logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
28m 34s

Conspiracy and belief | Michael Shermer

Iai
About this episode

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes

In this intimate interview, Michael Shermer explores how conspiracy theories undermine objective truth or the generally accepted scientific, materialist paradigm. He covers everything from his most recent work to why conspiracy theories are so good at creating cult followings and what objective truth might look like.

Michael Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The author of over a dozen books, Shermer is known for engaging in debates on pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific scepticism.

There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=conspiracy-and-belief

Email us on podcast@iai.tv!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Today
After postmodernism | Hilary Lawson, Robin van den Akker, Abby Innes, Sophie Scott-Brown
Hugely influential in the latter decades of the 20th century, postmodernism transformed many academic disciplines and culture at large. Associated with an attack on objective truth and the uniqueness of meaning, it called into question the whole edifice of knowledge which Western ... Show More
47m 13s
Oct 6
The language of the unconscious: Pyschoanalysis and AI | Alenka Zupančič
As ChatGPT and AI increase their presence in our lives, have we interrogated enough what this means for, and about, our collective psyche?In one of the most original critiques of ChatGPT, Slovenian Lacanian philosopher Alenka Zupančič interprets large language models as a form of ... Show More
29m 46s
Sep 29
The Enlightenment is racist (and why) | Kehinde Andrews
The Enlightenment has faced a lot of criticism in recent years - its defenders and detractors often come head to head, scrambling to articulate its ultimate value or lack thereof to contemporary society. This podcast contributes to this wider debate and question facing all those ... Show More
20m 38s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
On Skepticism: Michael Shermer & Jeremy Rys on DarkHorse
Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He writes a weekly Su ... Show More
2h 24m
Jun 2019
Conspiracy and Controversy: An Interview with David Icke
David Icke is one of the most well-known, controversial people in the world of conspiracy theories. In this episode, the guys speak with Mr. Icke for a first-hand look at everything from his former career to his beliefs on the nature of reality, the accusations of his critics and ... Show More
1h 15m
May 2023
Conspiracy Expert: How to Spot a True Conspiracy Theory - Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a publication focussed on investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. He is the author of over a dozen books, t ... Show More
1h 3m
Nov 2022
Cosmic Queries – Why do we believe conspiracy theories? with Michael Shermer
Why do rational people believe irrational things? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down media literacy, the psychology behind conspiracy theories, and how to combat our cognitive biases with author and science historian, Michael Shermer.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen ... Show More
53m 1s
Mar 2022
251. Kelly Weill on Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything
Since 2015, there has been a spectacular boom in a nearly 200-year-old delusion — the idea that we all live on a flat plane, under a solid dome, ringed by an impossible wall of ice. It is the ultimate in conspiracy theories, a wholesale rejection of everything we know to be true ... Show More
1h 42m