Conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an illegal or harmful event or situation.[1][2][3] Some scholars suggest that people formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the existence of evil forces.[4][5][6][7] It has been suggested by some thinkers that conspiracy theories have chiefly psychological or socio-political origins. Proposed psychological origins include projection; the personal need to explain “a significant event [with] a significant cause;" and the product of various kinds and stages of thought disorder, such as paranoid disposition, ranging in severity to diagnosable mental illnesses. Usage of the term[edit] History[edit] "The theory of Dr. Acquired derogatory meaning[edit] Term of ridicule[edit] As popular knowledge[edit] Controversy[edit] Scale[edit] Proven conspiracies[edit]
Entries - > EXCLUSIVE: Debunking Myths on Conspiracy Theories [Infowarrior Resource Part 1] "The purpose of this article is to redress a number of general myths concerning so-called 'conspiracy theories', repeated by media organisations and other self-proclaimed guardians of the orthodoxy, as well as people who have been erroneously convinced that conspiracy theories are intellectual aberrations rather the acknowledgment of a common historical and social phenomenon." Debunking Myths on Conspiracy Theories Article written by Gatecreepers. The purpose of this article is to redress a number of general myths concerning so-called 'conspiracy theories', repeated by media organisations and other self-proclaimed guardians of the orthodoxy, as well as people who have been erroneously convinced that conspiracy theories are intellectual aberrations rather than the acknowledgment of a common historical and social phenomenon. This document does not claim that every event is the product of a conspiracy. For the purposes of this guide, a conspiracy theory may be defined as: Supernatural claims.
Moon Landing Faked!!!—Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories Did NASA fake the moon landing? Is the government hiding Martians in Area 51? Is global warming a hoax? And what about the Boston Marathon bombing…an “inside job” perhaps? In the book “The Empire of Conspiracy,” Timothy Melley explains that conspiracy theories have traditionally been regarded by many social scientists as “the implausible visions of a lunatic fringe,” often inspired by what the late historian Richard Hofstadter described as “the paranoid style of American politics.” Yet, such pathological explanations have proven to be widely insufficient because conspiracy theories are not just the implausible visions of a paranoid minority. So why is it that so many people come to believe in conspiracy theories? For example, while it has been known for some time that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are also likely to believe in other conspiracy theories, we would expect contradictory conspiracy theories to be negatively correlated.
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories | A blog about the psychology of conspiracy theory beliefs The social consequences of conspiracism: Exposure to conspiracy theories decreases intentions to engage in politics and to reduce one’s carbon footprint | favisonlus British Journal of Psychology Daniel Jolley . Karen M. Douglas Article first published online: 4 JAN 2013 Abstract The current studies explored the social consequences of exposure to conspiracy theories. Background Conspiracy theories can be described as attempts to explain the ultimate causes of events as secret plots by powerful forces rather than as overt activities or accidents (McCauley & Jacques, 1979). Although public interest in conspiracy theories may be increasing, there has been surprisingly limited empirical research examining the psychological underpinnings of beliefs in conspiracy theories (Abalakina-Paap, Stephan, Craig, & Gregory, 1999; Swami et al., 2011). Furthermore, research suggests that conspiracy theories may change the way people think about social events. Scholars have begun to consider what some of these consequences might be. For the first time, we also examined the potential factors that may mediate such effects.
Measuring Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale Suspicions of Injustice: The Sense-Making Function of Belief in Conspiracy Theories In contemporary society, people are frequently faced with threats to the social order (e.g., terrorist attacks). These threats often give rise to belief in conspiracy theories, which assume such events to be injustices that were secretly and deliberately planned by legitimate authorities or institutions. In the present chapter I propose that conspiracy beliefs are functional for basic sense-making desires when faced with events that threaten the social order.
