Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking

Well, it’s that time of year, when an adjunct philosophy professor has to grade his papers. This means, that there is not going to be a proper post this week. However, I do have to address the weeks ahead. Given that Christmas Day is next week, and New Year’s Day is the week after; I’m going to update on Tuesdays. Then, once we hit 1/8, I’ll go back to Wednesdays. Have a good week, we’ll be back with Kaysings views on science next week once I get all of these business ethics papers graded.  

 What we know about Bill Kaysing is that he used to work at Rocketdyne, originally a division of North American Aviation, that built a variety of rocket engines for both military and non-military use (i.e. ICBMs and Space Missions). As I pointed out a few posts ago, Kaysing is not specific about what it is that he did there. He’s closer to the Moon Program more than any of the other chuckle heads that claim it was faked, but this could very well be a case of false authority. Bob Lazar, the fake Area-51 whistle blower, claimed to have worked at Los Alamos—but he did so as a photography developer. The implication that Kaysing wants us to gain is that he worked on the rockets or that he is some kind of engineer. This is the “natural flavors” problem. If you look on a carton of orange juice you’ll find a description that says something like “includes natural flavors.” Most people assume that “natural flavors” means “oranges,” but it doesn’t. At least, it doesn’t necessarily. However, t...

 If you read the academic literature on conspiracy theories the most important sticking point is how to define them. Ever since Keeley defined the concept back in 1999, there have been numerous tweaks and changes to the definition. My 2021 Dissertation had its own definition, and they continue to be adjusted and improved. One nearly consistent feature of the various academic attempts at defining “conspiracy theory” is that the theorists always has malicious motives for their theory. When I cover this in my courses I explain that I have doubts about this feature (in fact, I don’t use it in my definition at all); because while we can easily see the nefarious motives in covering up the truth about the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, or the Flat Earth; this isn’t necessarily the case. I construct a conspiracy theory about a secret plan to give everyone a free puppy (or kitten), even the philosopher Dentith talks about a conspiracy to throw a surprise part—which can hardly be considered ne...