American sociologist and emeritus professor of sociology at Rutgers University–Camden.
Ted George Goertzel (born November 20, 1942),[1] is an Emeritus Professor in the Sociology Department at Rutgers University–Camden. He is the author and co-author of books and articles spanning from social economy, politics, and conspiracy theories.
He is the father of Ben Goertzel, with whom he co-authored the 1995 book Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics.[2][3]
Conspiracy theories
As a social scientist, Goertzel studied conspiracy theories and conspiracy thinking in depth. One of his first studies on the subject started in 1992 with a telephone survey of 348 randomly chosen residents in southwestern New Jersey.[4] The survey was of 10 conspiracy theories circulating at that time. He concluded that anomie, insecurity, and lack of trust in people are positively correlated to conspiratorial thinking.[4][5][6] Moreover, people who believe in a conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in more than one.[5]
He is therefore considered an expert on rumors, including the Zika conspiracy theories,[7] ebola,[8] and Moon landing conspiracies.[9]
Books
- Brazil’s Lula: Rise and Fall of an Icon. Amazon Kindle Books 2018.
- Presidential Leadership in the Americas Since Independence, by Guy Burton and Ted Goertzel. Lexington Publishers, October 2016
- The End of the Beginning: Life, Society and Economy on the Brink of the Singularity. Ben Goertzel and Ted Goertzel, editors. Kindle Books 2014
- The Drama of Brazilian Politics: From 1814-2015. Ted Goertzel and Paulo Roberto de Almeida, editors.
- Brazil's Lula: The Most Popular Politician on Earth. Brown Walker Publishers, 2011.
- Cradles of Eminence: Second Edition. Scottsdale, Arizona: Great Potential Press, 2003. By Victor and Mildred Goertzel, updated by Ted George Goertzel and Ariel M.W. Hansen.
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Reinventing Democracy in Brazil. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1999.
- Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics. With Ben Goertzel, Mildred Goertzel and Victor Goertzel. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
- Turncoats and True Believers: The Dynamics of Political Belief and Disillusionment. Buffalo: Prometheus Press, 1992.
- Sociology: Class, Consciousness and Contradictions. With Albert Szymanski. New York: D. VanNostrand, 1979.
- Three Hundred Eminent Personalities: A Psychosocial Analysis of the Famous. With Ariel Felton, Mildred Goertzel and Victor Goertzel. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978.
- Political Society. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976.
References
- ^ "Ted George Goertzel". Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
- ^ Paulos, John Allen (5 November 1995). "Pauling's Prizes". New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ "Penn Goertzel Memorial". Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ a b Goertzel, Ted (December 1994). "Belief in Conspiracy Theories". Political Psychology. 15 (4): 731–742. doi:10.2307/3791630. JSTOR 3791630.
- ^ a b Walker, Jesse (20 May 2014). "It's All a Conspiracy". Slate. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Bower, Bruce (26 May 2009). "The Inner Worlds of Conspiracy Believers". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Zhang, Sarah (18 February 2016). "Why People Want to Believe the Zika Virus Is a Conspiracy". Wired. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Bloch, Hannah. "Denying Ebola Turns Out To Be A Very Human Response". NPR. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Schwartz, John (14 July 2009). "Vocal Minority Insists It Was All Smoke and Mirrors". New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
External links
- Goertzel's Faculty Page
- Ted Goertzel publications indexed by Google Scholar
