Conspiracy theory
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Andre: "OK. Yes, we are bored. We're all bored now. But has it ever occurred to you Wally that the process that creates this boredom that we see in the world now may very well be a self-perpetuating, unconscious form of brainwashing, created by a world totalitarian government based on money, and that all of this is much more dangerous than one thinks? and it's not just a question of individual survival Wally, but that somebody who's bored is asleep, and somebody who's asleep will not say no?" --My Dinner with Andre "The American academic Noam Chomsky contrasts conspiracy theory as more or less the opposite of institutional analysis, which focuses mostly on the public, long-term behaviour of publicly known institutions, as recorded in, e.g. scholarly documents or mainstream media reports, rather than secretive coalitions of individuals: "If I give an analysis of, say, the economic system, and I point out that General Motors tries to maximize profit and market share, that's not a conspiracy theory, that's an institutional analysis.""--Sholem Stein |
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A conspiracy theory attempts to attribute the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a covert alliance of powerful or influential people or organizations. Many conspiracy theories claim that major events in history have been dominated by conspirators who manipulate political happenings from behind the scenes.
The first recorded use of the phrase "conspiracy theory" dates back to an economics article in the 1920s, but it was only in the 1960s that it entered popular usage. It entered the supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary as late as 1997.
The term "conspiracy theory" is used by mainstream scholars and in popular culture to identify a type of folklore similar to an urban legend, especially an explanatory narrative which is constructed with particular methodological flaws. The term is also used pejoratively to dismiss claims that are alleged by critics to be misconceived, paranoid, unfounded, outlandish, irrational, or otherwise unworthy of serious consideration. For example "Conspiracy nut" and "conspiracy theorist" are used as pejorative terms. Some whose theories or speculations are labeled a "conspiracy theory" reject the term as prejudicial.
The term "conspiracy theory" may be a neutral descriptor for any conspiracy claim. To conspire means "to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end." However, conspiracy theory is also used to indicate a narrative genre that includes a broad selection of (not necessarily related) arguments for the existence of grand conspiracies, any of which might have far-reaching social and political implications if true.
Whether or not a particular conspiracy allegation may be impartially or neutrally labeled a conspiracy theory is subject to some controversy. Conspiracy theory has become a highly charged political term, and the broad critique of 'conspiracy theorists' by academics, politicians, psychologists, and the media cuts across traditional left-right political lines.
The US academic Noam Chomsky contrasts conspiracy theory as more or less the opposite of institutional analysis, which focuses mostly on the public, long-term behaviour of publicly known institutions, as recorded in, e.g. scholarly documents or mainstream media reports, rather than secretive coalitions of individuals.
See also
- Moon landing conspiracy theories
- Conspiracy in civil law
- Conspiracy in criminal law
- List of conspiracy theories
- Conspiracy fiction
- Fringe theory
- Furtive fallacy
- Pseudohistory
- Pseudoscience
- Secret history
- UFO conspiracy theory
- Influencing machine
- Zeitgeist (film series)
See also
- Cabals
- Civil
- Criminal
- Deception
- Espionage
- Fiction
- Political
- Secrecy
