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Publisher's Summary

The Earth is flat; the World Trade Center collapse was a controlled demolition; planes are spraying poison to control the weather; and actors faked the Sandy Hook massacre....

All these claims are bunk: falsehoods, mistakes, and in some cases, outright lies. But many people passionately believe one or more of these conspiracy theories. They consume countless books and videos, join like-minded online communities, try to convert those around them, and even, on occasion, alienate their own friends and family. Why is this, and how can you help people, especially those closest to you, break free from the downward spiral of conspiracy thinking? 

In Escaping the Rabbit Hole, author Mick West shares over a decade's worth of knowledge and experience investigating and debunking false conspiracy theories through his forum, MetaBunk.org, and sets forth a practical guide to helping friends and loved ones recognize these theories for what they really are. 

Perhaps counterintuitively, the most successful approaches to helping individuals escape a rabbit hole aren't comprised of simply explaining why they are wrong; rather, West's tried-and-tested approach emphasizes clear communication based on mutual respect, honesty, openness, and patience. 

West puts his debunking techniques and best practices to the test with four of the most popular false conspiracy theories today (chemtrails, 9/11 controlled demolition, false flags, and flat Earth) - providing road maps to help you to understand your friend and help them escape the rabbit hole. These are accompanied by real-life case studies of individuals who, with help, were able to break free from conspiracism. 

With sections on:

  • The wide spectrum of conspiracy theories
  • Avoiding the "shill" label
  • Psychological factors and other complications 
  • And concluding with a look at the future of debunking

Mick West has put forth a conclusive, well-researched, practical reference on why people fall down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole and how you can help them escape.
©2018 Mick West (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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What listeners say about Escaping the Rabbit Hole

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Super repetitive

didn't think you could write such a dull book on such an interesting topic. one third of the material covered is actually interesting and insightful. the rest of the book is all repeated and re worded points. the useful material from this 11 hour book could fit in 1 hour. a lot of "de bunking" points are super lame and disputable. too bad.

4 people found this helpful

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  • SM
  • 2022-02-06

Avoid this, even if it's free.

There's nothing new to learn here.
It's disappointing from the first sentence. Do not waste your time on this.

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practical guide for debunking

an excellent guide on how to use gentle persuasive techniques and nudge friends and family who have come down the rabbit hole into a more rational understanding of reality

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  • arracer
  • 2019-12-11

Excellent resource and strategy for rescuing a friend from conspiracy thinking

I have a friend who is deep down the rabbit hole of conspiracy thinking. I was initially attracted to this book because it has dedicated chapters addressing my friend’s conspiracy. As good as these chapters were, I found the greatest value of the book in the beginning chapters which lay out a strategy for engaging my friend in ways most likely to gain me a hearing. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a thoughtful way to engage a friend or family member who may be caught in conspiracy thinking.

18 people found this helpful

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  • Katie Jenkins
  • 2018-11-20

Wonderfully woke!

Fact- checkers, conspiracy buffs, and freelance sociologists alike will love this book. Mick's writing is so considerate and his alleigance to fact is apparent in his style. In a world where so many seekers of truth and skeptical minds' intentions are diverted on the journey toward awareness of the world - here is a compass. Whether you wish to better understand the world or how we are wired to see it, this is a great read!

17 people found this helpful

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  • Michael
  • 2020-11-22

Conspiracies

This book gives good methods for how to engage with someone in a respectful way. It doesn't really delve into epistemology or the psychology of belief, but it does walk through various 'conspiracies' and ways to engage with those. I appreciated the testimonies of former conspiracy theorists too.

The narrator was ok, but his voice is a little grating and 'tough'.

5 people found this helpful

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  • Lab owner
  • 2021-05-24

Another repeat the same theme book…

For as long as this book is, you can get the message in about an hour of listening if not less. Nothing new here. Know who you are dealing with. Don’t attack. Be sympathetic. Seek common ground. Etc etc. This strategy is repeated over and over and over and over and over….get the picture? After a while it becomes annoying.

4 people found this helpful

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  • dan nguyen
  • 2020-10-25

So little info in so much time.

The entire book should be condensed into 30 minutes. Much of the info is repeated over and over to fill the time.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Joseph R. Compton
  • 2019-04-13

Down Into the Rabbit Hole and Back Out

Great collection of conspiracy theories, why people accept them and how to politely and respectfully lead them out. Discovered some that I had never heard of previously such as chem trails. This does a great job with the type of questions one should approach everything.

The best section is on AI and social media. Scary to think that we will have more conspiracists after being fed a curated diet of progressive content. Instead of the internet being the path out, it will more likely make the rabbit hole the size of the Chunnel if more people don’t embrace a modicum of skepticism.

6 people found this helpful

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  • Irina Yelensky
  • 2021-12-26

This is 2021

This book is to debunk “conspiracy theories”
Well this is 2021 and what ever was a conspiracy theory 3 years ago, today is a conspiracy against humanity.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Ed
  • 2021-04-29

Don’t waste your time and money

It is probably just the 2nd book that I left unfinished in my life. Boring and repetitive, I can’t go further than the 4th chapter and nothing interesting arise, sadly, I expected a lot more.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2021-04-08

Are you sure?

I really don't think the author thought about the topic very deeply before publishing. 3/10 would not recommend

2 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2021-01-28

Mr. West is smarter than you.

11.5 hours of self-gratifying hypocrisy. Endless back handed compliments about vast groups of people that happen to disagree with Mr. West. Almost 80% of this theories are ones I was not aware of until this book. Reminiscent of a high-school English student changing the font to 2.5 spacing in order to fill the pages.

I’m not even a conspiracy theorist but I found this book very condescending. Is the earth flat? No clue but maybe. Was 9/11 an inside job? Doubt it but it’s possible. Is global warming real? Probably but maybe not. The only ascertainable fact is that this book will either offend you or bore you to death.

2 people found this helpful