Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories

con•spir•a•cy (kən-spîr'ə-sē) n. pl. con•spir•a•cies

1. An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
2. A group of conspirators.
3. Law An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.
4. A joining or acting together, as if by sinister design.

the•o•ry (thē'ə-rē, thîr'ē) n. pl. the•o•ries

1. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
2. The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice.
3. A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.
4. Abstract reasoning; speculation: a decision based on experience rather than theory.
5. A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment.
6. An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.

What I want to talk about now is the first meaning of conspiracy and the way we use the word theory with it. Conspiracies are pretty common things and they are as old as the human civilization itself. In the times of kingdoms, conspiracies were quite common occurrences although they haven’t been recorded as such because the public opinion was not so much of an issue. It seems they became more important, or visible, as the contrast of conspiracies with democracy (as public being in control of how they are being ruled) increased. During late 20th century we started to hear of conspiracy theories, as more people became suspicious of the transparency of their governments and institutions.

When something is a theory it is more of a belief, an assumption than a fact, it is an attempt to explain things which cannot be proven at that moment. When there is enough proof, the subject of the theory becomes a fact. So when we have enough proofs about a conspiracy theory, it becomes a proven conspiracy and no more a conspiracy theory. But when a conspiracy is proven and becomes public it is rarely stated as one. Like Watergate “Scandal” and Iran-Contra “Affair” they take other names, although they are conspiracies. This creates the illusion that whenever we are talking of a conspiracy, we are talking of theories.

The way the concept of “conspiracy theory” is used today, mostly serves to discredit the idea as being unproven, misconceived, paranoid, unfounded, outlandish, irrational, or otherwise unworthy of serious consideration. This may be true of some or most conspiracy theories but we have to acknowledge that some are very worthy of consideration as time has proven. The words “conspiracy theorist” is also used pejoratively as a person who is deluded, who is somewhat crazy. This helps to keep most people away from considering any conspiracies as being true.

Wikipedia states that a conspiracy theory attributes 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 group of powerful or influential people or organizations. Many conspiracy theories state that major events in history have been dominated by conspirators who manipulate political happenings from behind the scenes. It would be too far out to claim that most important world events are results of conspiracies or that the world is run by aliens, but there is more than enough proof to show that many historical events (such as some wars, conflicts and assassinations) are in fact results of conspiracies.

There is a psychological research which concludes that when an individual accepts a conspiracy theory, s/he is more likely to accept others; and vice versa, rejecting one leads to rejecting others. I have to admit that this sounds a little strange to me. I know there are some people who believe anything they see on TV news is true and do not question anything. These people are also very likely to think that conspiracies are fairy tales. On the other extreme are some people who believe everything is controlled by secret organizations or aliens and we are almost powerless. And I think most people fall between this two, creating a whole scale.

I know that some conspiracies are true and I believe some conspiracy theories have some basis, and some others are just so stupid that they are perhaps created by the same people who conspired at first, just to distract people from the facts. For example I know that September 11 attacks were an inside job (see post 9/11) and were staged by people within the US establishment. There are far too many evidences to prove this theory and any reasonable person would see what kind of nonsense the official explanation of the events is (like towers falling straight down and pulverizing because of fires!). But recently I came across the theory that there were no planes that hit the towers and what we saw on TV were just edited images created by TV companies. Well, I believe it is not impossible that hundreds of people working for the government to join forces to destroy 3 buildings and remain hidden (as it has happened before) but asking us to believe that everyone who said they saw planes hitting the towers are also conspirators are too much. To be honest, I think this proposition is brought about by the 9/11 conspirators themselves to show the public what kind of nutcases these conspiracy theorists are.

So, do not believe everything you see on TV (in fact, please dismiss most of them as mere lies, if you can) and do not believe every conspiracy theory either. People on either side have a variety of intentions in trying to make you believe in their explanation. As an intelligent being you are not only able but responsible to consider the facts and search for the truth. As long as we know how to keep our minds free, no conspiracies can survive.