Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking

 We are beginning to wrap this book up with our final chapter “Conclusion.” I really want to be petty about the title, but I won’t be. Conclusions in books are supposed to be recap, but conclusions in conspiracy theory books are usually not. Usually, they do a slight bit of recapping and then infodump. We also have a problem of time. This book is a little over a century old and some conventions in historical writing may have changed. She begins by telling us that that many “things that are happening today which appear at first inexplicable become clear as daylight; for not only do the six points of Weishaupt form the exact programme of the revolutionary party in England, but it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that every device now employed by it can be traced back to the code of the Illuminati.” What a modern book would do is just drop a quick footnote as to where the “six points of Weishaupt” were discussed. It should read “Six points of Weishaupt (ch. 2).” I mention this...

  “Here a curious point arises. Was Weishaupt the inventor of this system? We know that he was indoctrinated in occultism by Kolmer, but beyond that we can discover nothing…how is it that so vast a genius should have remained absolutely unknown to posterity?” Webster raises one of the most important questions in these types of global conspiracy theories. The question of origin is really important, who came up with this plot? For a skeptic this is a good question to figure out exactly how far down road the conspiracy theorist is going to kick the can. As of this writing, two days ago the Trump administration publicly claimed that not only did convicted sex trafficker and rapist Jeffrey Epstein kill himself but also that there was no list and no other documents related to his operation. I am not going to weigh in on those conspiracy theories (I’ll link to an article I’m going to write for a different site when it goes up); what I am going to talk about is one of the defenses that I’v...

Well, we did it. It took us nine months, but we have closed the back cover on the first book to warn us of the dangers of a private club of 18th-century skeptics. So what did we learn? Well, we learned that conspiracy theory books are pretty much the same throughout time. Remember this is the first book to call the Illuminati out and it reads like a slightly better-written version of the books that get popped out today. This is an interesting difference because Robison doesn't have access to the vocabulary or the concepts that we do. Otherwise, there isn't a substantial difference other than the historical references that peppered Gary Allen's book. Yet they are still arguing against the same thing, the encroachment of "liberalism." The funny thing about that is Allen would be Robison's enemy, I don't think that Allen would understand Robison's complaints. As much as I dislike Gary Allen's book and the ideas of the John Birch Society, I don't t...

" Nor can it be said that these are vain fears. We know that the enemy is working among us, and that there are many appearances in these kingdoms which strongly resemble the contrivance of this dangerous Association." It's nice that it cannot be said that this is the case. It isn't exactly a vain fear, the fear that Robison has is without a warrant, but his fear is not the Illuminati. The fear is that the world is changing around him and he can't accept it. The fear is that the world is now more literate than it has ever been and new ideas are being tossed around that aren't the orthodoxy that he grew up with. Yes, Robison has a real fear, but the vanity is in thinking that the Illuminati are out there trying to target him.  For once we actually get a name of a book that is widely available even now, Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason." Here's what Robison claims about the book, " Till Paine's Age of Reason appeared, the most sceptical wr...

 In this post, I'm left with a weird choice. I could power through to the end of the book and just say, "boom we're done." In fact, that's what I planned to do, but the conclusion isn't wrapping up the way I thought it was going to. Robison is writing a proper conclusion, not a call to arms like his conspiracy theorist progeny. He's plodding through the points that he thinks  he's made throughout the work and then gives what he feels is the proper observation. The problem I have is that there isn't much new here to say, and this conclusion is over forty pages (by the pdf) long. I'm not willing to trudge back through the conclusion like I'm playing Halo 3; however, it's also a disservice to the readers who have been with me for this entire book. So, we'll break this down into two posts, with a third post being the wrap-up for the entire book.  I'm also going to skip over his retread unless there's something I've noticed o...

We're back from grading, more grading; and then the murder storm that felled my city (Buffalo). We left off beginning Robison's conclusion. Way back in the beginning of this project I mentioned how refreshing it was to read Robison. This is because I had just come off of Gary Allen's book, and to remind old readers--reading conspiracy theories is my profession. Robison's work, I found at the time, to be surprisingly coherent. His work was focused, he began a chapter to discuss the Illuminati and that's what the chapter was about. His problem is that he relies on the reader to draw connections between the disparate groups that he mentions. The events, the people, the letters...so many letters; all dance around a subject because he doesn't have the information which connects these things. However, the writing quality itself isn't bad. For the most part, he's competent but then in other parts he's very good. It's a level of quality that we don't...

The final chapter begins, and it's going to be full of some navel gazing nonsense. The ultimate problem with this final chapter is that it is going to be conclusion and the conclusion should do a few things. In this book what it should do summarize the story that Robison thinks he's been telling. Before I dive into his conclusion let me summarize the story that he thinks he's communicated thus far:  Robison is claiming that in Europe there has been a group which has infiltrated all of Masonry. Their existence is so subtle that when you ask any Mason, they have no idea what you are talking about, but this group is twisting Masonry to its own end. That end is the destruction of Christian Europe. To accomplish this: they had to infiltrate Masonry in order to find a lodge that was amenable to this kind of plot. Once that was established this particular lodge gave birth to the Illuminati. Which was the same kind of thing only now it wasn't as secret. Once the Illuminati were...

Robison is getting desperate, and I think the reason is that the events he's talking about are closer in proximity to him. It's a bit different for him to claim events, persons, and documents from Germany; but France is different. France is "right-over-there" and the revolution just happened. There are people that his readers could ask, "hey who in charge of the revolution was an Illuminati." This is a difficult problem for any conspiracy theorist and Robison, in the very beginning of the Illuminati conspiracy theory has to deal with this. So far, we've seen him hide the Illuminati in Masonry and in the German Union. In each case there is shield between the people that the average person would know and the Illuminati.  This shield is important. It makes it harder to disprove Robison's claim even though Robison hasn't proven his claim yet. Sure, all of the Freemasons reading this work were probably a little confused because none of the Masons that...

