Ted Goertzel

Ted Goertzel
Goertzel (left) with Dave Thomas, Bob Blaskiewicz and Scott Lilienfeld at the CSICon 2011 conspiracy theories panel
Born (1944-11-20) November 20, 1944 (age 81)
EducationAntioch College (B.A., 1964), Washington University in St. Louis (M.A., 1966; Ph.D., 1970)
Known forResearch on conspiracy theories
Children2, including Ben Goertzel
Scientific career
FieldsSociology
WorkplacesRutgers University–Camden
ThesisBrazilian student attitudes towards politics and education (1970)

Ted George Goertzel (born November 20, 1942) is an emeritus professor in the Sociology Department at Rutgers University–Camden. He is the author and co-author of books and articles spanning from social economy, politics, and conspiracy theories. He is the father of Ben Goertzel, with whom he co-authored the 1995 book Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics.

Conspiracy theories

As a social scientist, Goertzel studied conspiracy theories and conspiracy thinking in depth. One of his first studies on the subject started in 1992 with a telephone survey of 348 randomly chosen residents in southwestern New Jersey. The survey was of 10 conspiracy theories circulating at that time. He concluded that anomie, insecurity, and lack of trust in people are positively correlated to conspiratorial thinking. Moreover, people who believe in a conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in more than one.

He is therefore considered an expert on rumors, including the Zika conspiracy theories, ebola, and Moon landing conspiracies.

Books

References

  1. ↑ "Ted George Goertzel". Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ↑ Paulos, John Allen (5 November 1995). "Pauling's Prizes". New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Penn Goertzel Memorial". Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  4. 1 2 Goertzel, Ted (December 1994). "Belief in Conspiracy Theories". Political Psychology. 15 (4): 731–742. doi:10.2307/3791630. JSTOR 3791630.
  5. 1 2 Walker, Jesse (20 May 2014). "It's All a Conspiracy". Slate. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  6. ↑ Bower, Bruce (26 May 2009). "The Inner Worlds of Conspiracy Believers". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Zhang, Sarah (18 February 2016). "Why People Want to Believe the Zika Virus Is a Conspiracy". Wired. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Bloch, Hannah (27 September 2014). "Denying Ebola Turns Out To Be A Very Human Response". NPR. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  9. ↑ Schwartz, John (14 July 2009). "Vocal Minority Insists It Was All Smoke and Mirrors". New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.