Although neither one is perfect. The latter doesn't miss the opportunity to promote the author's own libertarian point of view. Which is fine, but it distracts from the point of the book. The former also takes a few shots at things that are not conspiracy theories, but pet dislikes of the author. Neither are nearly so bad as the one-star reviews though - clearly both touched some nerves.
Central to both is the idea that people feel a need to think that things happen for a reason, and aren't just strictly random. And a bad reason is better than no reason at all.
My grandfather was into a lot of that stuff, and your description is quite apt: he was a really smart engineer, and a good guy, in general. But he loved all kinds of these theories.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FEF6II/?tag=dedasys-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GHN26W/?tag=dedasys-20
Although neither one is perfect. The latter doesn't miss the opportunity to promote the author's own libertarian point of view. Which is fine, but it distracts from the point of the book. The former also takes a few shots at things that are not conspiracy theories, but pet dislikes of the author. Neither are nearly so bad as the one-star reviews though - clearly both touched some nerves.
Central to both is the idea that people feel a need to think that things happen for a reason, and aren't just strictly random. And a bad reason is better than no reason at all.
My grandfather was into a lot of that stuff, and your description is quite apt: he was a really smart engineer, and a good guy, in general. But he loved all kinds of these theories.