Description
“Probably one of the most important and informative books you will ever read” – Phenomena Magazine
“The New Heretics will become the go-to book for a new way of thinking about the world and our progress in it” – Nexus Magazine
“It opens broad conversations and looks beyond unhelpful layers of bias to try to bridge the divides between humans and find more insightful ways for us to communicate with each other and move forward together” – Cygnus Review
“Well written and testifies to an author with great insight in the field” – Scandinavian UFO Information
The New Heretics is the most balanced and well-reasoned investigation available into the rise of divisive conspiracy theories and global polarization.
Using his extensive experience of negotiating between cynics and truth seekers, in this challenging and groundbreaking book, The New Heretics, Andy Thomas explores the judgement surrounding conspiracy theories – and the future of free expression.
The new heretics are seen to threaten modern society, spreading doubts and fears that result in Washington Capitol invasions and anti-vax material. Yet they prefer to call themselves “truth seekers” and see the mainstream establishment and its increasingly censorious policies as the real disruptor, endangering human liberty. In reality, the new heretics, whose numbers are swelling, are symptoms of a wider polarization splitting much of the world in ideological divisions. Nuanced debate in all directions has been crushed by information overload and distrust in politicians and the media, breeding uncertainty, civil unrest and mental health issues.
This passionate and timely book adds a daringly nuanced voice into the circus of divisions currently tearing society apart over everything from conspiracy theories to our lack of trust in the media and establishment. It helps make sense of the rush towards an authoritarian drive on many sides which thinks that blotting out other people’s views makes them go away. It doesn’t, and they won’t.
Subtitled ‘Understanding the Conspiracy Theories Polarizing the World’, The New Heretics goes far beyond this remit to lift the lid on precisely how and why we have become so split in numerous directions and explores why so many people now question all kinds of orthodoxy. Without overt judgement of individuals’ views, the book scrutinises the future of freedom of expression in a censorious world which seeks to close down discussion of everything alternative, from conspiracies to the paranormal, expanding into a truly thought-provoking and expansive treatise on our relationship to truth, technology and politics – and the future of humanity itself.
The New Heretics challenges all of us to understand conflicting perspectives and conspiracy thinking in new ways to encourage the open flow of discussions once more and help define truth without creating dystopian futures.
The New Heretics covers many subjects, including:
QAnon · the US Capitol invasion · COVID-19 · vaccine controversies · alternative facts · the ‘Great Reset’ · 5G and EMF sensitivity · climate debates · censorship issues · ‘cancel culture’ · 9/11 · paranormal beliefs (UFOs, crop circles, astrology, psi phenomena) … and much more.
