Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational (SIGNED)

Michael Shermer (SIGNED)

ISBN 10: 1421444453 / ISBN 13: 9781421444451

Published by Johns Hopkins, 2022

About this Item

SIGNED by Shermer on title page (signature only). Near Fine. 1st Printing of 1st Edition. Unclipped dust jacket, protected by mylar cover, is clean and bright with no rips. Black cloth boards, with silver-stamped titles, are clean and sturdy. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked with no rips or creases. Quick, secure shipping with free delivery confirmation from Los Angeles bookstore. Photos available upon request. International shipping may be extra due to weight.

Seller Inventory # 016391

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational (SIGNED)
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1421444453
• ISBN 13: 9781421444451
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

"A well-written and essential tool for those navigating today's complicated geopolitical landscape."―Library Journal Best-selling author Michael Shermer presents an overarching theory of conspiracy theories―who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them.

Nothing happens by accident, everything is connected, and there are no coincidences: that is the essence of conspiratorial thinking. 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.

In Conspiracy, Michael Shermer presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories―who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them. Trust in conspiracy theories, he writes, cuts across gender, age, race, income, education level, occupational status―and even political affiliation. One reason that people believe these conspiracies, Shermer argues, is that enough of them are real that we should be constructively conspiratorial: elections have been rigged (LBJ's 1948 Senate race); medical professionals have intentionally harmed patients in their care (Tuskegee); your government does lie to you (Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Afghanistan); and, tragically, some adults do conspire to sexually abuse children. But Shermer reveals that other factors are also in play: anxiety and a sense of loss of control play a role in conspiratorial cognition patterns, as do certain personality traits.

This engaging book will be an important read for anyone concerned about the future direction of American politics, as well as anyone who's watched friends or family fall into patterns of conspiratorial thinking.

About the Author

Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, the executive director of the Skeptics Society, and the host of the popular podcast The Michael Shermer Show. He is the author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational; Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters; Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time; and The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies―How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths.