Conspiracy Theories & Critical Thinking all leture exam1 uno

Evolutionary Brain Wiring

Brains evolved for African savannah survival and quick decisions, not logical truth-seeking.

Demographics of Conspiracy Believers

Younger people believe at higher rates than older adults; education, gender, and income differences are minimal.

Element 1: Unproven by Design

Conspiracy theories are ongoing; once proven true, they become established conspiracies, not theories.

Element 2: Nothing is as it Appears

False flag theories claim governments orchestrate attacks on their own citizens.

Sandy Hook vs. Virginia Tech

Social media saturation caused widespread conspiracy theories for Sandy Hook (2012) but not Virginia Tech (2007).

Operation Northwoods

A rejected 1960s U.S. military proposal to stage attacks on U.S. soil to justify invading Cuba.

Sagan's 'Dragon in my Garage'

A parable illustrating unfalsifiable claims that cannot be rationally evaluated.

Baloney Detection Kit

Critical thinking tools including fact confirmation, debate, alternative hypotheses, quantification, and falsifiability checks.

Motivated Reasoning

People ask 'Can I believe this?' for preferred info and 'Must I believe this?' for disliked info.

Element 3: Everything is Intentional

Evolutionary bias assigning human intent to non-human objects or random occurrences.

Element 4: Everything is Connected

Patternicity, or the tendency to mentally connect unrelated events into a unified narrative.

The Illuminati History

Founded in 1776 Bavaria as a book club, later becoming a scapegoat, satire, and pop-culture conspiracy.

Irony Decay

The process where satirical concepts erode belief standards because irony fails in mass distribution.

Element 5: World Divided into Good vs. Evil

Conspiracy theories frame issues as stark moral battles between pure good and malevolent evil.

Element 6: Cannot be Disproven

Circular logic where absence of evidence is seen as proof that conspirators covered their tracks.

Japanese American Internment Logic

Earl Warren argued the lack of sabotage was an ominous sign of an imminent coordinated attack.

Paranormal Beliefs

Unexplained phenomena that do not necessarily violate natural laws, such as UFOs or Bigfoot.

Pseudoscience

Claims with scientific phrasing that actively ignore or contradict empirical scientific testing.

Supernatural Beliefs

Concepts involving magical or religious forces operating completely outside natural laws.

Distorted Worldview Choice

To avoid negative feelings about themselves and to feel better.

Confirmation Bias Tendency

Humans tend to seek out and pay attention to information that supports what they already believe.

Brain Evolution Timeline

The major parts of the human brain have not evolved significantly for approximately 10,000 years.

Astrology's Pseudoscience Status

It refuses to update itself or correct its methods after repeatedly failing empirical tests.

Pseudoscientific Marketing Terms

Terms like 'quantum,' 'energy,' or 'vibrations' are used as scientific-sounding veneers that lack standard scientific meanings.

Burden of Proof in Pseudoscience

It flips the burden by challenging skeptics to prove the claim is false rather than providing evidence it is true.

Hume's Maxim on Miracles

No testimony is sufficient to accept a miracle unless the testimony being wrong would be more miraculous than the claim itself.

Core Principle of Occam's Razor

When faced with two explanations, the simpler one requiring the fewest new assumptions is usually the most reasonable.

Extraordinary Claim Evidence

Extraordinary evidence.

Skepticism of Bigfoot's Existence

The total absence of physical specimens, such as skeletons, skulls, or DNA-verifiable hair and droppings.

Myside Bias

The tendency to readily detect flaws in other people's reasoning while remaining blind to flaws in one's own.

Infrasound

Sound below 20 hertz that is inaudible to humans but can cause dread, anxiety, and visual illusions by vibrating the eyeball.

The Houdini Rule

The principle that scientific expertise is domain-specific, requiring the evaluation of claims by someone with specific relevant expertise.

Disclosure Narrative

The belief that government secrecy about a phenomenon is being maintained but will imminently be lifted to vindicate believers.

Four Stages of Conspiracy Escalation

Identity confirmation, identity affirmation, identity protection, and identity enactment.

Hanlon's Razor

The principle that we should never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence.

Theory Influences Observations

A scientific thinking error where our brain's predictions and expectations directly shape what we perceive.

Hawthorne Effect

The phenomenon where the simple act of observing people changes how they behave and temporarily boosts productivity.

Equipment Constructs Results

The scientific thinking flaw where the tools and instruments used to measure a phenomenon inherently define and limit what is found.

Homeopathy's Core Principles

Flawed pseudoscientific ideas based on 'like cures like' and 'less is more,' lacking any valid empirical basis.

Core Problems in Pseudoscientific Thinking

Anecdotes, scientific-sounding language, unorthodox ideas, rumors, and misinterpreting coincidences do not validate claims.

Medical Disinformation Profit Models

Pundits make money through ad revenue, product sales, audience monetization, and network effects.

The Galileo Fallacy

The flawed belief that because past unorthodox thinkers were right, current rejected claims are also likely to be correct.

Birthday Paradox and Coincidences

In a room of 140 people, about 40 will share a birthday because 140 people create nearly 10,000 pairwise comparisons, making hits much more likely than human intuition expects.

Robert Merton's Norms of Science

Unwritten rules and expectations of the scientific community designed to catch individual biases and errors through a shared social system.

Universalism (Norm of Science)

Claims must be judged by impersonal standards rather than the personal characteristics, identity, or standing of the person making them.

Communalism (Norm of Science)

Scientific knowledge belongs to everyone; data and methods must be shared publicly so anyone can check and build upon them (originally termed communism).

Disinterestedness (Norm of Science)

Scientists are expected to pursue knowledge for its own sake rather than for fame, awards, or profit, with work kept honest by checking rivals.

Organized Skepticism (Norm of Science)

Doubt is a core feature of science where every claim must survive a rigorous, collective gauntlet of criticism, peer review, and replication.

Cold Fusion Case Study (1989)

Fleischmann and Pons announced room-temperature nuclear fusion at a press conference to beat rivals and secure patents, violating scientific norms and failing replication.