Conspiracy, Conspiracy Theory, and Misinformation
Why it matters for you to know the difference

A “Conspiracy theorist,” according to American media, is someone who is a little off his rocker. He, or she, is someone who will believe crazy untruths about aliens, that the government is out to get us, and the CIA is probably up to no-good at any given time. A statement needs to be put forth as to what constitutes the term “conspiracist” and what differentiates it from “conspiracy theorist.”

Mainstream media is doing a wonderful job right now at discrediting anyone who doesn’t go along with the norm. Recently a man shot a security guard at a museum. The media made sure to point out ‘he killed the guard in cold blood, and he was known to visit conspiracy theorist websites.’

Many citizens of the world know there may be something going on that’s bigger than they know, working behind the scenes, or that they are being lied to, but most do not want to know about it! It’s easier to live in the world you create: family, work, TV, a glass of wine or a beer now and then.

Let’s look a little into what the differences are in the terms conspiracist, conspiracy theorist, and the idea of misinformation, and why it makes a difference. The following examples will be most efficacious in giving a clear idea.

Conspiracy/Conspiracist
A conspiracy is something, generally with treacherous intent, which has been done or planned by at least two people (1). It is based in fact but the true story is often hidden from view in some manner. A perfect example of a conspiracy is what happened on 9/11/01 with the World Trade Center twin towers collapsing, WTC bldg 7 being destroyed, and the pentagon being hit by a missile/plane.

Most people in America, thanks mostly to our media, believe the official story that some Islamic extremists stole some planes and crashed them into buildings, causing the destruction of the twin towers and the killing of more than 3,000 innocent people.

In reality, there are more than 20 specific, scientific facts showing that the events of 9/11 were pre-planned and executed by people who had access to U.S. government buildings. Here’s a short list of reasons that make this a conspiracy, rather than a conspiracy theory:
>[The following can be found at www.ae911truth.org (2). This website is supported by over 700 professional engineers and construction experts who give proof the official story is inaccurate.]

• High tech nano-thermite explosives were found in the wreckage of the twin towers, and building 7 (which collapsed despite NOT being hit by an airplane).

• It takes over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit to soften steal but jet fuel and incendiaries in the buildings reached a maximum of around 1,100 degrees F meaning the planes and fuel did not cause the collapse.

• The size of the hole in the pentagon was smaller than the plane they claim hit it. Also, no airplane wings, landing gear, etc was found at the pentagon

• Symmetrical collapse of buildings and collapse at near free-fall speeds; this simply does not happen if a building collapses due to fire. Also, NO steel frame building has ever had a total collapse from fire only.

[A video is shown on www.ae911truth.org of the destruction of WTC bldg 7; it didn’t make the news much so if you haven’t seen it, please take a moment to watch.]

Most people couldn’t fathom the fact that someone “on their side” planned this catastrophe, especially with how emotional it was watching it on TV, etc. This remains a conspiracy because the facts need to speak for themselves, and most people would rather listen to a smiling TV reporter than check facts for him- or herself.



References on Post #3


[edit on 28-6-2009 by notreallyalive]

A Conspiracy Theory is different. A well-known conspiracy theory (which I myself do not believe) is that airplanes are spewing out “chemtrails” which are chemicals and scalar weapons (microscopic computers) which are meant to hurt and/or control the human population.

It is important to question such things! It is important to question many things: what I just wrote about 9/11, who killed JFK and for what reasons, etc. Do not dismiss something, such as the chemtrails conspiracy theory, simply because it sounds absurd; dismiss it or keep it based on empirical evidence.

The chemtrails ideal has been around for many years. There are some diehard proponents who claim pictures of contrails and clouds as evidence. I spent a good afternoon researching chemtrails and speaking with those who believe in them. I found no credible evidence. There are no pilots or engineers coming forward talking about what goes into the jet fuel or what is being sprayed.

The only time chemtrails have been mentioned in serious content was in a bill by Rep. Kucinich in 2001, HR 2977 (3), which names chemtrails as something to prohibit. It also, however, names several other “weapons” including extraterrestrial weapons, plasma weapons, and tectonic weapons, which haven’t been developed (or stolen from aliens) yet.

This remains a conspiracy theory because the only “proof” is that people see planes leaving weird contrails or ejecting something, and they assume it’s something malicious.


I’ve chosen to include “Misinformation” in this explanation because it intermingles so closely with conspiracy and conspiracy theory.

The following is a nice example of Misinformation.

President Barack Obama, while standing in front of the actual Constitution on the United States of America, gave a speech recently. This speech both lambasted the actions of President Bush as uncivil, and then, followed that he, President Obama, would be eliminating our civil rights as well by implementing “preventative and indefinite incarceration” for people thought to be terrorists (including “terrorists” which are Americans speaking up against government!) (4)

Here’s a more crucial example:

A bill was passed on June, 26th, 2009 under the guise of being a “landmark climate change bill.” Unfortunately the bill doesn’t cause less carbon emissions to be made, it doesn’t help the climate, and it raises taxes higher than ANY OTHER BILL in history! (5).

One of Barack Obama’s main running phrases was no raising taxes for anyone making less than $250,000 per year. Unfortunately for most of us, this was a flat out lie. Many of us will be paying more than double the rates for electricity than before this bill was passed.

This is misinformation: A bill that states one thing but actually does something entirely different. It is also extremely common if you take the time to actually read the bills being passed/voted on. This bill was over 1500 pages long; there’s no way our elected officials can make time to re-read 1500 pages when updates happen in the hours before a vote (6).



References on Post #3


[edit on 28-6-2009 by notreallyalive]

P.S. This is NOT a thread about 9/11 or Chemtrails. If you feel strongly that I am correct or incorrect in my assuptions on these please address it in a different thread.

This thread is about the nature of conspiracy, conspiracy theory, and misinformation.

thank you in advance for your respect of the thread's intent!

... gonna bump this once since it started at 2 am Pacific time
Hope that's ok.