Conspiracy Theorist's World
In this section we are going to look at the topic of conspiracy theories, which are a feature of our modern life, and arguably modern culture – the culture of conspiracy theories. You begin by considering some conspiracy theories and then you will read an article about why people believe in conspiracy theories and whether some people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than others.
This third section contains 5 steps. Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
Introduction
Find out what you already know.
Step 1
Speaking
Share ideas about conspiracy theories. Make a list of conspiracy theories. Choose your reaction.
Step 2
Reading
Answer questions. Read a text about conspiracy theories. Answer questions about the text.
Step 3
Listening
Listen to a radio interview with Gabby Potter. Answer questions about the interview.
Step 4
Grammar
Theory about past modals. Complete sentences
Step 5
Task
Write arguments in an essay to support or oppose a motion for a debate in your class
What do you know about the following conspiracy theories?
Share your ideas with your partner.
Roswell UFO incident
Man landing on the moon
9/11
Water flouridation
Covid-19 pandemic
How many conspiracy theories do you think there are?
Make a list of at least five more.
Go to List of conspiracy theories to discover more.
How many of your ideas were mentioned? Choose your reaction.
Yep, there are a lot! But I knew that.
Oh goodness! I had no idea… basically, everything is fake!
Hmm I actually think that this page is a conspiracy.
Step 2 - Reading
So why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
Are some groups of people more likely to believe in them than others?
You’re going to read an article that gives some thought to that.
But first, what do you think? Answer these questions.
Yes
No
1.
I believe in conspiracy theories.
2.
I know people who believe in conspiracy theories.
3.
People who believe in conspiracy theories are generally nerdy scientists.
4.
Conspiracy theorists generally fall into one group - either social or academic.
5.
Conspiracy theorists are only found in the USA.
Read the article and choose the correct answer.
Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
By Michael Shermer
on December 1, 2014 Scientific American
President Barack Obama was been a busy man while in office: he concocted a fake birth certificate to hide his true identity as a foreigner, created “death panels” to determine who would live and who would die under his health care plan, conspired to destroy religious liberty by mandating contraceptives for religious institutions, blew up the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig to gain support for his environmental agenda, masterminded Syrian gas attacks as a pretext to war, orchestrated the shooting of a Transportation Security Agent to strengthen that agency's powers, ordered the Sandy Hook school massacre to push through gun-control legislation, and built concentration camps in which to place Americans who resist.
Do people really believe such conspiracy theories? They do, and in disturbingly high numbers, according to recent empirical research collected by University of Miami political scientists Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent and presented in their 2014 book American Conspiracy Theories (Oxford University Press). About a third of Americans, for example, believe the “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama is a foreigner. About as many believe that 9/11 was an “inside job” by the Bush administration.
The idea that such beliefs are held only by a bunch of nerdy white guys living in their parents' basements is a myth. Surveys by Uscinski and Parent show that believers in conspiracies “cut across gender, age, race, income, political affiliation, educational level, and occupational status.” People on both the political left and right, for example, believe in conspiracies roughly equally, although each finds different cabals. Liberals are more likely to suspect that media sources and political parties are pawns of rich capitalists and corporations, whereas conservatives tend to believe that academics and liberal elites control these same institutions. GMO conspiracy theories are embraced primarily by those on the left (who accuse, for example, Monsanto of conspiring to destroy small farmers), whereas climate change conspiracy theories are endorsed primarily by those on the right (who inculpate, for example, academic climate scientists for manipulating data to destroy the American economy).
Group identity is also a factor. African-Americans are more likely to believe that the CIA planted crack cocaine in inner-city neighborhoods. White Americans are more likely to believe that the government is conspiring to tax the rich to support welfare queens and turn the country into a socialist utopia.
Encouragingly, Uscinski and Parent found that education makes a difference in reducing conspiratorial thinking: 42 percent of those without a high school diploma are high in conspiratorial predispositions, compared with 23 percent with postgraduate degrees. Even so, that means more than one in five Americans with postgraduate degrees show a high predisposition for conspiratorial belief. As an educator, I find this disturbing.
Other factors are at work in creating a conspiratorial mind. Uscinski and Parent note that in laboratory experiments “researchers have found that inducing anxiety or loss of control triggers respondents to see nonexistent patterns and evoke conspiratorial explanations” and that in the real world “there is evidence that disasters (e.g., earthquakes) and other high-stress situations (e.g., job uncertainty) prompt people to concoct, embrace, and repeat conspiracy theories.”
A conspiracy theory, Uscinski and Parent explain, is defined by four characteristics: “(1) a group (2) acting in secret (3) to alter institutions, usurp power, hide truth, or gain utility (4) at the expense of the common good.” A content analysis of more than 100,000 letters to the New York Times in 121 years turned up three pages' worth of such conspirators, from Adolf Hitler and the African National Congress to the World Health Organization and Zionist villagers, catalogued into eight types: Left, Right, Communist, Capitalist, Government, Media, Foreign and Other (Freemasons, the American Medical Association and even scientists).
The common theme throughout is power—who has it and who wants it—and so the authors conclude their inquiry with an observation translated by Parent from Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince (a conspiracy manual of sorts), for “the strong desire to rule, and the weak desire not to be ruled.”
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
You are going to hear part of a radio interview with a woman called Gabby Potter. She works for an online magazine called Believe it or not! which has become very successful in a short period of time.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Let’s focus on ...past modals. That can’t have happened.
That needn’t have happened.
That must have happened.
We use can’t have + past participle when we are sure that something did not happen.
We use needn’t have + past participle when something was done but it was unnecessary.
We use must have + past participle when we are sure that something happened.
De onderstaande antwoorden moet je zelf nakijken; vergelijk jouw antwoorden met de goede
antwoorden, en geef aan in welke mate jouw antwoorden correct zijn.
Conspiracies and conspiracy theories are nothing new.
There have always been those who say we never landed on the moon and that climate change is a hoax. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, widely debunked conspiracies have moved from fringe to mainstream.
You are going to imagine that your class is going to have a debate.
Choose a conspiracy theory you have discussed in step 1.
The motion is: I believe that conspiracy theories about ...[your choice].... are valid.
Decide if you support or oppose the motion.
You are going to write your arguments in an essay format. (200-220 words).
Decide whether you agree or disagree.
Research your points: what does ‘valid’ mean? Is this for all conspiracy theories?
Organize your points logically making a good case.
The argument should be well-organised, with an introduction,
main paragraph saying why they support / don’t support the idea,
with some examples, and summing up with a conclusion.
Check your work.
Evaluation
Fill in this schedule and answer the questions below.
(Copy to Word or write down in your notebook)
Activity
Needs
Improvement
Satisfactory, good
Excellent
Step 1 - Speaking
I can share ideas about conspiracy theories. I can make a list of conspiracy theories and choose my reaction.
Step 2 - Reading
I can read and understand the text about conspiracy theories and answer the questions.
Step 3 - Listening
I can listen to and understand a radio interview and answer the questions about the interview.
Step 4 - Grammar
I understand and can use the grammar 'past modals'.
Step 5 - Task
I can do the writing task.
What have you learnt in this period?
Answer the following questions:
Het arrangement Conspiracy Theories v456 is gemaakt met
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maakt en deelt.
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Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Culture'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Conspiracy Theories. Deze les gaat over complottheorieën. Er worden voorbeelden genoemd en er is de ruimte om erover te discussiëren. De grammaticaopdracht gaat over past modals.
Leerniveau
VWO 6;
VWO 4;
VWO 5;
Leerinhoud en doelen
Engels;
Eindgebruiker
leerling/student
Moeilijkheidsgraad
gemiddeld
Studiebelasting
4 uur en 0 minuten
Trefwoorden
arrangeerbaar, complottheorieën, conspiracy theories, engels, past modals, stercollectie, v456
Conspiracy Theories v456
nl
VO-content
2021-05-03 10:46:18
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Culture'. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Conspiracy Theories. Deze les gaat over complottheorieën. Er worden voorbeelden genoemd en er is de ruimte om erover te discussiëren. De grammaticaopdracht gaat over past modals.
Conspiracy Theorist's World
What do you know about the following conspiracy theories?
So why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
You are going to hear part of a radio interview with a woman called Gabby Potter. She works for an online magazine called Believe it or not! which has become very successful in a short period of time.
Let’s focus on ...past modals.
What have you learnt in this period?
