Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory is a story that says that a group of people (called "conspirators") have agreed ("conspired") to engage in illegal or malicious actions and hide them from the public.
Overview
Conspiracy theories usually have little or no credible evidence. Distorted history based on conspiracy theories is sometimes called pseudohistory (pseudo- : from Greek ψευδής, "false").[2][3] People who promote pseudohistory are called historical revisionists,[2][4] or simply revisionists.[2][4] Some claim that historical events like the Holocaust or the Moon landing were faked by "conspirators".[2]
Examples
There are many conspiracy theories, including:
- 9/11 conspiracy theories
- UFO conspiracy theories
- Chemtrail conspiracy theory
- Moon landing conspiracy theories
- Assassination of John F. Kennedy conspiracy theories
- Illuminati and Freemasonry-conspiracy theories
- Death of Diana, Princess of Wales conspiracy theories
- Flat Earth
Some of these theories - like the idea that the Earth is flat - are irrational because there is so much evidence proving that they are wrong.[2]
Proliferation
Digital age
Conspiracy emerged as a cultural phenomenon in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[2][5] In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of conspiracy theories discussed on the Internet. Theories that once had few followers can become well-known through the mass media.
Conspiracy theorists get paid by websites according to how many viewers they attract. Websites that seem free to the user are paid for by adverts, usually quite harmless, though they may be annoying. The people who post individual articles get paid once the number of viewers exceeds a certain qualifying number.
Critique
David Grimes has calculated that it takes at least three years to expose a conspiracy theory on the internet,[6] depending on the number of people involved.[6] Many conspiracy theories are exposed in three to four years.[2][6]
Related pages
- Antisemitism
- Cognitive bias
- Disinformation
- Social psychology
- Sociocultural theory
- The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
References
- ↑ Sachar, Howard Morley (1993). A History of the Jews in America. Vintage Books. p. 311. ISBN 0679745300.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 *Clarke, Steve (2006). "Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracy Theorizing". Conspiracy Theories (1 ed.). Routledge. pp. 77–92. doi:10.4324/9781315259574-6. ISBN 9781315259574. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- Sunstein, Cass R.; Vermeule, Adrian (January 17, 2008). "Conspiracy Theories" (PDF). U of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper (387). Retrieved December 14, 2024.
Last revised: 7 Feb 2008
- van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Douglas, Karen M (June 29, 2017). "Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations". Memory Studies. 10 (3): 323–333. doi:10.1177/1750698017701615. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- Douglas, Karen M.; Uscinski, Joseph E.; Sutton, Robbie M.; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Nefes, Turkay; Ang, Chee Siang; Deravi, Farzin (March 20, 2019). "Understanding Conspiracy Theories". Advances in Political Psychology. 40 (S1): 3–35. doi:10.1111/pops.12568. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- Douglas, Karen M.; Sutton, Robbie M. (September 28, 2022). "What Are Conspiracy Theories? A Definitional Approach to Their Correlates, Consequences, and Communication". Annual Review of Psychology. 74: 271–298. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031329. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- Sunstein, Cass R.; Vermeule, Adrian (January 17, 2008). "Conspiracy Theories" (PDF). U of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper (387). Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- ↑ "The New Testament Greek word: ψευδω". Abarim Publications. December 3, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
- "revisionism". The Britannica Dictionary. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
- Shank, Tyce (2022). "Historical Revisionism: Revising or Rewriting". Liberty University. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
- Arribas, Cristina M; Arcos, Rubén; Gértrudix, Manuel; Mikulski, Kamil; Hernández-Escayola, Pablo; Teodor, Mihaela; Novăcescu, Elena; Surdu, Ileana; Stoian, Valentin; García-Jiménez, Antonio (2023). "Information manipulation and historical revisionism: Russian disinformation and foreign interference through manipulated history-based narratives". Open Research Europe. 1. 3 (121): 121. doi:10.12688/openreseurope.16087.1. PMC 10509605.
- ↑
- Barkun, Michael 2003. A culture of conspiracy: apocalyptic visions in contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press
- Camp, Gregory S. (1997). Selling fear: conspiracy theories and end-times paranoia. Commish Walsh.
- Goldberg, Robert Alan (2001). Enemies within: the culture of conspiracy in modern America. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09000-0. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019.
- Fenster, Mark (2008). Conspiracy theories: secrecy and power in American culture. University of Minnesota Press; 2nd edition. ISBN 978-0-8166-5494-9.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2
- Barajas, Joshua (2016). "How many people does it take to keep a conspiracy alive?". PBS NEWSHOUR. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- Grimes, David R (2016). "On the viability of conspiratorial beliefs". PLOS ONE. 11 (1): e0147905. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1147905G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147905. PMC 4728076. PMID 26812482.