Talk:Conspiracy theory

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I was thinking of making up a top ten conspiracy theories list. Does anyone have ideas on how to create one that is fair and accurate? I was thinking of maybe using the top search strings for ATS to make the lsit.

The above was posted by Umbrax:|Sysop on 04:25, 11 March 2006. Optimist 12:54, 29 September 2007 (CDT)

hi

yea sounds ok. how bout top ten most popular conspiracies from the web etc it would take a bit of searching to see wich ones would be most popular, but i think it would be intresting --ronishia 05:20, 29 June 2006 (CDT)

legality

Doesn't the term 'conspiracy' denote some sort illegality? Maybe that should be mentioned. zcopley

That is a completly different thing.

Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.

Conspiracy theory is a theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act.

--Umbrax:|Sysop 10:56, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Not to be pedantic, but I don't think they are completely different things. The word plot is usually defined as a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful, and is often synonymous with the word "conspiracy" itself (see Merriam-Webster, etc.). Thus, a "conspiracy theory" is a theory that explains a case in terms of an illegal action or actions. zcopley 18:48, 24 July 2006 (CDT)

Just noticed this discussion, so I'll comment, even if it's a while since the previous post.. Since this is a fairly central topic in tinWiki, I wish to just say I do agree with what Umbrax says, here. The difference is that a conspiracy is not necessarily a theory, and a theory is not necessarily a conspiracy. And a conspiracy theory is indeed a theory. Like the theory of relativity is a theory. The conclusion is that a conspiracy, or plot..., is not the same thing as a theory. A theory is not the same thing as a plot/conspiracy. So they are therefore not the same, and so they are different. Optimist 21:32, 10 May 2008 (CDT)

Redirect from "Conspiracy"

If someone wants to write it, I feel there should be a separate article at page "Conspiracy" instead of merely a redirect here.

Not sure if I have understood the other posts in this discussion correctly, but I want to say that there is a difference between a "conspiracy" and a "conspiracy theory". The topic of the former's encyclopedia article should be "what is a conspiracy", and that of the latter should be "what is a conspiracy theory". A conspiracy theory is a theory *about* a specific conspiracy (or a theory about a specific suspected conspiracy).

To try and elaborate, if there were such a thing as a 'sugar theory' (well, that's just what I came to think of 'off the top of my head') then clearly the theory about sugar was not *itself* sugar, it was, and always would be, a theory, which is something different from sugar itself. Like a conspiracy theory is not the conspiracy itself, but is instead only a theory about a suspected conspiracy. (Of course, to paraphrase Dave von Kleist, if the conspiracy in question is proven to exist, then it is no longer merely 'suspected', and the conspiracy theory becomes conspiracy fact. At which point the relevant article would have as its topic "what is a conspiracy fact". Which still would be distinctly different from the topic of what a conspiracy as such is.)

Topics and terms this central in tinWiki's area of focus should absolutely be afforded their own pages, as I see it. Optimist 13:22, 29 September 2007 (CDT)