A conspiracy theory is a theory which attempts to explain historical or current events as the result of a conspiracy (or conspiracies). The alleged conspirators may be accused of anything from manipulating governments, economies, or the legal system, to hiding important information of cultural or scientific significance. Generally, conspiracy theories are, by definition, unprovable.
The term conspiracy theory is sometimes also used refer to sociological attempts to study the phenomenon of conspiracy. For more information, see conspiracy.
There is a good deal of variation in the size of conspiracy theories: they range from small organisations to single governments to world-encompassing conspiracies that are linked to every major world body. Some conspiracy theories have been proved true, some have been proven false, but the majority remain unproven.
Conspiracy theorists are often considered paranoid and conspiracy theories are often associated with paranoid schizophrenia. Indeed, the diagnosis of schizophrenia has been used as a means of silencing political dissent, for example in the Soviet Union. (See: anti-psychiatry). The label of "conspiracy theory" has also been used to mock or denigrate social and political dissent, for instance when a powerful public figure is accused of corruption.
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Karl Popper claimed that true science is basically defined as a set of falsifiable theories. Critics of conspiracy theories sometimes argue that many of them are not falsifiable, and this makes them unscientific. For example, Jerry Bowyer[?], referring to allegations that the 2003 War in Iraq was the result of George W. Bush doing the bidding of oil companies, said that "I like this conspiracy theory better than the rest because it is one of the few that actually permits empirical disconfirmation". He considered that the declining share prices of oil companies was empirical evidence against this theory. [1] (http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/comment-bowyer103102.asp) One may also add that the subsequent lot of Irak's oil fields to major american oil companies is empirical evidence proving the theory.
In response to this objection to conspiracy theory, some argue that no political or historical theory is scientific by Popper's criteria because none reliably generate unambiguous, non-trivial, testable, and correct predictions. In fact, Popper himself rejected the claims of Marxism and psychoanalysis to scientific status on precisely this basis. (Most scientists today dispute the idea that Marxism is science at all; similarly, most neurobiologists and many psychiatrists now agree that classic forms of psychoanalysis have no scientific basis.) This does not necessarily mean that conspiracy theory, Marxism, and psychoanalysis are baseless, irrational, or false; only that they are not science by Popper's criteria.
In regards to the specific theory of an oil industry motivation for the 2003 Iraq war, conspiracy theorists respond that one of the first acts of the American-installed government was to call for the escalation of Iraqi oil production, undermining the OPEC oil cartel, which serves oil company interests. The fact that some data seem to falsify and other data to verify the conspiratorial view may indicate that a falsifiability standard is difficult or impossible to apply to situations where variables cannot be isolated, a problem not specific to conspiracy theories.
Some people distinguish between falsifiable accusations of conspiracy and unfalsifiable conspiracy theories.
Many groups of people conspire together all the time: the world is full of committees, clubs, corporations, political parties, standards bodies, and other organizations. Conspiracies have taken place throughout history, and some kinds of conspiracy, such as cartels, are crimes. At any given time, hundreds or thousands of conspiracies in the criminal sense are afoot. This kind of conspiracy is so widespread as to be unremarkable. It is in this sense that conspiracy theory collector Colin Wilson has remarked that conspiracy is "the normal continuation of normal politics by normal means."
Assassinations are a classic subject of conspiracy theories. The assassination of a prominent figure is a singular event which can dramatically change the course of public affairs. Those drawn to conspiracy theory are led to ask, in the aftermath of an assassination, Who benefited from this death? Though many assassinations are committed by lone individuals, and many others by aboveboard governments (such as that of Leon Trotsky) there have been several assassinations whose purposes remain mysterious in the public eye -- and suspicious to the conspiracy theorist.
Best-known among assassination conspiracy theories in the United States are those dealing with a rash of seemingly politically motivated deaths in the 1960s, notably those of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. An individual acting alone, who was himself assassinated before standing trial, is generally considered to have assassinated President Kennedy. Criticism of this account has seeped into the mainstream with movies such as Oliver Stone's JFK. In the other two cases, a lone assassin was convicted.
Secret societies and fraternal societies have aroused nervousness from some non-members since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. A secret society is a club or organization whose members do not disclose their membership, and may be sworn to hold it secret. However, the term is also used in conspiracy theory to refer to fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons who do not conceal membership, but are thought to harbor secret beliefs or political agendas.
Conspiracy theory about the Freemasons goes back at least to the late 18th century. The Masons were accused of plotting the American and French Revolutions, the downfall of religion, and of dominating republican politics. Worry about Masonic conspiracy grew to such an extent in the early United States as to spawn a political party, the Anti-Masonic Party. The Bavarian Illuminati, a German secret society related to Masonry, also figures into conspiracy theories of that time.
The Popes in the last 3 centuries are the main protaganists of these conspiracy theories. Freemasonry was condemned primarily because of its view that all religions are equal, diametrically opposed to the Catholic belief that it is the only true religion. Since most Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Evangelicals now agree with the Masonic princples condemned by the Church, new theories about the Masons have emerged such as that they are devil worshipers.
Suppressed inventions take conspiracy theory into the realm of business rather than politics. A typical suppressed-invention story is that of the incredibly efficient automobile carburetor, whose inventor was supposedly killed or hounded into obscurity by petroleum companies desirous to protect their business from an engine that would make their product obsolete. The subject of suppressed-invention conspiracy also touches on the realm of medical quackery: proponents of more unlikely forms of alternative medicine are known to allege conspiracy by mainstream doctors to suppress their cures, particularly when faced with charges of medical fraud.
