21: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories

James and Shawn talk with John R. Perfect about conspiracy theories.  What are they anyway? What makes them so prevalent or easy to swallow? We talked about whether or not a particular person may be more susceptible to believing conspiracy theories and what we can do to avoid falling into that trap ourselves. What do you think about conspiracy theories? Are there any particular ones in your community that seem especially strong? Why do you think that is? Send us and email with your thoughts. We'd be glad to hear from you. Email: lookingoverlife@gmail.com Website: lookingoverlife.com Patreon: patreon.com/lookingoverlife Choice Books The Bearded Onion James Webb Space Telescope James E. Webb – Wikipedia Edwin Hubble – Wikipedia Conspiracy theory – Wikipedia Jesse Walker's 5 types of conspiracy theories – Wikipedia Worldview – Wikipedia Mental model – Wikipedia Flowchart – Wikipedia Illusory Truth Effect – Wikipedia The Onion – satirical news site The Onion – satire on moon landing debunked (Read the onion with care—if at all—recognizing its satire and irreverence.) The Babylon Bee – satirical news site Proportionality Bias – Wikipedia Cognitive Bias – Wikipedia Critical Thinking Skills – Wikipedia Correlation vs. Causality – Wikipedia Tyler Vigen – Spurious Correlations Edward Snowden – Wikipedia How to Use Occam’s Razor Without Getting Cut Hanlon's Razor: Relax, Not Everything is Out to Get You