Matthieu Wisniewski 07/12/2018

Master 1 Traduction Juridique

The New Irrationalism: The Rise of Conspiracy Theories in

the US and the Growing American Distrust for Science
 Abstract

Today, American people face a rise of irrationnalism; from their president publicly epxressing his
doubts over vaccines, to the growing number of conspiracy theorists such as gobal warming deniers
or flat earth theorists or even the numerous schools in which creationnism is taught instead of
evolution, there seems to have never been such a level of irrationnalism in the country since the 90s
and the 2.0 era.
Internet, TV and social media have created a means for irrationality to spread and it has appealed to
many americans. Either through fake news or pseudo science, people do not really want to know the
objective truth behind the facts, but they only want to confirm their beliefs and their vision of the
world, regardless of the validity of these clues or theories. The results of this growing irrationnalism
can be alarming, with for example the outbreak of measles in Minnesota or the triumph of faith over
reasons in schools and in the country in general.

How can american people be more and more irrational despite scientific discoveries and the
avaibility of knowledge?

This study will look at some examples of irrationnalism and conspiracy theories with their
arguments and the pseudo science behind them, then it will try to explain the major reasons behind
this rise of irrationnalism focusing on the reccurent features attached to people showing
irrationnalism and finnaly the means explaining why the phenomenon is growing.
 Table of Contents

I) Examples of Conspiracy theories and Irrationalism

1) 9/11 Inside job (theory stating that the American government planned the terrorist
attack)
2) Flat earth theory (theory explaning that the earth is actually flat and the government is
lying and hiding the truth)
3) Anti vaccines theory (theory warning people that vaccines cause autism)
4) Global warming deniers (deniers of the impact of CO2 on the atmosphere of the earth)

II) The major reasons explaining irrationnalism

1) Political ideology (government mistrust, conservative ideology,etc)

2) Religious ideology and morality (refusal to go against one's own faith and beliefs)
3) Scientific knowledge (corrolation between lack of scientific knowledge and the distrust
of science)
4) Social status (a lack of control or power can lead to believe conspiracy theories)
5) Human nature (the need to have answers and knowledge on any questions, the need to
be or feel special, the fear of chaos)

III) How is this irrationnalism growing

1) Pseudo-science (the new science looking for conclusions before facts and explaining
irrationnalism in a “scientific” manner to people not really familiar with science)
2) Internet and social media (the easy way to spread fake news and pseudo-science has
play a decisive role in increasing irrationnalism in the US, with the creation of closed
minded groups, the amount of misinformation over the scientifical content)
3) Media and money (TV, books, series, seminars offer sensationalism over scientific facts,
channels supposed to talk about science end up featuring pseudo-science of pyramids and
UFOs, people are looking for unscientific clues and far fetched theories to confirm their
irrational beliefs,)
4) Education (the growing number of schools teaching crationnism instead of evolution and
the imposition of religion over science in many states, the lack of education in skepticism,
religious endoctrination)
 Sources

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2010 (Gordon Gauchat)

Not All Skepticism Is Equal: Exploring the Ideological Antecedents of Science Acceptance and
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Belief in conspiracy theories and susceptibility to the conjunction fallacy. Applied Cognitive
Psychology (Robert Brotherton, Cristopher C. French°

Addicted to answers: Need for cognitive closure and theendorsement of conspiracy beliefs (Martha
Marchlewska, Aleksandra Cichokat and Malgorzata Kossowska)

The Effect of High-Anxiety Situations on Conspiracy Thinking (Monika Grzesiak-Feldman)

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Barkun, Michael (2003), A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America

, University of California Press, Berkeley.

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