Many governments use intelligence agencies to promote national policies in secretive ways -- in several cases including the use of sabotage, propaganda, and assassination. Intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, KGB, MI6, and Mossad, are a common element of political conspiracy theories precisely because they are known to participate in some activities similar to those described in conspiracy theories.
Particular technologies of surveillance and control arouse concern that has bordered upon, or crossed over into, conspiracy theory. These are technologies being developed by governments which are intended to intrude into the privacy or harm the persons of citizens, particularly dissenters. Conspiracy theories of this sort cast government agencies as pursuing vast technical powers in order to spy on people, control their minds, or otherwise suppress an alienated populace. Conspiracy theories of this sort include many about mind control and about unusual technical projects such as HAARP.
A class of present-day conspiracy theory with a dramatic effect upon regional politics is AIDS/HIV conspiracy. This divides by and large into two subcategories: allegations that HIV was created by a conspiratorial group or a secret agency as a tool of genocide, and claims that AIDS is not caused by HIV and that the HIV-AIDS connection is the propaganda of a conspiracy. The former allegation has become well-known in parts of the African-American community, usually with the United States government or "the Jews" as the virus's originator. The latter is largely confined to anti-homosexual groups in the West, but has become established in parts of Africa where the disease has had the worst toll.
Antisemitism has spawned innumerable conspiracy theories (which the present author does not feel prepared to describe, though they are an important category). Almost all of the anti-semitic conspiracy theories and indeed anti-semitism itself are tied to the practice of charging interest on loans (usury). It is claimed that since the Old Testament seems to ban interest on loans only to one's brothers, the Jews have historically made loans and charged interest to non-Jews, increasing their money and power. This is by far the most widespread conspiracy theory, found everywhere from the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, to Nazi ideology, to mainline Catholic thought during the beginning of the 20th century (see Fr. Denis Fahey). Echoes of this are still widespread today, especially amongst progressive liberals who support Palestine and are against the World Bank.
A sector of conspiracy theory with a particularly detailed mythology has become the basis for numerous pieces of popular entertainment: the Area 51/Grey Aliens conspiracy. Simply put, this is the allegation that the United States government conspires with extraterrestrials involved in the abduction and manipulation of citizens. A variant tells that particular technologies -- notably the transistor -- were given to American industry in exchange for alien dominance. The enforcers of the clandestine association of human leaders and aliens are the Men in Black, who silence those who speak out on UFO sightings. This conspiracy theory has been the basis of numerous books, as well as the popular television show The X-Files and the movies Men in Black and Men in Black II[?].
The X-Files based the plots of many of its episodes around urban legends and conspiracy theories, and had a framing plot which postulated a set of interlocking conspiracies controlling all recent human history.
For instance, during the 1980s the story that the Procter and Gamble company was affiliated with Satanism was a common urban legend in some circles. Is this tale, too, a conspiracy theory? It does allege secretive and presumedly harmful action (support of Satanism) on the part of a group (Procter & Gamble, or its leadership). However, it does not have the expansiveness or attempt at explanation of historical events which earmark a conspiracy theory. It is too simple.
Particularly since the 1960s, conspiracy theory has been a popular subject of fiction. A common theme in such works is that characters discovering a secretive conspiracy may be unable to tell what is true about the conspiracy, or even what is real: rumors, lies, propaganda, and counter-propaganda build upon one another until what is conspiracy and what is coincidence becomes an unmanageable question.
One of the more literarily acclaimed novels which draws on conspiracy themes is Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, in which the staff of a publishing firm intending to create a series of popular occult books invent their own occult conspiracy, over which they lose control as it begins to be believed. Another is Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, whose background includes a secretive conflict between cartels dating back to the Middle Ages.
Illuminatus!, a trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, is regarded by many as the definitive work of 20th-century conspiracy fiction. Set in the late '60s, it is a psychedelic tale which fuses mystery, science fiction, horror, and comedy in its exhibition (and mourning, and mocking) of one of the more paranoid periods of recent history. The popular, humorous trading card game Illuminati New World Order is based in part on Shea and Wilson's fantasy.
Other authors who have dealt with conspiracy themes include Philip K. Dick and Robert Ludlum. Some might also categorize several of the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H. P. Lovecraft and others as conspiracy-related, though they might be more closely described as occult horror.
(Something about Oliver Stone and JFK (movie) here -- I haven't seen it)
Note: Please only add things to this category if their existence is non-controversial.
Needs encyclopediafying
Just about anything associated with governments, Nazis, communists, ancient civilizations, or aliens has a conspiracy theory attached. They're very popular and form the basis of many popular books, movies, and TV shows.
Belief in imaginary conspiracies is also a feature of paranoia, which is a symptom of several diseases including paranoid schizophrenia.
Popular elements of some general theories include:
Daniel Pipes has written an essay on the prevalence of conspiracy theories throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Conspiracy theories extend far beyond those biased against Jews. They extend even to the creation of conspiracy theories about the results of sporting events. Analysis of conspiracy theories in the Arab world (http://www.danielpipes.org/books/hiddenchap.shtml)
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump