Conspiracy theory: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[File:Dollarnote siegel hq.jpg|thumb|The [[Eye of Providence]], or the all-seeing eye of God, seen here on the US$1 bill, has been taken by some to be evidence of a conspiracy involving the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|founders of the United States]] and the [[Illuminati]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Issitt|first1=Micah|last2=Main|first2=Carlyn|title=Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs|date=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=|pages=47–49|isbn=978-1-61069-478-0|ref=harv}}</ref>]]

A '''conspiracy theory''' is an explanation of an event or situation that invokes a [[conspiracy]] by sinister and powerful actors, often political in motivation,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Belief in conspiracy theories|first1=T|last1=Goertzel|date=December 1994|journal=Political Psychology|volume=15|issue=4|pages=731–742|doi=10.2307/3791630|jstor=3791630}} ''"explanations for important events that involve secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups"''</ref><ref>{{Cite OED |conspiracy theory}} ''"the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; ''spec.'' a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event"''</ref> when [[Occam's razor|other explanations are more probable]].<ref name="Voodoo">{{cite book |last1=Aaronovitch |first1=David |title=Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History |date=2009 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |isbn=9780224074704 |page=253 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=icxkMJK-WmgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Voodoo+Histories:+The+Role+of+the+Conspiracy+Theory+in+Shaping+Modern+History&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj96Paxw4nkAhUpIMUKHbM3CLQQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=Voodoo%20Histories%3A%20The%20Role%20of%20the%20Conspiracy%20Theory%20in%20Shaping%20Modern%20History&f=false |accessdate=17 August 2019 |language=en |quote=It is a contention of this book that conspiracy theorists fail to apply the principle of Occam’s razor to their arguments.}}</ref> The term has a pejorative connotation, implyingand is not to be confused with the neutral term "theory of conspiracy." It implies that the appeal to a conspiracy is based on prejudice or insufficient evidence.<ref name=Byford>{{Cite book |title=Conspiracy theories : a critical introduction |last=Byford |first=Jovan |date=2011 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=9780230349216 |location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire |oclc=802867724|ref=harv}}</ref> Conspiracy theories resist [[falsifiability|falsification]] and are reinforced by [[circular reasoning]]: both evidence against the conspiracy and an absence of evidence for it, are re-interpreted as evidence of its truth,<ref name=Byford/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keeley |first=Brian L. |date=March 1999 |title=Of Conspiracy Theories |journal=The Journal of Philosophy |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=109–126 |doi=10.2307/2564659|jstor=2564659 }}</ref> and the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than proof.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|author-link1=Michael Barkun|title=A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America|date=2003|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|pages=3–4|ref=harv|title-link=A Culture of Conspiracy}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Barkun|first1=Michael|author-link1=Michael Barkun|title=Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11|date=2011|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|page=10|ref=harv}}</ref>

Research suggests, on a psychological level, '''conspiracist ideation'''—belief in conspiracy theories—can be harmful or pathological,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Freeman|first=Daniel|last2=Bentall|first2=Richard P.|date=2017-03-29|title=The concomitants of conspiracy concerns|journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|language=en|volume=52|issue=5|pages=595–604|doi=10.1007/s00127-017-1354-4|issn=0933-7954|pmc=5423964|pmid=28352955}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barron|first=David|last2=Morgan|first2=Kevin|last3=Towell|first3=Tony|last4=Altemeyer|first4=Boris|last5=Swami|first5=Viren|date=November 2014|title=Associations between schizotypy and belief in conspiracist ideation|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|language=en|volume=70|pages=156–159|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2014.06.040}}</ref> and is highly correlated with [[psychological projection]], as well as with [[paranoia]], which is predicted by the degree of a person's [[Machiavellianism (psychology)|Machiavellianism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Douglas|first1=Karen M.|last2=Sutton|first2=Robbie M.|date=12 April 2011|title=Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire|url=http://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20%26%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf|journal=British Journal of Social Psychology|volume=10|issue=3|pages=544–552|doi=10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x|pmid=21486312}}</ref> Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in [[mass media]], emerging as a [[cultural phenomenon]] of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{sfn|Barkun|2003|p=58}}<ref name="Camp 1997" /><ref name="Goldberg 2001" /><ref name="Fenster 2008" />