This post is from eyeonannapolis.com Due to the popularity of last month’s Profs and Pints, they are bringing it back in June!

Many of us have watched our social circles and even our own families become bitterly divided over the question of whether certain unseen, malevolent forces are at work around us. Thanks partly to social media, substantial shares of the American public believes that jets flying overhead are involved in a government program to poison us, or that microchips are implanted in us without our knowledge, or that we’re being lied to by anyone who says the Earth isn’t flat. Complicating matters is that even those of us who scoff at such assertions are likely to hold a conspiracy belief or two ourselves, and that sometimes conspiracy theories eventually prove true.

On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, <a href=”https://www.profsandpints.com/annapolis”>Profs & Pints Annapolis</a> will present “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories,” with Brian A. Sharpless, licensed clinical psychologist, former faculty member at Penn State University and Washington State University, and author of Psychodynamic Therapy Techniques: A Guide to Expressive and Supportive Interventions.

What exactly is a conspiracy theory? Are people who believe in conspiracies fundamentally different from those who do not? Are there any ways to protect yourself from buying into false theories? How often do conspiracy theories actually turn out to be true?

These are just a few of the fascinating questions that will be tackled by Brian Sharpless, a favorite of Profs and Pints fans. He will discuss conspiratorial thinking throughout history, define what “conspiracy theory” means to psychologists and psychiatrists, and summarize what the field knows about the people who buy into conspiracy beliefs.

You may be surprised to learn that there are ways to predict who will believe in conspiracy theories, with some very common “cognitive biases” leaving people more accepting of them. Conspiracy theories also can provide short-term psychological benefits to the believer. Furthermore, a number of psychological traits and disorders – both common and rare – have been associated with conspiratorial thinking.

Perhaps most surprising, there are relatively few big differences between those who are predisposed to believe in conspiracy theories and those who aren’t. It’s small differences that sometimes have a huge impact in worldview.

The good news is that there are ways to evaluate – and even “inoculate” yourself against – conspiracy theories, and Dr. Sharpless will offer you practical tips on this front. You may walk out with a different perspective on what you read in the news and on the internet, with new knowledge that may help you maintain a more realistic and accurate worldview. (<a href=”https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/annapolis-conspiracy2″>Tickets must be purchased online</a> with processing fees and sales tax added. Advance tickets: $13.50. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 4 pm and the talk starts at 5:30 pm.)