David Aaronovitch - Voodoo Histories - Debunking all conspiracies?

I have not read this book yet , so if anyone has I would be interested to hear what you think. Aaronovitch makes some interesting points in this video about conspiracy theorists, that rings quite true with regards to ATS.

Aaronovitch basically tries to debunk most of the commonly held conspiracies. Make of it what you will. To be honest I have never liked Aaronovitch, I have always found him to be a bit pompous. Still, he makes some interesting points in these video's.

reply to post by woodwardjnr

I just finished reading it.... it was the kind of book that made me mad from start to finish.

First off his tone towards those who believe is pretty condescending, even though he tries to pretend it's not. It's the kind of pretending to not condescend that makes it sound condescending.

He lumps in a whole load of conspiracies together and also misses out a lot of information.

He also pulls other conspiracy books to bits using minimal examples.

If you fancy spending the next few days frustrated that people will actually believe what he is saying and smacking your head against the book because he glosses over important bits and dwells on the fragile side of conspiracies then go ahead, read it.

Instead of taking the time to view evidence for or against conspiracy theories, Aaronovitch prefers to profile the conspiracy theory believers. He does not need to be a studied psychologist. He does not need to know, what the conspiracy theorists themselves say about their motivations. He does this with his “common sense” and “pragmatism”.

Occam's razor is a guideline. The simplest explanation for something is not always correct. In my opinion science and history indicate, that the world may be weirder, than we usually believe. A look of past Machiavellian schemes shows: There are indeed amoral sociopathic leaders who are willing to order any kind of atrocity. Countless people have suffered violents deaths because of the actions of their own governments. Leaders usually can get away with their crimes. The establishment is more interested in their status, wealth and power, than in truth and justice. Furthermore the media and governments themselves are conspiracy theorists. They are willing to believe and disseminate conspiracy theories. But they only do this, if these theories target their enemies. They are unwilling to tolerate theories about their own crimes and misbehaviours.

I offer Michael Parenti as a counterbalance to Aaronovitches condescending wisdoms.

The Gangster Nature of the State

Google Video Link

If you want to hear more from him about this, he appeared on the Skepticality podcast recently, you can listen here:

Direct MP3 link:

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Website archive link:

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Take everything on baord with a pinch of salt.

C'mon, this guy works for Rupert Murdoch. What do you expect?