News

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Explore ‘Conspiracy Theories’ during Nov. 17 online presentation

 

Explore what conspiracy theories are, why people tend to follow them, how they differ from theories in the traditional sense and a few tidbits about popular conspiracy theories of the current times during “Conspiracy Theories,” a talk with Mark R. Huston, on Nov. 17 from 12 noon to 1 p.m., hosted by Montcalm Community College.

This is a live online presentation, which means you will need a computer with internet access to participate.

MCC Psychology Instructor and Social Sciences Department Chair Jessica Snyder, who organized the event, said the college is hosting this presentation as part of an effort to educate the community about the power of misinformation and the importance of using critical thinking when evaluating claims.

“Conspiracy theories can influence people’s behaviors and choices – including, in the past few years, leading some people to engage in physical violence and armed confrontations,” Snyder said. “In general, our society is struggling to sift through all of the information available through social media. If they don’t have a good grounding in critical thinking and data evaluation, they are susceptible to manipulation by others.

“This talk is an effort to discuss both real conspiracies that have occurred, strategies to determine truth of information, and descriptions of current conspiracy theories that may or may not be grounded in fact,” Snyder added.

Huston is an Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich. He has studied the psychological and philosophical foundations of conspiracy thinking for several years and has published many papers on the subject. On the day of the event, visit montcalm.edu/events for a link to connect to this live online presentation. For more information about the presentation, contact Cultural Events Coordinator Andrea Dowland at andrea.dowland@montcalm.edu or (989) 328-1065.