Conspiracy Theories: Hidden Brain‘s Shankar Vedantam | The Delusion of Nations

Host of Hidden Brain podcast, Shankar Vedantam talks with us about the powers: both useful and harmful, of our delusional thinking. Nations are an example of useful delusions; they are an entirely human-made construct, yet they can present us with a unifying, shared identity. There is a tipping point, however, at which our beliefs can start to impinge on other people’s lives. Shankar defines conspiracy theories as a particular type of self deception which can easily escalate into harmful behavior.