Conspiracy Theories: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational | Michael Shermer

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 278 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Michael Shermer. Michael is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine. He hosts his own podcast, “The Michael Shermer Show,” and is the best-selling author of books like “The Believing Brain, “Giving the Devil His Due,” “The Moral Arch,” “The Mind of the Market,” and many more. Shermer's latest book titled "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational" presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories—who believes them, why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them.

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.

The purpose of today’s conversation is to provide you with a framework for thinking about conspiracies—what they are, the different types of conspiracies that exist, and why we believe in them. You will also learn how to distinguish between real conspiracies and imagined ones and what we can do as a society to tilt the information landscape toward producing more accurate models of the world without resorting to censorship or the policing of thought and information.

You can access the full episode, transcript, and intelligence report to this week’s conversation by going directly to the episode page at HiddenForces.io and clicking on "premium extras." All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

If you want access to our Hidden Forces genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners, you can learn more at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. feel free to send an email to [email protected] and I or someone from our team will right back to you. If you have further questions, feel free to send an email to [email protected], and Demetri or someone else from our team will get right back to you.

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Episode Recorded on 10/21/2022

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody? My name is Demetri Grafinas and you're listening to Hidden Forces,
0:06.0	a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens, the challenge consensus
0:12.9	narratives, and to learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world.
0:19.0	My guest in today's episode is Michael Sharmer. Michael is the founding publisher of Skeptic
0:24.2	Magazine. He hosts his own podcast, The Michael Sharmer Show, and he is the prolific author behind
0:30.2	many best-selling books that you will recognize by name, like the believing brain, giving the devil his
0:35.8	do, the moral arc, the mind of the market, and many more. His latest book, Conspiracy, presents an
0:42.7	overarching review of Conspiracy theories, who believes them, why, which ones are real, and what we
0:49.8	should do about them. You're going to come away from today's conversation with a framework for
0:54.6	thinking about conspiracies, what we mean when we talk about a, quote, conspiracy theory, the
1:00.3	different types of conspiracies that exist, how to distinguish between a conspiracy that's real,
1:05.2	and one that's imagined, and how to tilt the information landscape towards producing more
1:10.2	accurate models of the world around us, so that we're elevating theories that more closely
1:15.5	converge on the truth, without resorting to censorship or policing of thought and information.
1:21.4	For anyone new to the program, Hidden Forces is listener supported. I don't rely on advertisers
1:27.8	or commercial sponsors, so if you want access to the second hour of today's conversation,
1:32.8	as well as the transcripts and intelligence reports, which include my takeaways from every episode,
1:38.6	as well as my thoughts on what comes next, head over to hiddenforces.io, select the episode that
1:44.5	you're interested in, and click on the premium extras, where you can then sign up to one of our
1:49.3	premium content tiers. If you want access to our Hidden Forces Genius Community, which includes
1:55.0	Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis in-person events and dinners,
2:01.7	feel free to send an email to infoathiddenforces.io and I or someone from our team will get right back
	...

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