- Secret societies
- Urban legend
- Attitude polarization
- Cognitive dissonance
- Communal reinforcement
- Confirmation bias
- Locus of control
- Mass hysteria
- Paranoia
- Psychological projection
- Geoffrey Chaucer (1400)
- Princes in the Tower (1483)
- Kaspar Hauser (1833)
- Abraham Lincoln (1865)
- Franz Ferdinand (1914)
- Lord Kitchener (1916)
- Michael Collins (1922)
- Sergey Kirov (1934)
- Władysław Sikorski (1943)
- Subhas Chandra Bose (1945)
- Dag Hammarskjöld (1961)
- Patrice Lumumba (1961)
- John F. Kennedy (1963)
- Robert F. Kennedy (1968)
- Juscelino Kubitschek (1976)
- Pope John Paul I (1978)
- Airey Neave (1979)
- Francisco de Sá Carneiro and Adelino Amaro da Costa (1980)
- Olof Palme (1986)
- Zia-ul-Haq (1988)
- Vince Foster (1993)
- Yitzhak Rabin (1995)
- Diana, Princess of Wales (1997)
- Nepalese royal family (2001)
- USS Maine (1898)
- RMS Lusitania (1915)
- Reichstag fire (1933)
- Pearl Harbor (1941)
- Operation "Gladio"
- USS Liberty (1967)
- Widerøe Flight 933 (1982)
- KAL Flight 007 (1983)
- Mozambican presidential jet (1986)
- Pan Am Flight 103 (1988)
- Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
- 9/11 attacks (2001)
- Madrid train bombing (2004)
- London bombings (2005)
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (2014)
- RMS Titanic (1912)
- Phar Lap (1932)
- Adolf Hitler's death (1945)
- Yemenite Children (1948–54)
- Cairo Fire (1952)
- Dyatlov Pass incident (1959)
- Lost Cosmonauts
- Elvis Presley's death (1977)
- Jonestown (1978)
- Satanic ritual abuse (blood libel)
- MS Estonia (1994)
- Kurt Cobain (1994)
- Hello Garci scandal
- Osama bin Laden (2011)
- Lahad Datu, Malaysia standoff (2013)
- Zamboanga City crisis (2013)
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (2014)
- Bilderberg Group
- Black helicopters
- Bohemian Grove
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Denver International Airport
- Eurabia
- Illuminati
- Judeo-Masonic plot
- Jews
- The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
- Freemasons
- North American Union
- Catholics
- Jesuits
- Vatican
- ODESSA
- Rothschild family
- Skull and Bones
- The Fellowship
- Trilateral Commission
- Alien abduction
- Area 51
- Bermuda Triangle
- Black Knight satellite
- Cryptoterrestrial hypothesis
- Extraterrestrial hypothesis
- Interdimensional hypothesis
- Dulce Base
- Estimate of the Situation (1948)
- Majestic 12
- Men in black
- Nazi UFOs
- Project Serpo
- Reptilians
- Tunguska (1908)
- Ghost rockets (1946)
- Maury Island (1947)
- Roswell (1947)
- Mantell (1948)
- Kecksburg (1965)
- Rendlesham Forest (1980)
- Cash-Landrum (1980)
- Varginha (1996)
- Phoenix Lights (1997)
- Chicago (2006)
- Apollo Moon landings
- Barack Obama's citizenshipTemplate:\religionTemplate:\parentage
- Belgrade Chinese embassy bombing (1999)
- Black genocide
- CIA-Kennedy assassination link
- Allegations of CIA assistance to Osama bin Laden
- Dulles' Plan
- FEMA concentration camps
- HAARP
- Jade Helm 15 (2015)
- Montauk Project
- October Surprise (1980)
- Pizzagate (2016)
- Philadelphia Experiment (1943)
- Project Azorian (1974)
- Sandy Hook shooting (2012)
- Seth Rich (2017)
- Sovereign citizenTemplate:\Redemption movement
- Vast right-wing conspiracy
- Vietnam War POW/MIA issue
- TWA Flight 800 (1996)
- Chemtrails
- Free energy suppression
- Global warming
- HIV/AIDS origins
- HIV/AIDS denialism
- SARS (2003)
- Water fluoridation
- 2012 phenomenon
- Agenda 21 (1992)
- Cancellation of the Avro Arrow (1959)
- Bible conspiracy theory
- Clockwork Orange (1970s)
- Conspiracy theories in the Arab world
- Conspiracy Encyclopedia
- "Death" of Paul McCartney (1969)
- Homintern
- Homosexual recruitment
- Knights Templar
- Lilla Saltsjöbadsavtalet (1987)
- Love Jihad
- Mexican Reconquista
- New Coke (1985)
- Phantom timeTemplate:\New Chronology
- Red mercury
- Soft coup
- Vela Incident (1979)
- War against Islam
- Genocide denial