To paraphrase that great philosopher Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and he is our own brain." ( )

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[b: Suspicious Minds|18869451|Suspicious Minds (Fate, #3)|Elizabeth Reyes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420159283s/18869451.jpg|26868330] by [a: Rob Brotherton|10803990|Rob Brotherton|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is an interest, slightly irreverent, study of what makes us believe what we all too often believe. From the harmless suspicious tendency to roll a pair of die gently in order to achieve a low number, to the paranoiac belief that the government is out to get you, to the all-encompassing conviction that interdimensional shape-shifting reptiles rule to the world - we all have some tendency towards superstition and belief in conspiracy theories. The why we believe what we believe can actually be more troubling and interesting than the what we believe. Unless it's dealing with interdimensional shape-shifting aliens. Those are probably the most creative.


See, the Queen's a reptilian. You can tell by the eyes.

[b: Suspicious Minds|18869451|Suspicious Minds (Fate, #3)|Elizabeth Reyes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420159283s/18869451.jpg|26868330] may not have been as in-depth as I would have liked it to be, but it was still a very interesting book. The beginning is a brief history of conspiracy theories, meant to show that this style of thinking is endemic to the human condition rather than a more recent phenomenon bolstered by the internet and the now pervasive globalism. The history was fascinating, and at times mildly disturbing. I was especially thankful for the in-depth discussion of the Protocols of Zion after [a: Dan Brown|630|Dan Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399396714p2/630.jpg] and [b: Holy Blood, Holy Grail|606818|Holy Blood, Holy Grail|Michael Baigent|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320394892s/606818.jpg|130686] had popularized a new resurgence in belief that those are anything but a hoax. Hopefully this well-documented history of the forgery will put some of that to rest.

Following the history of conspiracy theories the book delves into what a conspiracy theory is exactly (and decides that an important facet of it is that it isn't and likely won't ever be proven) and then the hallmarks of conspiracy thinking. The bulk of the book is devoted to the hallmarks of conspiracy thinking and how every one of us is given to it to a certain extent.

The book is a good example of pop-science, without being erroneous. It's well-researched, intriguing, and would benefit greatly from a more in-depth bibliography in the back. I think that this is a good introduction to the subject overall - though perhaps the section regarding echo chambers was handled a bit more deftly by [a: Jon Ronson|1218|Jon Ronson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1428023511p2/1218.jpg] in [b: So, You've Been Publicly Shamed|22571552|So You've Been Publicly Shamed|Jon Ronson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413749614s/22571552.jpg|43062778]. It's still a valuable topic and an interesting book. I'm glad I read it. ( )

While a radio interview with the author was interesting, I gave up on the book a quarter of a way into it. The author offers some interesting insights into the how and why of conspiracy theories (and traces them far back in history), but the bulk of his book seemed to be tedious revisits of way too many of them.

Suspicious Minds is a book by Dr. Rob Brotherton about, well, exactly what it says it's about: conspiracy theories. Unlike what you might be thinking, it's not a reference catalog for all the theories out there, or a deep dive into any particular theories. Rather, Brotherton examines the psychology behind them. If so many of them sound completely ludicrous (the New World Order...really?), why do we believe them? How do they perpetuate?

Brotherton examines the history of conspiracy theories (despite feeling like conspiracy theories are especially prevalent in our era, they've been around and popular for hundreds of years) and some of the logical fallacies that underlie them (for example, the assumption that the "bad guys" are incredibly competent). He dismisses the notion than all conspiracists are paranoid crazies, but does cite research that shows that they are more likely to be hostile and close-minded than non-believers. One of the tidbits I found most interesting was that he showed how not only are people who believe in conspiracy theories more likely to believe in other conspiracy theories, they are more likely to believe in ones that directly contradict each other (say, simultaneously believing that Princess Diana faked her own death and that she was killed by the British royal family). He then goes into the processes that underlie our acceptance and belief in conspiracy theories (like our inability to accurately assess our own lack of knowledge and understanding) and why the brain holds on to them even in the face of evidence in opposition.

My quibbles with the book are probably fairly unusual, in that I wanted more academic detail. I thought I was going to get a fairly research-heavy book that went into at least some depth about the brain science underlying cognition. In fact, Brotherton spends a solid half of the book talking about history, defining "conspiracy theory", and gently pointing out that these theories require strained or even broken logic. Only in the second half does he even begin to get into the thought processes underlying conspiracy, and he never gets especially deep into it. It's clearly a book written for a generalist audience, which is fine, but with a background in the subject I wanted more. ( )