by Eric W. Dolan New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories. In other words, the study suggests that people with greater critical thinking skills are less likely to believe that terrorist attacks are being covertly directed by a country’s own government or that mind-control technology is secretly being used to control the population. “Regularly, different private and public actors provide homemade tools such as ‘critical thinking skills training programs’ that are supposed to be an effective way of reducing the spread of conspiracy theories,” said study author Anthony Lantian, an … Continue reading New study indicates conspiracy theory believers have less developed critical thinking abilities

In each of our minds, we draw a demarcation line between beliefs that are reasonable and those that are nonsense. Where do you draw your line? by Mick West  Conspiracy theories exist on a spectrum, from plausible and mainstream to fringe and unpopular. It’s very rare to find someone who only believes in one conspiracy theory. They generally believe in every conspiracy theory that’s less extreme than their favorite one. To some extent, we are all conspiracy theorists. The following is an excerpt from the book Escaping the Rabbit Hole by Mick West. It is reprinted with permission from the author. If … Continue reading We are all conspiracy theorists