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The Betrayal
- How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America
- By: Ira Shapiro
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
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In two previous highly regarded books on the US Senate, Ira Shapiro chronicled the institution from its apogee in the 1970s through its decline in the decades since. Now, Shapiro turns his gaze to how the Senate responded to the challenges posed by the Trump administration and its prospects under President Biden. Shapiro documents the pivotal challenges facing the Senate during the Trump administration, arguing that the body's failure to provide leadership represents the most catastrophic failure of government in American history.
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Short, sweet, and to the point
- By Mike on 06-28-24
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The Storm Is upon Us
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Its messaging can seem cryptic, even nonsensical, yet for tens of thousands of people, it explains everything: What is QAnon, where did it come from, and is the Capitol insurgency a sign of where it’s going next? Mike Rothschild, a journalist specializing in conspiracy theories, has been collecting their stories for years, and through interviews with QAnon converts, apostates, and victims, as well as psychologists, sociologists, and academics, he is uniquely equipped to explain the movement and its followers.
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Great book, lousy narrator
- By Denise Lavely on 06-22-21
By: Mike Rothschild
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Heavens on Earth
- The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia
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- Narrated by: Dr. Michael Shermer, David Smalley
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In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans' belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality by radical life extentionists, extropians, transhumanists, cryonicists, and mind uploaders, along with utopians who have attempted to create heaven on earth.
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Overall great
- By Paul on 04-17-18
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Suspicious Minds
- Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories
- By: Rob Brotherton
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
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Everyone loves a good conspiracy. Yet conspiracy theories are not a recent invention. And they are not always a harmless curiosity. In Suspicious Minds, Rob Brotherton explores the history and consequences of conspiracism, and delves into the research that offers insights into why so many of us are drawn to implausible, unproven and unproveable conspiracy theories. They resonate with some of our brain's built-in quirks and foibles, and tap into some of our deepest desires, fears, and assumptions about the world.
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Enlightening ....nonsense makes sense.
- By dennis katsefes on 12-27-20
By: Rob Brotherton
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The Moral Arc
- How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer, Melody Zownir
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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We are living in the most moral period of our species’ history. Best-selling author Michael Shermer’s most accomplished and ambitious book to date demonstrates how the scientific way of thinking has made people, and society as a whole, more moral. Ever since the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment thinkers consciously applied the methods of science to solve social and moral problems.
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Us is getting bigger, them is getting smaller
- By Gary on 02-02-15
By: Michael Shermer
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Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills
- By: Steven Novella, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Steven Novella
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
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No skill is more important in today's world than being able to think about, understand, and act on information in an effective and responsible way. What's more, at no point in human history have we had access to so much information, with such relative ease, as we do in the 21st century. But because misinformation out there has increased as well, critical thinking is more important than ever. These 24 rewarding lectures equip you with the knowledge and techniques you need to become a savvier, sharper critical thinker in your professional and personal life.
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Same Material Different Title
- By rkeinc on 09-21-14
By: Steven Novella, and others
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Skeptic
- Viewing the World with a Rational Eye
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
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From the author's monthly Scientific American columns. An eclectic, inspiring collection exploring a broad range of scientific thought from best-selling author and celebrated skeptic Michael Shermer.
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Mostly for Those Already in the Choir
- By dugreader on 09-04-16
By: Michael Shermer
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Enemy of the People
- Trump's War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy
- By: Marvin Kalb
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In Enemy of the People, Marvin Kalb, an award-winning American journalist with more than six decades of experience both as a journalist and media observer, writes with passion about why we should fear for the future of American democracy because of the unrelenting attacks by the Trump administration on the press.
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An eye opening must read of the circle of history to this very moment
- By Kindle CustomerDebora on 05-22-19
By: Marvin Kalb
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The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump
- A Psychological Reckoning
- By: Dan P. McAdams
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump provides a coherent and nuanced psychological portrait of Donald Trump, drawing upon biographical events in the subject's life and contemporary scientific research and theory in personality, developmental, and social psychology.
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Interesting & insiteful
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Denying History
- Holocaust Denial, Pseudohistory, and How We Know What Happened in the Past
- By: Michael Brant Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Brant Shermer
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
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Denying History takes a bold and in-depth look at those who say the Holocaust never happened and explores the motivations behind such claims. While most commentators have dismissed the Holocaust deniers as antisemitic neo-Nazi thugs who do not deserve a response, historians Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman have immersed themselves in the minds and culture of these Holocaust "revisionists." In the process, they show how we can be certain that the Holocaust happened.
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Please don't let this guy read his own work!!!
- By Laurie on 11-30-09
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QAnon and On
- A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults
- By: Van Badham
- Narrated by: Van Badham
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In QAnon and On, Guardian columnist Van Badham delves headfirst into the QAnon conspiracy theory, unpicking the why, how and who behind this century’s most dangerous and far-fetched internet cult. From Gamergate to Pizzagate and beyond to QAnon, internet manipulation and disinformation campaigns have grown to a geopolitical scale and spilled into real life with devastating consequences, entangling everyone from politicians to Hollywood celebrities.
