Karl Popper coined the phrase “Conspiracy Theory of Society” (Popper) in his book The Open Society and Its Enemies. In doing so, Mr. Popper attempted to describe the phenomenon of conspiracism by explaining that people tend to believe “whatever happens in society – especially happenings such as war, unemployment, poverty, shortages, which people as a rule dislike – is the result of direct design by some powerful individuals and groups” (Popper). Conspiracy theories come in all shapes and sizes, from all over the globe. In this paper, three different academic theories that explain how conspiracy theories come about will be examined. Additionally, one conspiracy theory from the West and one conspiracy theory from the Middle East will also be …show more content…
Franks, Bangerter and Bauer claim conspiracy theories have a psychological function, which is “managing collective anxiety triggered by threatening events through over-interpreting, exaggerating the agency of the supposed conspirator” (Powerpoint). According to Franks, Bagnerter, and Bauer, conspiracy theories serve as a means of managing collective anxiety. Conspiracy theories do this in three ways. First, conspiracy theories reduce the complexity of unexpected events. Secondly, conspiracy theories contain the uncertainty that unexpected events generate. Thirdly, conspiracy theories translate unspecific anxiety into focused fear. Furthermore, Franks, Bangerter and Bauer also describe three key characteristics of conspiracy theories: Longevity/Familiarity, familiar outgroups, and an exaggeration of the alleged conspirator. Conspiracy theories are rooted in long-established patterns of thinking, which is why they typically consist of outgroups that are familiar and easy to identify and conspiracy theories exaggerate the agency of the conspirator. The globalists conspiracy theory from the West can easily be used as a demonstration of how this process works. In this theory, the longevity/familiarity is the shared belief that only those with wealth have power. The familiar outgroup is the globalists, or capitalists, who are wealthy. Lastly, the exaggeration of the alleged …show more content…
For example, the main difference is the source of the perceived threat of each conspiracy theory. According to the Middle East conspiracy, the perceived threat is the American and Taliban troops – it is an external threat. The Middle East’s conspiracy serves as an attack upon an actual, concrete enemy – not an abstract enemy. Conversely, according to the Western conspiracy theory, the perceived threat is an internal one – it is the Western worlds own elite class that is the perceived
What if what you had been told your whole life was a lie? How would you feel if everything reported about a terrorist attack or a shooting was actually a conspiracy by the United States? What is a conspiracy? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a conspiracy is “a secret plan made by two or more people that is harmful or illegal”. There are so many conspiracy theories out there in the world starting as early as the 1800s. These theories range from scientific, terrorist, criminal, political, economic and business, and even religious conspiracies. The two conspiracy theories that I am talking about is the attack that changed the United States, as we knew it, the one that we believed was a terrorist attack, also known as 9/11, and the Sandy Hook shooting. There are multiple reasons that lead me to consider these two attacks to be something more than a terrorist and criminal attack. The reasons are because the timelines do not add up, there are too many inconsistencies, and the benefits are too great.
The events that occurred on September 11th, 2001 are some that will never be forgotten in American History. What was a beautiful day in New York City quickly turned into a American Nightmare as multiple planes where hijacked by a terrorist group by the name of Al Quida. While these events have where one of the worst tragedies in American history their also comes many conspiracies theories. Some of these theories suggest that George W. Bush knew about or even planned the tragic events that happened that day. However these conspiracierie theories are simply false. Conspiracy theories that blame the events that occurred on September 11th on the American Government are not true. Still to be able to prove these theories incorrect one must understand what exactly happened on that terrible day in New York City.
Brian Keeley’s short essay, “Of Conspiracy Theories” discusses conspiracy theories and their value in an epistemological context. Keeley defines a conspiracy theory as “a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events) in terms of the significant causal agency of a relatively small group of persons-the conspirators-acting in secret (Keeley 1999, pg. 116).” Keeley seeks to answer the question of why conspiracy theories are unwarranted. His interest in the warrant of conspiracy theories focuses on ¬the unfalsifiability of conspiracy theories and how conspiracy theories are founded upon an extraordinarily large amount of skepticism. In section III, Keely discusses what a conspiracy theory is, and contends that there is no grounds for
2) What is the premise of the argument regarding Frank Capell and Jack Clemmons' conspiracy theory?
