A Brief History of the Term Conspiracy Theory

This is not intended to give information on any particular conspiracy. This is a brief history of the conspiracy theories in general that is being used as an intro for part of a small series. With this being said lets starts.

Main Entry: conspiracy theory
Function: noun
Date: 1909
Definition: a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators

(This definition was taken from Webster.)

"Conspiracism serves the needs of diverse political and social groups in America and elsewhere. It identifies elites, blames them for economic and social catastrophes, and assumes that things will be better once popular action can remove them from positions of power. As such, conspiracy theories do not typify a particular epoch or ideology".
-Mintz, Frank P.

2012, JFK, UFOs, ETs, New World Order, H.A.A.R.P., The Illuminati, Project Bluebeam, The Freemasons, 9/11 and Elite Bankers. All of these are examples of what a conspiracy theory is. Though these are some of the more famous ones, there are hundreds more conspiracies that exist today, having to deal with anything from the government and banking to Paul McCartney dying years ago and being replaced by a look-a-like. We all know what conspiracies are but we don't know if they have existed throughout history or when in history conspiracy theories really started becoming popular.

According to most the first time the term "conspiracy theory" was used can be dated back to 1909 but didn't get its current image until sometime during the 1960s and 70s. Actually up until the 60s we didn't really see many conspiracies at all outside of banking and ww2. Around the time JFK was assassinated america loved the idea of the government being involved in foul play and having someone bigger and more important to blame. From that moment on almost everything that could be twisted into a clever story has become a conspiracy.

Skeptics, Believers and Debunkers.

The conspiracy world depends on these 3 type of people. Without them conspiracies would never be created, tested, or debated. Basically they are the 3 types of people you will find on this website.

(The following are opinions and stereotypes created by me based on many conversations, debates, reading and so on. If you don't like them get over it. It's all part of the conspiracy.)

Believers, for the most part, not only choose to believe in one or two conspiracies but it seems they actually have a harder time turning down the idea of a conspiracy. Many of the true believers I have had the pleasure of knowing or talking to, read their first conspiracy and couldn't get away. Some will become paranoid without realizing, and a rare few will eventually develop some type of disorder haha. Not all believers are this extreme so please don't take offensive if you aren't so bad. Most will argue the existence or validity of something using the bigger arguments from conspiracies even if at a certain point logic is no longer respected.

Skeptics are the type of people who sit at the sideline and read the conspiracies and won't completely ignore the idea but won't completely accept the idea as is either. They find parts from both sides of the argument that sound logical to them and then play a neutral role in things. Not much else to say about them.

Debunkers are the people who completely ridicule most conspiracy believers. They are known and hated for the "No picture, no proof" philosophy by believers. Though from a logical stand point that phrase has a lot of truth, faith is a big part of conspiracies and most debunkers place faith elsewhere. They sometimes are very stubborn and believe their country is the best regardless of any fact. A good percentage, I'm sure, are probably close minded in other areas of life many wouldn't agree with as well.

"“A conspiracy is nothing but a secret agreement of a number of men for the pursuance of policies which they dare not admit in public” -Mark Twain

Many conspiracy theories that exist today focus on financial, political, religious and military/alien related topics. With the rise in popularity over the past 40 years many conspiracy theories have been over exaggerated, over creative and many people want so bad for something to be wrong they come up with stories that completely defy logic.

This is part of a series I will be writing about conspiracies.
I wanted to write this to let people know how young the idea of conspiracy theories are and also to aid me in my next part of series which will focus on paranoia amongst theorists and if maybe some people are taking it to far and luring others in as well.

If this taught you anything little at all awesome, it was more of a base for future topics, but please read the next one which will be out within the next week.
Coming Next Week......"Paranoiamerica"



[edit on 20-2-2010 by seangkt]

Noble effort.

Those who follow conspiracy theory must first derail themselves from the tracks of mainstream sanity.

Very nice post - maybe it is good idea to distinguish "hypothesis" and "theory". "Conspiracy theory" is negative label. We should clarify this - unless you are happy with "nut" mark on your head - personally I'm quite happy with such mark, I can be sure that I'm not Ken and my wife is not Barbie Do you see it? It is perfect example of gheto mentality - thay have us where they wonted us to be.

EDIT: sorry for spelling ... alcohol ...

[edit on 20-2-2010 by zeddissad]