Talk:Conspiracy theory

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Paul Krugman (8 May 2006). "Who's crazy now?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. A conspiracy theory, says Wikipedia, 'attempts to explain the cause of an event as a secret, and often deceptive, plot by a covert alliance.'
Sean Illing (11 April 2019). "The Trump-Ukraine story shows the power of conspiracy theories: This book explains why conspiracism is on the rise in American politics". Vox.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019. Nancy Rosenblum: That's right, and I'm so glad you said that, because Wikipedia actually defines a conspiracy theory as a false threat of a conspiracy, and that's not true.

The following Wikipedia contributor has declared a personal or professional connection to the subject of this article. Relevant policies and guidelines may include conflict of interest, autobiography, and neutral point of view.

Knuteson (talk · contribs) This user has declared a connection. (special:diff/927825243)

This article was selected as the article for improvement on 9 September 2013 for a period of one week.

Section sizes

Section size for Conspiracy theory (39 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	20,715	20,715
Origin and usage	6,933	9,664
Alleged CIA origins	2,731	2,731
Difference from conspiracy	4,304	4,304
Examples	1,179	1,179
Popularity	8,642	8,642
Types	1,090	4,095
Walker's five kinds	929	929
Barkun's three types	1,279	1,279
Rothbard: shallow vs. deep	797	797
Lack of evidence	6,680	6,680
Rhetoric	6,097	6,097
Consequences	8,540	8,540
Interventions	73	22,638
Target audience	2,002	7,602
General public	2,411	2,411
Conspiracy theorists	3,189	3,189
Reducing transmission	1,775	1,775
Government policies	4,625	4,625
Public health campaigns	4,396	4,396
Backfire effects	4,167	4,167
Psychology	8,745	27,774
Attractions	10,346	10,346
Causes	4,608	8,683
Projection	2,214	2,214
Physiology	1,861	1,861
Sociology	3,386	6,027
Influence of critical theory	1,131	1,131
Fusion paranoia	1,510	1,510
Viability	4,313	4,313
Terminology	1,908	1,908
Politics	3,410	18,838
Arab world	2,973	2,973
Turkey	4,571	4,571
United States	7,884	7,884
See also	925	925
References	84	84
Further reading	7,655	7,655
External links	569	569
Total	160,647	160,647

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Frequently asked questions

Q:Are conspiracy theories inherently false?

A:A key feature of conspiracy theories is that they are unfalsifiable, in the sense that they rely on circular reasoning and thus resist any attempt to assess their veracity. At best one can say that conspiracy theories are, by definition, not even wrong. This kind of hair-splitting misses the point, however. Conspiracy theories are not descriptions of real events. If they were, they would be called conspiracies.

"Conspiracism" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Conspiracism to this article has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 December 8 § Conspiracism until a consensus is reached. 67.209.128.24 (talk) 17:12, 8 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 3 January 2025

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change The resulting anti-vaccine movement has been promoted by a number of prominent persons including Rob Schneider,[318] Jim Carrey[319] and former US President Donald Trump,[320][321] to The resulting anti-vaccine movement has been promoted by a number of prominent persons including Rob Schneider,[318] Jim Carrey[319], former US President Donald Trump,[320][321] and Robert F. Kennedy, selected by Donald Trump to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. Hanzee1 (talk) 13:38, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Why? Slatersteven (talk) 13:55, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It needs sourcing (which exists in spades at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), but I think it's very WP:DUE to include the fact that the incoming head of the DHS is among those promoting anti-vaccine beliefs, and he's certainly a prominent figure. I'm gonna do it. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 14:49, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Done, though the proposed change was not to this article, but to List of conspiracy theories. See [1]. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 14:58, 3 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request

Just a small edit request, on the first sentence of the wiki for 'conspiracy theory'...

A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful ~~sinister~~ groups, often political in motivation), when ~~other explanations are more probable~~.

Can it be re-written as

A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful groups, often political in motivation, and frequently concealed), when alternate explanations are more widely held as true by the general public. Fredderf24 (talk) 22:23, 12 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This doesn't strike me as an improvement, so I'd oppose such an edit. I'll also note that the current lead sentence of the article is the result of a well attended RFC (see archive 20/21) and is the result of a lot of discussion by a lot of different people, and it should not be rewritten lightly - I doubt anyone wants to kick that process off again. MrOllie (talk) 22:30, 12 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

when alternate explanations are more widely held as true by the general public <--- Not what our cited sources say, so no, it's not an improvement. - LuckyLouie (talk) 22:40, 12 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]