Alex Jones, and why we believe conspiracy theories | Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer takes me through why we believe in conspiracy theories, thoughts on Alex Jones and the reasons it is good to believe in some conspiracy theories. He has gained prominence and renown as the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, which investigates pseudoscience, conspiracy theory and supernatural claims. He’s written more than a dozen books, and takes part in debates about religion, science and magical thinking. We also talk about his interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson in which they debated gender ideology.

Michael Shermer links:

GET HIS NEW BOOK CONSPIRACY: https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Why-Rational-Believe-Irrational/dp/1421444453

https://michaelshermer.com/books/
https://michaelshermer.substack.com
https://twitter.com/michaelshermer

Andrew Gold links:
http://youtube.com/andrewgold1
http://instagram.com/andrewgold_ok
http://twitter.com/andrewgold_ok

#cults #religion #conspiracytheories

0:00 Neil Degrasse Tyson, Race, Gender, and Abortion
5:42 Progress in Society and the Arc of the Moral Universe
7:11 Roe v. Wade and Individual Liberty
10:08 Smart People and Cognitive Biases
11:42 Confirmation Bias, Tom Cruise, Isaac Hayes, Depaak Chopra, Scientology, and Empiricism
18:41 Conspiracies - Proxy Conspiracism
19:34 Conspiracies - Tribal Conspiracism
20:32 Conspiracies - Constructive Conspiracism
23:13 Evolved Sensitivity Towards Conspiratorial Behavior / Negativity Bias / Game Theory
27:13 What People Are Conspiracy Theorists?
29:41 Jewish Conspiracies From WWI to Iran
36:07 How to Criticize Israel? / Criticism of US Foreign Policy
37:48 Should Social Media Moderate Conspiracies? Alex Jones and Donald Trump
40:57 Historical False Flag Operations (Operation Northwoods)
42:00 Alex Jones - What About His Followers?
45:24 How to Talk to a Conspiracy Theorist
52:17 The New Conspiracism
53:12 Is God the ULTIMATE Conspiracy Theory?
55:59 Contradictory Conspiracies
58:13 Blaming the Scientific Community / Sokal Squared Hoax