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Informative and Scary
- By Sherry Melvin on 06-19-22
By: Van Badham
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Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
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Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
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The Big Truth
- Upholding Democracy in the Age of “The Big Lie”
- By: Major Garrett, David Becker
- Narrated by: Kent Klineman
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Major Garrett and David Becker completely upend The Big Lie that has infected the Far Right with firsthand stories of election officials like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, election director Thomas Freitag. And they reveal the concrete evidence proving that 2020 may have been the most secure US election ever. Garrett and Becker lay bare the methods being undertaken right now to undercut faith, belief, and effectiveness of elections, identifying the places where the most dire actions have been taken since 2020.
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Important but repetative
- By Brennan Roy on 11-11-22
By: Major Garrett, and others
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Why People Believe Weird Things
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
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UFO abductions, television psychics, paranormal phenomena, skeptics and believers alike, find themselves debating truths and lies in the strange web of pseudoscience and the occult. Now, director of the Skeptics Society Michael Shermer explores the very human reasons why we find other worldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing.
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No Why, not Know Why
- By Quotes&More on 10-07-06
By: Michael Shermer
What listeners say about Conspiracy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bradley Peterson
- 12-23-22
Good info, performance is patronizing
While there is a lot of interesting information in this book, the author’s tone got annoying especially playing down conspiratorial beliefs.
I guess, since the book was like a glimpse at a lot of conspiracies, diving deeper into only a few, it left me wanting. There are differences in conspiracies. I.e. tone, conclusions, depth, reasoning. Some conspiracies are flat out bs, others have truths. If there are truths to some narratives, they can not be made fun of so flippantly.
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- HisNameWasBruce
- 11-30-22
Shermer's Books Are Getting Less Good
I've been reading Shermer for years. I agree with him on most conspiracies. But this one felt a little lazy and not as skeptical as he should be. He seems to have a bias towards always believing what the government says unless they are caught lying. He says this despite showing tons of times they lie. This doesn't mean they caused 9/11 or are reptilians, but it means I can't just trust them.
He's also bizarrely selective in repeating the old famous conspiracies. What about the newest ones like Jeffrey Epstein or Russiagate? He seems to ignore these ones to focus on Qanon and election conspiracies. I also hate to say this but the liberal bias is getting prominent when it used to be very absent in his books. I know some people will see me say that and dismiss the review, but he really does only focus on conspiracies that make Trump look bad at the exclusion of ones that make democrats look bad. I could care less about blaming political sides for things, his selectiveness is just so transparent.
I also wish he spent time actually interviewing and studying conspiracy theorists (Like he used to with people saying they were abducted by aliens.) I would like to get some more insights beyond "they just believe what they hear on the internet and we should ban Alex Jones." For instance, WHY did the pizzagate guy come to believe there was some sex dungeon at a pizza place? Was he just insane, or was their some weird pieces of "evidence" he used? Felt lazy.
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- cody heitman
- 11-04-22
Conspiracy?
Hard to listen too. His Examples are the worst. To be so confident that the JFK assassination was a lone gunman while the government still refusing to release documents and evidence pertaining to it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-10-23
Missing Coda
This book gives a great foundation for understanding conspiracy theories in the US. My only complaint is the accompanying PDF is supposed to contain a coda of study results, and only contains the figures from the print book, where do I find the coda?
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- Charles E. David
- 07-23-23
Interesting book
Many of the conspiracy cited stories are told elsewhere in greater detail. This book has a good overview.
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- Drew schroeder
- 11-04-22
great author.
second book I've gone through with this author. He very well goes through all of the most controversial, both old and new conspiracy theories. JFK assassination, 9/11, Lizard Overloads, Roswell New Mexico, Watergate, Obama's Birth Certificate, and the January 6th 2021 Insurrection. he not only debunks the ones needing debunking, and confirms the ones that are obvious truths but he also TEACHES you how to think. he talks about what biases might get in your way from critical thinking in order to find the truth. He also talks about how and (most importantly) WHY we form beliefs. The author could not be more clear in his message he is trying to portray throughout this book. 10/10
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- Angus McAvity
- 11-30-22
A mandatory read
A mandatory read for everyone who wants to be educated and rational in thinking and behavior.
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- RK
- 03-02-24
Required for teenagers raised on YouTube
Discusses the roots of conspiratorial thinking, with acknowledgement that this is to be expected from a portion of the population. Correlations of these believes with unfavorable personality traits demonstrate the dangers of this mindset. And finally, a rapid fire greatest hits concisely debunking famous conspiracies, but also explaining a few that were real.
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- Rose
- 12-08-22
No pdf included on Audible App
I have purchased other books with PDFs attached and was able to review them. This title did not seem to have one or I could not find it.
Overall, this was an interesting listen, but it did get a bit tedious with all the lists. I think that having a hard copy as opposed to listening, would have made more sense.
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- Luke
- 09-30-24
Good material ruined by the author's own bias
This book was barely readable. Mostly it was ruined by the author's TDS, liberal bias and lack of self awareness. The author critques argument from authority, but then in parts of the book relies on that technique.
Oh and nothing ruins your 'crazy conspiracy people are just so dumb' book as citing conspiracy theories that turned out to be true. Best to pick examples of things that have been around long enough to be confident that all relevant evidence is out there. Also the author trashes their reputation by claiming 'fact checkers" are some independent impartial truth seekers.
If you want to read this author, get one of his other books. Besides, there was nothing substantial and new in this book that's not in the author's other books.
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