CRITICAL THINKING APPLIED TO CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Here are some concepts that are worth to understand

• What are conspiracy theories?
• How to spot a conspiracy theory?
• Diagnotisc Tools

Conspiracy Theory

List of Conspiracy Theories

The Conspiracy Theory Detector (Scientific American)

Conspiracy Theories: How to be a smarter news consumer (BBC)

10 characteristics of conspiracy theorists. A useful guide

How not to get fooled by conspiracy theories

It was like a cult:

1. WHAT ARE CONSPIRACY THEORIES?

A conspiracy is a a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. It is a fact that there are many conspiracies around the world, but the fact that they are secret makes it difficult to gather any evidence before they happen. Very often when we think of the word conspiracy the first thing we think of is a plot to change the status quo of a society, for example political assassinations.

The expression conspiracy theory refers to the creation of theories about putative conspiracies without any evidence that support it.

Conspiracies theories attempt to offer an alternative explanation of mainstream, often largely accepted theories.

Some examples of conspiracy theories are too crazy to be taken serious, for example that the Americans never went to the Moon and everything was filmed in some Hollywood studio and the American Air Force is keeping secret data on visit of extra-terrestrials and 3rd degree contacts.

Other conspiracy theories are more difficult to tell whether they have any likelihood to close to the truth or are simply speculation created by some particular group. For example that the Governments of many countries are controlled by a secret sect of politicians which are members or associated with the Masonry.

Examples:

• Who killed John F Kennedy?
• Who killed Princess Diana?

2. HOW TO SPOT A CONSPIRACY THEORY?

Conspiracy theories are endowed with some characteristics that helps us to spot whether to accept them or not.
They incorporate whatever evidence exists against them, so that they become, as Barkun writes, a closed system that is unfalsifiable, and therefore "a matter of faith rather than proof". For example I could claim that all dogs are spies from Venus. My opponent would ask me to present evidence that they are spies. I would incorporate that objection explaining that precisely because they are spies, they are undercover and therefore it would never be possible to know. Then the counter argument would go, if there is no way to show evidence that they are spies, how can you claim they are?"
Every real conspiracy has had at least four characteristic features:

• The plot is organised by some secret groups with some vested interest , not by isolated individuals;
• The aims of the plot are illegal or sinister, not aims that would benefit society as a whole;
• The acts executed by the plotters are orchestrated, not a series of spontaneous haphazard ones;
• There is a component of secret planning, not public discussion

Obviously all these characteristics can also be found in real conspiracies and this is why it is so difficult for people without a great understanding of the issues that are tackled by the theory, to reject it. After all it is reasonable to suspect government since governments do lie. This makes the distinction between true conspiracies and false theoretical ones difficult.