gimley reviewed American conspiracy theories by Joseph E. Uscinski
Review of 'American conspiracy theories' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The idea sounds like a good one when you first hear it--treat conspiracy theories as a phenomenon separate from their contents. When do they proliferate? Who tends to believe them? How do they align with the political spectrum? Is there an objective way to evaluate them? Etc.
There are useful things to say in this context but in the end, like many results in the social sciences, it's never quite convincing. I want to say "not as convincing as a good conspiracy theory," for like a short story, a good one is a work of art. It's not an accident that they are often made into movies: e.g. Capricorn One, JFK, The Manchurian Candidate, or The Parallax View.
And though the authors make a case for letters to the editor of the Times as suitable data, I wonder if the true conspiracy theory consumer wouldn't rather read The National Enquirer. …
The idea sounds like a good one when you first hear it--treat conspiracy theories as a phenomenon separate from their contents. When do they proliferate? Who tends to believe them? How do they align with the political spectrum? Is there an objective way to evaluate them? Etc.
There are useful things to say in this context but in the end, like many results in the social sciences, it's never quite convincing. I want to say "not as convincing as a good conspiracy theory," for like a short story, a good one is a work of art. It's not an accident that they are often made into movies: e.g. Capricorn One, JFK, The Manchurian Candidate, or The Parallax View.
And though the authors make a case for letters to the editor of the Times as suitable data, I wonder if the true conspiracy theory consumer wouldn't rather read The National Enquirer.
One of the tests for evaluating a theory is to ask who benefits from the conspiracy. The conclusion that neither the left nor the right are more prone to conspiracy theories is the kind of result that benefits the authors of this book in that it makes them sound more objective in the end. And it's not the kind of result you'll see in ads for the book because it would scare away the readership hoping to have their beliefs confirmed.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 so I sound more objective.