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Escaping the Rabbit Hole

How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect

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Escaping the Rabbit Hole

By: Mick West
Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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About this listen

The Earth is flat; the World Trade Center collapse was a controlled demolition; planes are spraying poison to control the weather; and actors faked the Sandy Hook massacre....

All these claims are bunk: falsehoods, mistakes, and in some cases, outright lies. But many people passionately believe one or more of these conspiracy theories. They consume countless books and videos, join like-minded online communities, try to convert those around them, and even, on occasion, alienate their own friends and family. Why is this, and how can you help people, especially those closest to you, break free from the downward spiral of conspiracy thinking?

In Escaping the Rabbit Hole, author Mick West shares over a decade's worth of knowledge and experience investigating and debunking false conspiracy theories through his forum, MetaBunk.org, and sets forth a practical guide to helping friends and loved ones recognize these theories for what they really are.

Perhaps counterintuitively, the most successful approaches to helping individuals escape a rabbit hole aren't comprised of simply explaining why they are wrong; rather, West's tried-and-tested approach emphasizes clear communication based on mutual respect, honesty, openness, and patience.

West puts his debunking techniques and best practices to the test with four of the most popular false conspiracy theories today (chemtrails, 9/11 controlled demolition, false flags, and flat Earth) - providing road maps to help you to understand your friend and help them escape the rabbit hole. These are accompanied by real-life case studies of individuals who, with help, were able to break free from conspiracism.

With sections on:

  • The wide spectrum of conspiracy theories
  • Avoiding the "shill" label
  • Psychological factors and other complications
  • And concluding with a look at the future of debunking

Mick West has put forth a conclusive, well-researched, practical reference on why people fall down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole and how you can help them escape.

©2018 Mick West (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Elections & Political Process Media Studies Politics & Government Social Sciences Critical Theory
All stars
Most relevant  
A useful guide to helping people reconnect with reality. The narrator did a good job.

Useful.

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I wish conspiracy theories never existed. Destroys families and achieves nothing. At the end of the day, people believe what they want to believe. Confirmation bias is rife.

Informative. Am glad I listened to it.

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I really enjoyed this book, as it helped me to better articulate why I don’t believe in particular conspiracy theories. The scientific yet understandable explanations make things make sense in a world of conspiracy theories, where things often •don’t• make sense. This in turn can help a person help someone out of the rabbit hole. My only “complaint” is that I wished there had been a section dedicated to anti-vaxers. Otherwise, this has been a very interesting and thought-provoking book.

Very Insightful

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Enjoyed the book. Only wish this was a book I got for kindle or hard copy instead of audio. Theres a few diagrams and graphs which audio doesnt obviously do well.
Also hard copy would of been nice to jump to the sections and chapters I was most interested in, there is way to much emphasis on debunking chem trails which didn't interest me so much.

Im not a shill!

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So bad I couldn’t get past chapter 3. Waste of time leftists propaganda. Talks about debunking with no actual facts or debate about the conspiracy theories and how each piece of evidence fits or not. Just a ramble about how awesome the author is at debunking. Really???? You should have gotten to the meat of your evidence in chapter one then fleshed out the apparent problem with people who believe them. I’ve listened to a book every couple of days for nearly a decade. I never leave reviews but this book is so bad I felt compelled. If you are thinking of getting. Don’t waste your time or money.

Such a try hard book.

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The content:

Going into the review, I had the initial impression that this was going to be a book that would be a no-holds-barred, intellectual and passionate take down of some of the most despicable mis-truths that are permeating the internet.

Unfortunately, as you listen or read this book, you will begin to realise that the author will continually repeat the same words, phrases and obsession over the ‘Chem Trails’ conspiracy theory.

The repetition of the terms “YOUR Friend”, “Paid Government Shill”, “Meta-bunk” and “Chem trails” was so prevalent that it becomes a parody of itself.

In addition to this, the author only really targets the real agents who push many of these lies in the final hour of the book. This was quite disappointing, as so much time is wasted on Chem Trails, their history, and everything related to them, that the reader misses out on the modern methods of how these lies are spread.

The author should have honestly renamed the book “Chem Trails- How I fell in love with this conspiracy and other time wasting musings”

As I said, it is oxymoronically comical about the many times the same words are repeated over and over.

If I had my time again, knowing about this book, unfortunately I would not have wasted my time.

Audio performance:

Unfortunately the voice-over was pretty scratchy and felt too gritty. Subjectively speaking, I tend to prefer smooth, clear speaking that have a spring in their step. The voiceover here sounds kinda tired and their repeated terms and words perhaps add to it.

Chem-trails, “Your Friend” and “Paid Government Shill” - The Novel!

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