Too much grading last week, but let's press on this week as it seems we are approaching the end of this book.  We are still in the throes of the French Revolution and Robison's attempt to prove that the Illuminati and their puppet Masons were behind it. I feel like a broken record to have to keep repeating this but the problem that Robison has with the German Union, the Illuminati, and those peculiar Masonic lodges was that they were spreading ideas about the enlightenment. I've talked about the French Revolution in the previous two posts, so I'll skip that.  What is more interesting to me are the increasingly odd portrayals of secret society rituals that Robison engages in. In every case the lodges that he speaks of are not the ones you would be familiar with; they are the other ones . Like the kid who brags about his lingerie model girlfriend in high school--she's from Canada you wouldn't know her. These aren't the regular lodges these are lodges of the Gr...

 In all of the conspiracy books that I've read...that were not compilations of different articles...I've noticed a pattern. The book begins with an introduction that is the author's own personal experience which is normal. The first chapter is decently written. When I say decently written do not get me wrong, it is not that the first chapter is correct but that it remains focused. The books inevitably get worse and worse. Each chapter loses a little bit more coherence than the one previous to it.  In this book we had the first chapter focused on European Masonry and since it based around a trend that Robison found in his experiences with Masonry it stayed pretty tight. One his story headed to the German states, he lost a bit of his thread. However, the rope stayed bound. The next chapter was concerning the Illuminati and he begins to lose more of the rope here, instead of proving that the Illuminati were seeking to subvert the religions and governments of Europe he merely p...

We are at the French Revolution and as I mentioned last week, this is the most important event for Illuminati conspiracy theorists. For them it is evidence of the first strike, the Illuminati created a bloody revolution. It's not plausible given the actual timeline but conspiracy theorists need to mention it. Robison is going to dedicate an entire chapter to the French Revolution, and it is here that we must remind ourselves that he's writing in the immediate wake of the actual revolution. He would have been reading newspapers printed about events in the revolution taking place the day after.  It's news, it's actual news to him, and it's taking place right now. It's hugely important, but a few years after the Revolution he's going to draw the wrong conclusion about how it started. It's kind of depressing because the kernel of the truth is there and he just doesn't grow it into anything.  We will begin with Robison's first broken clock of the book...

This should be more interesting than it is, Robison is giving us the minute details of the alleged global secret society, and to be honest...I think this is all filler. It just reads like filler, Robison is trying to pad out his word count as if no one would publish this book unless it reached 200 pages. As I said last week, this should be very interesting. In fact, if it were true, it should be all the conspiracy theorists ever discuss because the management and maintenance of the conspiracy would have to be such a vast undertaking that the question would not be: who is in the conspiracy but who is not.  Let's just examine what Robison is telling us starting on page 142 (for the PDF). The central money will be collected and then held as a managing fund. This fund will be directed to each individual lodge according to need, and this will set the machine of the German Union in motion. This is important stuff as it shows how the conspiracy is going to be paid for. Remember that the c...

Last week had a dental appointment, and couldn't get the time in to update. Today, we're right back to it.  We've been discussing what seems to be after so many pages of teasing, the actual conspiracy that Robison is so afraid is going to topple the governments and religions of Europe. Well...continental Europe at least. There is no evidence from this book that Robison is worried about Scotland, England, or the UK in general. Let us remember that the conspiracy is being conducted by something known as the German Union and their evil nefarious plan is to--create a system of interconnected libraries so that the population of the German-speaking states would be literate.  As Robison writes, summarizing plan XXII (or document XXII, it's unclear), " The great aim of the German Union, is the good of mankind, which is to be attained only by means of mental Illumination (Auffklarung) and the dethroning of fanaticism and moral despotism. " There's a few things  to ...

The German Union conspiracy is in full description, and again, I have to comment that it is about damn time. The entire book has been about tracing relationships, the neophytes in Continental Masonry, and gossip about Weishaupt's failed Illuminati, but it's been lacking in an actual conspiracy. Sure, there have been the occasional comments that they were spreading documents relating to the falseness of Christianity or the Church; and documents concerning the virtues of democracy; that however is not a conspiracy as they did this in the open.  Now, Robison from his seat in Scotland is going to discuss a German reading society that wants to expand literacy throughout the German-speaking states. Remember, this is the conspiracy--and it has to be a conspiracy because some of the documents that they will encourage to be read will be banned by order of whatever regional monarch is in charge. Their plan is also to set up an interconnected library system to facilitate reading.  Robiso...

 I've often wondered in my many readings of these types of conspiracy theories how the conspirators recruit their employees. If, as the Flat Earthers claim, there is an ice wall and that wall is guarded; then who is guarding it? Where is that recruitment drive? Does it pay well? As an academic I get lumped in as one of those leftist-socialists-gay indoctrinators that are paid to promote climate change, the homosexual agenda, and the idea that Christianity is stupid--but I assure the reader, the meager wage that I am paid is not reflective of my place as a cog in the wheel that grinds white Christian America into dust. As a person who could use the cash and actually does teach that the science for climate change is legitimate, that gay people are people, and that Christianity has some evidence problems I could use the cash. I protested Trump at the March for Science and according to Alex Jones that was a George Soros-led initiative but I never got my check. Is there a form to fill o...