Research Project - Why Do We Believe Things That Hurt Us? A Predictive Processing Account of Conspiracy Theories and Cognitive Pathologies
This is my final research project. This paper explores the cognitive science of conspiracy theories and cognitive pathologies, investigating some similarities between belief patterns associated with both, and proposing strategies to make individuals and communities less prone to both.
Alice Ferguson-O’Brien
(She/Her)
Laidlaw Scholar (2023), University of Toronto
My name is Alice (she/her) and I have just finished my first year at the University of Toronto studying Cognitive Science, and Philosophy as a National Scholar. I am from a small province called Newfoundland and Labrador, but studied for two years at Pearson College UWC in Victoria, British Columbia. I am really passionate about mental illness - specifically about how our conception of mental illness shapes the way we treat people with mental illness in medical institutions, and in society. I am also very invested in the climate justice movement.
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A really interesting and accessible read!