Professor Chris French commented: "I'm delighted to see the reception that Rob's book has received from the reviewers. It's a great read and is, to my knowledge, the first popular science book to deal with this fascinating topic. Rob has a very engaging writing style and is able to get across some complex ideas in a reader-friendly manner that makes his book a real pleasure to read." With “Suspicious Minds,” Brotherton delves into the history of conspiracy theories and discusses how that history impacts us. There’s no denying that these theories often have unforeseen consequences, but that doesn’t prevent people from being drawn to them. Whether we’re talking about the Illuminati or the Freemasons or the JFK assassination or 9/11 or any number of other grand “deceptions,” these theories tap into our psyches in meaningful ways, mining our foibles and fears and painting pictures that fit with our own basic biases and assumptions. Generally, conspiracy theories are dismissed as laughable, absurd, or just exasperating. However, the urgency underlying the need for clear-sighted weighing of evidence surrounding conspiracy theories is evident in many contemporary crises. Conspiracy theories can be truly damaging.

As we learn in the book, a person who believes in one conspiracy idea is more inclined to believe in another or even other conspiracy ideas. And if the fake called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," can be debunked relatively easily, then the conspiracy related to the alleged danger of vaccinations, strikes even less inclined to conspiracy people. As the author writes, even scientists and doctors can believe in some conspiracies (even related to medicine). In fact, the author spends most of the book discussing this type of conspiracy, i.e., where this fear of vaccinations came from. The author's explanation is excellent. Indeed, it is very easy for people to deduce false causation. If a child dies after a vaccination, it is the vaccination that is to blame, not other factors - this is the typical conspiracy theorist's view of the harms of vaccinations. This must be why creationists hate evolution so much, and how atheism inspires horror in many people. If no one (no God) is in charge then this universe is just gonna crash! And burn! And it’s also a real lonesome thought – nobody cares about us humans, we’re on our own here, cosmic orphans. Believers would rather have a tyrannical God than that, like some people will stay in an abusive relationship rather than leave. If we observe a comparatively inconsequential event, we may well not even think about causes. Not so, however, if a president is assassinated or disease suddenly strikes a whole population. In the words of Lynn Malcolm in her interview with Brotherton, ” We find it difficult to accept that a relatively small event can have disproportionately huge ramifications.” If we can’t see a proportionally large cause of a large event, how tempting it is to assume that such a cause must be…hidden. presents a textured and often surprising look into the fascinating world of conspiracy theories. A world so often described as dark and shady is shown to be much closer to home than we could have first imagined.”– Ella Rhodes, The Psychologist Everyone loves a good conspiracy. Yet conspiracy theories are not a recent invention. And they are not always a harmless curiosity. In Suspicious Minds, Rob Brotherton explores the history and consequences of conspiracism, and delves into the research that offers insights into why so many of us are drawn to implausible, unproven and unproveable conspiracy theories. They resonate with some of our brain's built-in quirks and foibles, and tap into some of our deepest desires, fears, and assumptions about the world.

Robert Brotherton and Ra’ed Saade’s My Unorthodox Life Journey

This upset Ra’ed as he felt that Batsheva thought that he and Robert should separate. Sometime later, after the Haarts were gone, Robert and Ra’ed welcomed another couple into the house who was also in an open relationship. While talking about their shared experiences, Robert felt a bit better after learning that what he felt was not new and the other pair also struggled through the issue for some time. He implies that Bertrand Russell, one of the great minds of the twentieth century, participated in a conspiracy by questioning the Warren Report. This alone is pretty outrageous. XX веке вылилась в геноцид еврейского народа. Как можно догадаться речь идёт о конспирологии, в которой евреи рисуются в виде опасного врага, которые плетут козни против <…>. Тут можно вставить слово «французов» или «немцев» или «испанцев» или «русских», ибо данная конспирология была широко распространена в Европе на протяжении веков, из-за чего евреи регулярно подвергались гонениям, погромам, а в XX веке и геноциду. Автор не зря рассказывает об этой самой известной конспирологической истории, ибо именно на этом примере лучше всего видно, что конспирология не является безвредной игрушкой сумасшедших людей. На самом деле конспирология, это очень серьёзное явление и более того, довольно опасное.

Conspiracy theories have been a source of fascination for centuries. Whenever anything big – or even not-so-big – happens, there are people who seek alternative explanations. These are the people who refuse to accept conventional wisdom, the people who believe that there is always more to the story than what we are told. An accomplice explained how McVeigh had rationalised killing secretaries and receptionists and other government employees who had nothing to do with debacles like Waco. “He explained to me that he considered all those people to be as if they were the storm troopers in the movie Star Wars. They may be individually innocent, but because they are part of the Evil Empire they were guilty by association.”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.