Debunked, by Richard Roeper

The author takes a look at many of the conspiracy theories floating around and explains why people are misguided in believing them. Roeper writes well, but in my view, he has not done a particularly good job for a few reasons.

First, he takes on too many topics from sports to politics to religion. And so the book lacks a coherent thread. Each topic is dealt with very quickly, sometimes without really driving the point home. The author's use of irony may seem humorous, but in fact, reduces the effectiveness of the message. Thus, the book will be more appealing to skeptics than those who already believe in crazy theories.

Because of the essay-length examination of each topic, the author does not consider the motivations and belief systems of the believers in conspiracy theories. He often resorts to mocking them instead of taking every argument at face value and providing evidence to the contrary. This is an unserious book that fails to do justice to the word "debunked".

Tags: sociology