What Is a Conspiracy Theory and Why Does It Matter?

ABSTRACT

Growing concern has been expressed that we have entered a “post-truth” era in which each of us willfully believes whatever we choose, aided and abetted by alternative and social media that spin alternative realities for boutique consumption. A prime example of the belief in alternative realities is said to be acceptance of “conspiracy theories”—a term that is often used as a pejorative to indict claims of conspiracy that are so obviously absurd that only the unhinged could believe them. The epistemological standard often involved in this indictment, however—the standard of “obvious” falsity—invites subjectivity in its application, because what is obviously false to one person can be common sense to another. This is not just a truism; considerable research suggests that people’s political beliefs, in general, and their acceptance or rejection of conspiracy theories in particular, tends in large part to be determined by partisan, ideological, and other priors.

Keywords:

• conspiracy theories
• post-truth
• journalism
• fake news
• epistemology

Notes

1 We note that the definitions used by scholars do tend to vary and that some definitions are more detailed, such as the one put forward in Uscinski 2020.

2 Some possibilities go in the opposite direction; for example, a conspiracy theory that most consider to be true or well-evidenced—and is therefore usually labeled a “conspiracy”—may actually be false.

3 Consider this example: “Some find themselves believing in elaborate conspiracy theories about Bill Gates, 5G wireless technology, vaccines and masks, which researchers say are in part pushed by an algorithm and shared community members that group all of the theories together. Within days, they begin to believe that President Donald Trump is waging a secret war to save trafficked children from a cabal of Satan-worshipping baby eaters who control the United States government” (Collins 2020).