The Pros And Cons Of Conspiracy Theories

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

The Internet has played a large role in my interest in conspiracy theories. Although I definitely do not believe all of them, they are fun to look into and are good tools for procrastination. Falling deeper into the hole that is Wikipedia, I spent a large amount of my free time “researching” them. It got to the point where I had to force myself to actually work on homework instead. However, I am not one of those crazy conspiracy theorists; I am only interested in ones that seem legit. All interesting conspiracy theories have similar qualities. A majority of them involve the government or celebrities. And depending on the theory, they are believable.

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

The news, even though it may be broadcasting the real facts, may show videos or just talk about the subject so much that viewers are more scared than they need to be. They essentially “overdo” it, and leave Americans and others with different ideas in their minds than they need to have. This idea of sensationalism is a big problem with the situation on 9-11, and is used in it and other conspiracies to convince people of ridiculous notions.

Throughout history, people have attempted to come up with explanations to make sense of events which could not be comprehend, such explanations are commonly known as conspiracy theories. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the official definition of conspiracy theory  is “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” These theories can range from minor events, to large scale terrorist attacks. A few well known theories include, Bill Clinton caused 9/11, the Earth is flat, and a reptilian race is planning to take over the Earth. Conspiracy theories can inflict various amount of damage, but it dependent on the conspiracy theory context. (Mckay).  In an

Any discussion on this conspiracy, however, will not be complete without talking what went and goes on in Roswell, New Mexico, or better known as Area 51. Area 51 is known to be a US Military Base where 75 miles away, there reported to be a UFO crash landing on July 2, 1947 that left an exceptional amount of debris all over the area. The Roswell Army Air Field reported that they recovered a “flying disc” but a few hours after this information was released, the government immediately said it was a “weather balloon.” RAAF even reported having recovered alien bodies but as expected, the government denied again and simply stated that it was the military men’s trauma from accidents. Countless witnesses during and after the reported crash date have confirmed seeing flying objects, crop circles and usual activity within the area. Area 51 is now conspired to be a place where they examine evidences of alien bodies, UFO crashes, etc, but the government refuses to confirm and have denied these allegations. More than sightings, as promised, let me take you in on one of the craziest abduction stories.

Once you believe in a conspiracy it is easy to believe in the possibility of other conspiracies even if the other conspiracies are improbable and contradictory. Conspiracy theory is defined as “a proposed plot by powerful people or organizations working together in secret to accomplish some (usually sinister) goal.” Conspiracy theorists’ skepticism of official narratives may be so intense that many alternative theories are simultaneously endorsed in spite of many contradictions between them.

They put things in the newspapers and social media and other things to scare us from knowing the real truth behind everything. The fear of the unknown is most likely one of the scariest things. The government uses that to control how we live on a daily basis. In Station Eleven, the prophet controls the people.

Thunder and lightning crashing from the high heavens, scaring you out of your mind. You turn to your safety device, a blanket. It’ soothing and helps ground you from the terrifying ordeal you are going through. The same thing can be said of conspiracy theories, they help to comfort people from uncertainty and fear, and that’s why people believe them. An example would be JFKs assassination, simply put a man by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed the president single handedly. There was a great deal of fear surrounding

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

On Friday November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in the city of Dallas, Texas. Since then, many have speculated the truth behind the events of the Kennedy assassination. Although Lee Harvey Oswald was claimed to be the mastermind behind the horrific murder, many theorists still believe today that there is more to the story than the government is willing to admit.

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. _________________________

“By uniting us against a common enemy, fear also brings humans together. It has a preserve yet delicious binding quality. It's for this reason that we love to spread fearful rumors, sometimes blowing them out of all proportion just to heighten the sense of danger." (33. Brandwashed)