The Conspiracy Meme Column Ted Goertzel Volume 35.1, January/February 2011 Many of these theories are clearly absurd, but some are plausible and others actually contain elements of truth. Conspiracy theories are easy to propagate and difficult to refute. The central logic of the conspiracy meme is to question, often on speculative grounds, everything the “establishment” says or does and to demand immediate, comprehensive, and convincing answers to all questions. When an alleged fact is debunked, the conspiracy meme often just replaces it with another fact. When the conspiracy meme is reinforced by a regular diet of “alternative” videos and one-sided literature, it can become a habitual way of thinking. Conspiracy theorists have connected a lot of dots. Many of these theories are clearly absurd, but some are plausible and others actually contain elements of truth. One valuable guideline is to look for cascade logic in conspiracy arguments (Susstein and Vermeule 2008). Definition of ‘Conspiracy'
Conspiracy - round in circles NASA apologists say there's no physical evidence for a conspiracy theory. There's plenty of evidence, such as the photo and video anomalies. This reveals a fundamental flaw in the conspiracist understanding of the nature of hypothesis and proof. A hypothesis is a statement whose truthfulness is not known, but which -- if it were true -- would explain some set of observations. If you think this sounds a lot like the scientific method, you're right. But the problem comes when conspiracists want to test a hypothesis. Sir Bedevere: Why are you trying to burn that woman? Let's say, for example, that I observed my car windshield was wet. I have to do that because there are lots of other hypotheses. With the circular argument I can put each of these hypotheses into a syllogism and say, My windshield is wet, therefore it has rained. Let's do an example that involves Apollo data. But how to go about proving it?
What happens when you study conspiracy theories? The conspiracy theorists make up conspiracy theories about you! – denialism blog I’ve known about this effect for a while as I’ve been variously accused of being in the pocket of big pharma, big ag, big science, democrats and republicans etc. Now Stephan Lewandowsky, in follow up to his “NASA Faked the Moon Landings – Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax.” paper, has used these conspiratorial responses to study how conspiracy theorists respond to being studied! It’s called “ Recursive fury: Conspiracist ideation in the blogosphere in response to research on conspiracist ideation “. Here’s the abstract: Conspiracist ideation has been repeatedly implicated in the rejection of scientific propositions, although empirical evidence to date has been sparse. Awesome. The authors then go on to the conspiracist reaction to their original paper: So what does any good scientist who is interested in the empirical study of conspiracy theories do in such a situation? Implications for science communication. Don’t argue with cranks.
Conspiracy behind Conspiracy Theories? Conspiracy behind Conspiracy Theories?by Bob Maschi A 'conspiracy' is a bad thing. It can be, depending on who is actually involved, seditious, evil, treasonous, fraudulent and, perhaps least of all, illegal. It implies a well-coordinated plot to manipulate circumstances for the betterment of an elite few while victimizing the innocent. Some conspiracies are small scale. In the 1970's, President Richard Nixon conspired to keep the truth about Watergate a secret. The history of the United States is full of corporations conspiring to fix prices, eliminate competition and control government and politicians for their own benefit. These were real and horrible conspiracies. Some unproven conspiracies are much easier to believe than others. While some Conspiracy Theories would make excellent science fiction plots (or, actually, really bad science fiction plots), many are far from benign. Conspiracy Theories are often used to gain political or financial power. So, how the fuck did this happen?
In Defense Of Conspiracy Theories [disinfo ed.'s note: this original essay was first published by disinformation on November 29, 2001.] An Introduction to the World of Conspiracy Theories for the Mainstream American While I was writing Paranoia, many of my friends wondered why I was interested in conspiracy theories. They are fringe territory in American culture. Strangely, while “conspiracy theories” are for “crazy people,” many of my friends also believe that various conspiracy theories are true. In researching Paranoia, I learned a lot not only about conspiracy theories, but also the culture surrounding them, a culture that has seeped into the mainstream culture in the past few decades, including the paranoid ’60s and the conspiracy theory-rich ’90s, which probably had more conspiracies per capita than any previous decade. Both conspiracies and conspiracy theories have always existed in history. President Woodrow Wilson wrote in 1913: The result is noise. 1. 1. 1. 2. 3. 4.