We are all prone to conspiratorial thinking. Luckily, we can do something about it.
Probability, black swan events, and conspiratorial thinking
Black swan events are highly improbable events that have great, negative impact. Conspiracy theories are coping mechanisms for black swan events: They try to explain them. However, conspiracy theories are epistemologically defective because they mistake the very low probability of black swan events as impossibility, and thus, a conspiracy as the only possible explanation.
9/11, 15 years later: Politics became history, conspiracy theories became mythology.
Introduction: When the unthinkable happens, we are desperate for explanations On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced its worst … Read More