Conspiracies, confirmation bias & the problem with ‘doing your own research’

Hello everyone!

Please listen to the following podcast about the philosophical issues of believing in conspiracies, and the fallacy of ‘doing your own research’. Although the podcast touches on some psychological factors, it is mainly a podcast on philosophy. Nevertheless, we can veer from the topic (as usual from previous meetings) and just talk about our own experiences of confirmation or cognitive bias. Ironically, you can also do ‘your own research’ and discuss your findings in our meeting.

Distributed intelligence and the problem with 'doing your own research'

Conspiracy theorists are turning out to be a resilient bunch, and no amount of refutation or mockery will make them go away. It's a problem, because as well as being ethically problematic, conspiracy theories can sometimes be downright dangerous. So how do we deal with them? This week we're exploring the ways in which the familiar diagnosis of the conspiracy theorist - lacking in reason, perhaps mentally ill - doesn't really get it right.

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/philosopherszone/distributed-intelligence-conspiracy-doing-your-own-research/105872248