Rationally Speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.

For more information, please visit us at NYCCEPtics.org.

Welcome to rationally speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.

I'm your host, Massion Piluchin.

With me, as always, is my co-host, Julia Galev.

Julia?

Julia!

What are we going to talk about today?

It's like I forgot your name.

Massimo, today I'm pleased to welcome our guest, Professor Preston Bost, who is a professor of psychology at Wabash College, where he specializes in, among other things, the study of implicit and false memories, and also the cognitive psychology of conspiracy theories and beliefs, which is the main thing we're going to focus on in today's episode. Preston,

welcome to the show. Thank you. It's a pleasure to join you. I appreciate the invitation.

So, Preston, you've written an article coming out in Skeptical Inquirer, and I know you've given at least one talk recently on the subject of to what extent belief in conspiracy theories

is rational or could fairly be called rational. I think there's probably some wiggle room there.

I bet a lot of our listeners will be interested in the case for why conspiracy theories could be

called rational. Do you want to give us an overview of that? Wow, sure. So I guess some background on why I thought this paper

was a good idea. I had started to wonder if the discourse in the skeptical community

about conspiracy theories had gotten maybe a little too easy, I guess, is the way to put it.

Sort of there become a formula to it.

Here's a new conspiracy theory.

Here's the rebuttal.

Here's why they're wrong.

Move on to the next conspiracy theory, right?

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