Ted Goertzel

Ted Goertzel
Goertzel (left) with Dave Thomas, Bob Blaskiewicz and Scott Lilienfeld at the CSICon 2011 conspiracy theories panel
Born (1942-11-20) November 20, 1942 (age 82)
EducationAntioch College (B.A., 1964), Washington University in St. Louis (M.A., 1966; Ph.D., 1970)
Known forResearch on conspiracy theories
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsSociology
InstitutionsRutgers University–Camden
ThesisBrazilian student attitudes towards politics and education (1970)

Ted George Goertzel (born November 20, 1942)[1] 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.[2][3]

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.[4] 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.[4][5][6] Moreover, people who believe in a conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in more than one.[5]

He is therefore considered an expert on rumors, including the Zika conspiracy theories,[7] ebola,[8] and Moon landing conspiracies.[9]

Books

  • Brazil’s Lula: Rise and Fall of an Icon. Amazon Kindle Books 2018.
  • Presidential Leadership in the Americas Since Independence, by Guy Burton and Ted Goertzel. Lexington Publishers, October 2016
  • The End of the Beginning: Life, Society and Economy on the Brink of the Singularity. Ben Goertzel and Ted Goertzel, editors. Kindle Books 2014
  • The Drama of Brazilian Politics: From 1814-2015. Ted Goertzel and Paulo Roberto de Almeida, editors.
  • Brazil's Lula: The Most Popular Politician on Earth. Brown Walker Publishers, 2011.
  • Cradles of Eminence: Second Edition. Scottsdale, Arizona: Great Potential Press, 2003. By Victor and Mildred Goertzel, updated by Ted George Goertzel and Ariel M.W. Hansen.
  • Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Reinventing Democracy in Brazil. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1999.
  • Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics. With Ben Goertzel, Mildred Goertzel and Victor Goertzel. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
  • Turncoats and True Believers: The Dynamics of Political Belief and Disillusionment. Buffalo: Prometheus Press, 1992.
  • Sociology: Class, Consciousness and Contradictions. With Albert Szymanski. New York: D. VanNostrand, 1979.
  • Three Hundred Eminent Personalities: A Psychosocial Analysis of the Famous. With Ariel Felton, Mildred Goertzel and Victor Goertzel. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978.
  • Political Society. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976.

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. ^ a b Goertzel, Ted (December 1994). "Belief in Conspiracy Theories". Political Psychology. 15 (4): 731–742. doi:10.2307/3791630. JSTOR 3791630.
  5. ^ a b 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. "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.