| Description |
1 online resource (unpaged) : illustrations. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Prologue The Conspiracy Effect: Why Smart People Believe Blatantly Wrong Things for Apparently Rational Reasons -- Part I Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories -- 1. Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories: The Difference in Thinking and the Difference It Makes -- 2. A Brief History of Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracists: Toward a Science of Conspiracism -- 3. Proxy and Tribal Conspiracism: How Conspiratorial Beliefs Are Reinforced as Truths -- 4. Constructive Conspiracism: Paranoia, Pessimism, and the Evolutionary Origins of Conspiracy Cognition -- 5. A Case Study in Conspiracism: The Sovereign Citizens Conspiracy Theory -- Part II How to Determine Which Conspiracy Theories Are Real -- 6. The Conspiracy Detection Kit: How to Tell If a Conspiracy Theory Is True or False -- 7. Truthers and Birthers: The 9/11 and Obama Conspiracy Theories -- 8. JFK Blown Away: The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories -- 9. Real Conspiracies: What If They Really Are Out to Get You? -- 10. The Deadliest Conspiracy in History: The Trigger of World War I and How Conspiracies Really Work -- 11. Real and Imagined Enemies: Conspiracies in Reality and in Our Imaginations -- Part III Talking to Conspiracists and Rebuilding Trust in Truth -- 12. How to Talk to Conspiracy Theorists: Engaging with People with Whom We Disagree -- 13. How to Rebuild Trust in Truth: Reason, Rationality, and Empiricism in Reality-Based Communities -- Coda What People Believe About Conspiracy Theories and Why: Results of the Skeptic Research Center Survey |
| Summary |
"The author discusses how we should think about conspiracy theories, who believes them and why, which conspiracy theories are likely to be true or false and what criteria we can use to assess them, and what we should do to combat dangerous conspiracism and reestablish trust in our democratic institutions, in the media, and in one another"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Conspiracy theories -- Psychological aspects.
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Conspiracies -- Psychological aspects.
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Belief and doubt.
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Belief and doubt |
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Conspiracies -- Psychological aspects |
| Other Form: |
Print version: Shermer, Michael. Conspiracy. Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022 9781421444451 (DLC) 2021053808 (OCoLC)1333438186 |
| ISBN |
9781421444468 (electronic bk.) |
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1421444461 (electronic bk.) |
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1421444453 (hardcover) |
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9781421444451 (hardcover) |
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