In her introduction Baker uses the example of Boston bombings to describe the theories formed by people in the happening of an event. There are two reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories. Firstly, due to psychological reasons and secondly because they believe
When a person is introduced to a conspiracy theory, it has the potential to severely affect the way they view the world, as well as the way their brain processes information. With numerous theories surfacing in the world, and more than 50 percent of Americans believing in at least one conspiracy; it is hard to determine which are real, and which are fiction. As a result of conspiracy theories people stop trusting each other and become less social. An experiment instructed by Sander van der Linden,a Dutch social psychologist in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, show that the belief in conspiracy theories can cause a person to be less pre-social. In his experiment Dr. Linden separated his participants into three groups, the first group watched a video about conspiracy theories of global warming, the second group watched a video about taking action on global warming, and the third group was a control group which did don't watch any video. Studies conducted by Willem Prooijen,a social and organizational
Perfectly sane minds possess the possibility of creating the most fascinating narratives. Conspiracies are a way to react to being powerless or uncertain. Economic recessions, terrorists’ attacks, and deaths of the young and famous happen and when they do people do not know what to think or believe. Their minds react in overdrive
Bill O’Reilly’s and Martin Dugard’s book Killing Lincoln delves into the events leading up to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the repercussions upon the people involved, as well as a detailed analysis of the ongoing war efforts and the affects one has upon the other. While unraveling the conspiracy and its members, the reader is given compelling evidence and speculative reasoning that leads the reader to believe that the plot to assassinate Lincoln involves additional people, and could in fact be a conspiracy that reaches into the regions of power far above what is historically proven.
In the world today there are events that happen and have stories untold. On the rise are many different twists that come about from events happening. “63 percent of registered American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory according to a recent poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University” (“Theories Prosper”). There are many different conspiracy theories in the world today including, included in the top ten lists of conspiracy theories is the Sandy Hook elementary shooting, the Boston Marathon bombings, as well as the September 11th terrorist attacks. Ever wonder how a conspiracy theory comes alive and what is all needed to justify the meaning of a conspiracy theory?
Have you ever heard of an event that had more conspiracy theories than the JFK assassination? John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas at 12:30 on November 22, 1963. JFK was our 35th president of the United States, he was loved by many Americans and only some hated him, which might have led to the Kennedy assassination. He was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, a U.S. Marine American Sniper who secretly went to the Soviet Union for unknown reasons. The day of the assassination was a huge uproar, it happened so fast that many Americans couldn’t explain what they saw, this created conspiracy theories. A conspiracy theory is a belief that an organization or individual is responsible for an event. One can conclude that the JFK
Conspiracy Rising: Conspiracy Thinking and American Public Life questions the popularity of conspiracy post 9/11 and government secrecy which calls for analysis of comparative work of prior historians. Martha Lee, professor of political science at the University of Windsor, observes current obsession over President Obama's birthplace as a replacement for government involvement in 9/11. However, she argues that although conspiracy changes through different events, the cause for it remains similar to those of the 19th century. Lee, in the first part of the article, explains her deep appreciation to Knight’s work. As his work shows the global changes in political, economic, and social structures that produce fear and anxiety among society. Lee
This paper will open the eyes of many. The truth shall be prevailed and the lies will end. In this literature review there were 10 sources, and these 10 sources talked about conspiracy theories. Theses conspiracy theories also prove 9/11 wrong. There will be hate, denial, patriotism, and revenge for those who died on the September 11th, 2001. It is the right of the free people to find what really happened and the truth is
To most a fairy tale, to some an interesting topic of discussion, however, to a small population, 5 % to be exact, Government conspiracy does exist. How, you might ask, do I intend to prove that indeed government conspiracy is real? I do not intend to prove it. In fact I only intend to inform you of its ever growing ploy of world domination, capitalism and control and open your mind to the idea that government conspiracy is out there. Throughout history as it is known to repeat itself, I will show facts that support this “theory” and dismiss the legendary lies we have been taught to believe through a system known as memetics.
Moral panics take place when the media outlets take a fairly ordinary event and turn it extraordinary. Cohen states that in a moral panic the media identifies a particular group as a folk devil (1972). Essentially folk devils can be identified as a threat to society's values. This is see when the media presents the group in a negative stereotypical fashion and again exaggerate the scale of the problem. Moral panics have three distinguishing characteristics. In Bonn’s article, Who Benefits From Public Fear, he states that one characteristic of moral panic includes a focused attention, whether real or imagined, of certain individuals or groups that are transformed into what Cohen referred to as “folk devils” by the mass media (2015). Additionally there is a noticeable gap between the concern and object risk poses. Typically this threat is less than generally perceived because of how the media outlets represent the threat. The level of concern over time fluctuates greatly. The usual pattern begins with the introduction of the threat, followed by an increase rise and then peak in public concern, which then therefore, and regularly unexpectedly, dies down. _________________________
The definition of a conspiracy theory, according to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary is, “a secret plot that is largely unknown to the general public” (Webster 84). Dan Brown focuses on an unusual conspiracy in his novel, The Da Vinci Code. The religious conspiracy theories suggested in this novel discuss secrets of epic proportions that have the potential to shatter the foundations of Christianity. “Behold the greatest cover-up in human history!” (270). Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code proves everybody loves a conspiracy.