Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking

Before even delving into conspiracy theories it is important to begin with the methodology by which we judge them and their claims. What follows is a monologue regarding the scientific method and two principles by which we judge claims to have truth value. It is important first off that we understand the process of investigation. In general the entire process begins with a curious observation. Then we have the steps by which we can finally come to a conclusion based on the available evidence. First off the curious observation: something piques are curiosity, whether it be noticing that the rise in vaccination rates also correlates with a rise in autism, or when Alexander Fleming noticed that there was no bacteria near the mold in his petri dishes. This triggers the innate curiosity in all of us, we simply want to know things. After the observation we begin to form a hypothesis. Herein lies our first problem: "hypothesis" itself, does not mean blind guess. A proper hypothe...

The first and most potent argument against conspiracy theories comes us by way of a medieval monk named William. He is famous for a dictum that many people do not even realize is an eponym, "Ockham's Razor." With this razor (as we will now be referring to it as though it were a thing which actually exists...this will be ironic later) many conspiracy theories can be rendered absurd. First off we need some background information: William was born in the town of Ockham in 1287(-ish). Studying theology at Oxford, he earned today's equivalent of a PhD writing a commentary on Lombard's Sentences . Philosophically he was a Nominalist--a metaphysical position regarding the status of universals. The conflict, briefly, is that if two things both share a quality--that quality possesses an abstract but real existence which is primary to the things in which the quality is inhered. This is the Platonic doctrine of the forms, and even when Plato was teaching it, it was a contr...

The first big question one might ask when hearing about this course (or line of inquiry) is, "why is this important?" The question, familiar to anyone in an academic profession, usually comes from a student in a class not relevant to their major, i.e. literature students in a biology course or vice versa. The problem with this subject is that the general populace has a stereotype of who endorses conspiracy theories and who listens to them: The tin-foil hat wearing loner in a studio apartment covered in newspaper clippings is our paradigmatic case of the believer. While a firebrand, AM late night talk radio host, is our endorser. In the 90s, this began to change and there were two reasons for that change: the movie "JFK" and the television show "The X-Files." Both artifacts of pop-culture were well made and very popular. This had the effect of bringing conspiracy theories to the general public in a new way. The respective protagonists were not socially aw...

The most pressing issue in this topic, the one that we have to introduce first, is "what is a conspiracy theory." Like the famous dictum regarding pornography, as said by Justice Stewart in Jacobellis v. Stewart (378 US 184) it's hard to define but we know it when we see it. It is quite easy to dismiss the crazy man with the megaphone screaming about aliens and the Illuminati, or the woman yelling about how vaccines are a form of mind control. Those are the obvious cases, the easy to identify. What's more difficult are the cases in which the conspiracy is subtle, doesn't advocate for secret societies, space aliens, or interdimensional alien lizard people. If one person is trying to convince you that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, it's easy to dismiss that. However, if the same person begins saying that the Democratic National Party conspired to rig the primary election against Bernie Sanders, well that's not so obvious. Just as how easy it is to la...

This first post is an abbreviated form of my syllabus. I have omitted some of the general school policies, assignment requirements, and classroom information.  Subject Matter : Conspiracy theories were once the sole domain of crack pots. If someone claimed that they didn't believe in the Moon Landing, that "chem trails" were causing autism (or whatever), or that a secret group of individuals were in control of every world event; we'd nod politely and then excuse ourselves. Now however conspiracism (the belief in conspiracy theories) is now mainstream. The president of the United States became politically active endorsing the "Birther" argument, has given his approval to Alex Jones' Infowars.com, and has publicly communicated theories about the bugging of the White House by the previous administration. For some reason the "Flat Earth" theory is now popular among NBA players and some rappers, who have to assert that NASA, for one, is propagati...