StarTalk
Why do rational people believe irrational things? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down media literacy, the psychology behind conspiracy theories, and how to combat our cognitive biases with author and founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer.
No one joins a cult thinking they’re wrong, so why does it happen? We talk about what it means to be a skeptic. Was 9/11 an inside job? Was the moon landing a hoax? Was the 2020 election rigged? Learn why popular conspiracy theories gained traction, what their fundamental problems are, and how to argue against them. Does the media make us more susceptible to conspiracies?
What cognitive biases stop intelligent people from making intelligent choices? Discover proportionality bias, confirmation bias, and hindsight bias. How do you know what to believe? If a conspiracy theory was a criminal trial, could you get enough evidence? What questions could we ask ourselves to avoid being biased? What would it take to change your mind?
Why do we often accept the supernatural but not real science? Why are there so many vaccine skeptics, but no antibiotics skeptics? Should internet gatekeepers censor misinformation? Does being more educated make you less susceptible to conspiracy? All that, plus, is there such a thing as being too skeptical?
Thanks to our Patrons Zachary Vex, Alexandru Dolipschi, Chris Knopp, Gianni Gaetano, and D’Angelo Garcia for supporting us this week.
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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!
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00:00 – Intro: Why do people believe conspiracy theories?
10:02 – Does the media aid conspiracy theories?
14:38 – Our cognitive biases
22:00 – How to break down a conspiracy
25:14 – Government Trust & Disinformation
29:15 – Can we avoid being biased?
37:40 – Pseudoscience & The Supernatural
42:55 – Should we censor misinformation?
45:58 – How much does education help?
49:19 – Psychology of admitting you’re wrong
52:02 – Can you be too skeptical?
Source
If we are know just leaning about mind control from the government…imagine in 50 years from now what will the truth today be like.
Unhealthy skepticism is just as bad as no skepticism at all
I love all three of these men! I hope they continue their positive contributions to our society for a long, long time.
And it wasn't only jet fuel that was burning in the twin towers; there was burning furniture, plastics, chemicals and so on. The flames were probably being intensified by convection and perhaps the heat was trapped and concentrated in places.
There are no "we"who believe. It's always you alone.
I am pretty sure that Chuck will never reach to this comment but I need to say after a few years following ST, that this guy is way smarter than he looks! love his humor and how he articulate questions while bringing up facts.
Always be mindful, we are human, we are subject to all the cognitive biases however aware of them we are. We need to actively mitigate them and their effects, think again every time it’s important.
We did NOT have a “peaceful” transfer of power. Jan 6 was NOT peaceful. We did have a transfer of power though, thank the stars and all the people who actually stood up to the mob egged on by the former commander and chief (who took hours to even lift a finger in light of a violent assault on our capital).
Chick is a bit of a idiot. In older times America was strictly against European wars. To the point before America got into ww2 they made Britain haul planes across the boarder to Mexico by horse to avoid showing that they where supporting the Allie’s.
Every conspiracy theory is in and of itself a theory and a challenge of what is known. You take the Christopher Columbus and that the Europe thought the world was flat and it ended and he had a conspiracy theory that it wasn't and then proved it but in time his conspiracy theory was bizarre so these conspiracy theories are challenging what we know or what we think we know and trying to prove them right or wrong. Also you can't say all conspiracy theorists are all grouped in together with one because there could be a truth and it's just not public knowledge versus another one could be absolutely crazy.
Our time now will be called (THE SECOND DARK AGES)
What about building 7?
"Once you go black the royal family kills you" 🤣🤣🤣
Please, seriously consider all perspectives and different views before thinking you ACTUALLY have any idea of what you think you know. I disagree with alot of what Neil and Chuck say, yet i am here trying to get a different perspective.
That really isn't redefining random. It's only reapplying it to the consumption of songs approach. Apple's original approach applied random the same way everytime probably. The new approach can still apply randomness, but also assume consumption as a concept. This seems very valid to me. But go ahead and criticize I guess.
For intellectuals.. the best thing they can come up with is Cicero sounds like an artist haha and never heard of the real Cicero?
Cicero proposed that the ideal government "is formed by an equal balancing and blending" of monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy. In this "mixed state," he argued, royalty, the best men, and the common people all should have a role. Maybe he would have liked this debate on
conspiracy theories…being a Roman Statesman……
So excited to watch. 💖
I don't like you this time !!!
You are not ready to discuss a subject like this one. You don't have good questions. You feel too comfortable at your place and you disgrace the Problems which People are fighting on a Daily basis, having no reason to Trust Media and Government.
There's no Debate at least in your Interview….
Work Harder !!
Why did all the scientists propagate covid vaccine prevented transmission
No one would come forward if rhey knew anything
The majority vote is ALWAYS the "NO" vote… Why is that? What do the non voters know that we don't? There must be something to it? I'm with Gorge Carlin's thoughts on voting. 😀 But you guys keep on voting that it's going to change XYZ when we keep voting in Billionaire class people. It's rigged for the rich. We all know that the people's vote doesn't matter, not when the electoral college conspiracies
Epstein was a conspiracy theory a few years ago. If you say every conspiracy theory is baseless you are an ignorant person
In poker that loss aversion, need to stick with the losing hand/idea is called being pot committed.
As Tom Stoppard said, “You can persuade a man to believe almost anything provided he is clever enough.”
It would also be summer twice a year if it had to do with closeness to the sun, wouldn't it? Awesome episode!
As a believer both in God and science, I really don't understand the extreme difficulty adherents of only one side or the other have. Neither has ever posed a threat to the other for me, and cohabitate quite well, no issues. Each person is clearly free to hold their own view, but I've never felt that one precludes the other.
Yeah, the correct way to discover the rule at 33:31 is to also go into descending numbers. 9, 8, 7. I actually saw the Veratasity channel do a video on this, and one guy out of maybe half a dozen actually figured it out.
START DOING A 3 HOUR PODCAST LIKE JOE ROGAN, TO HAVE PROPER AND COMPLETE CONVERSATIONS.
Conheço a elite local de onde vivo, e o povo não sabe 1% da sujeira, imagina os grandes governos,
Some conspiracies are true, that's why some people can believe wild stuff.
A real scientist doesn't dismiss a claim because it's wild, he just ignores it until there's an interesting amount of evidence for it.