mine a pre-adopted thesis. process evidence. He lucidly reviews studies showing common defects in the brain's wiring, what we expect to find," as Mr. Brotherton puts it. Relatedly, "biased assimilation" causes us to "interpret ambiguous events in light of what we already believe. Discussing Richard Hofstadter

uding a fake Kubrick, was untrue. Why people believe in pseudo-conspiracies is the focus of Rob Brotherton's fascinating book "Suspicious Minds." Mr. Brotherton, an academic psychologist, advances the thesis that the belief in pseudo-conspiracies proceeds from the "quirks and foibles" in the way that the huma