There is no one in the world, who can keep a secret forever. He/she will tell everyone but only one at a time. I find this truth comforting. It’s how I know for sure that the truth will always be out. But on second thoughts, I don’t think the truth is ever out. It’s only the conspiracy theories about the truths that come out. No matter the event, we will always have a wide range of choices of truths that we would like to believe in.
A conspiracy theory is the idea that an individual or a group acts secretly, with the goal to achieve power, wealth, influence, sexual or other benefits. It can be as small as two employees in the office conspiring to make a fool out of their boss, to something as big as two politicians conspiring to topple the Prime Minister.
Conspiracy theory, I believe is a psychological problem. It links subjugating conceptual strategies (paranoid style, political paranoia) to narratives that investigate conspiracies (conspiratology, conspiracy research, conspiracy account). Conspiracy theory is a condensation of all of the above, a metaconcept signifying the struggles of the meaning of the category. We need to recognise that we are on the bridge of a truth when we use the term.
Because the term conspiracy theory has been used in the media to denote grand conspiracy theories involving hundreds or thousands of people as well as plausible things, such as America itself caused the 9/11 attack etc., there has been some effort by a few to denote those conspiracy theories that are plausible from those that are irrational/ /paranoid ramblings. One such effort is to call a plausible conspiracy theory a conspiracy, while another is to separate the broad concept of conspiracy theory into being warranted and unwarranted. Warranted conspiracy theories tend to be small and reasonably easy to cover-up.
A crucial litmus test is whether any of those who must have been involved or in the know, has ever leaked information. But one feature of bogus conspiracy theories that they involve very large numbers of people, not one of whom has ever betrayed the original conspiracy.
Unwarranted conspiracy theories, on the other hand, tend to gravitate to the grandiose, to the point of lunacy. The existence of warranted conspiracy theories, especially when they are later proven to be true, helps fuel a conspiracy mentality that sees conspiracies everywhere and anyone that denies that will also be declared party to it. Who gains what from the conspiracy and at what price? Is this the easiest way of gaining it? If not, why was it chosen over the easiest way? If it is an old conspiracy — who gains what from continuing it? These are the so-called million dollar questions that I am sure no conspiracy theory can ever answer.
