Wednesday, July 15 8:00 PM. Join Ian Gold, Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry at McGill, for From the Elders of Zion to QAnon: The Rise of Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Culture. Not long ago, people who believed that Oswald did not kill JFK, that the government has been hiding evidence of the existence of extraterrestrials or that 9/11 was an inside job were part of a fringe community. In recent years conspiracy theories have become mainstream, especially in the United States. A March survey, for example, found that fully 29% of Americans believe that the danger of COVID-19 has been exaggerated in order to undermine President Trump; 31% believe that the coronavirus was deliberately created. This talk will explore some ideas about the origins of conspiracy theories and what the rise of conspiracy thinking tells us about our times.