"conspiracy theory" antedating

[Mark Mandel]

I don't think "unexplained" needs to be in there. ISTM that many conspiracy
theories include the assertion that "Everything you know is wrong", that a
well known and generally accepted explanation for an event is really a
cover-up promulgated by the conspirators.

Googling for /conspiracy theory/ (i.e., not in quotes) suggests as related
searches

conspiracy theory movie
conspiracy theory 9/11
conspiracy theory videos
moon conspiracy theory
ufo conspiracy theory
titanic conspiracy theory
new world order
area 51

9/11 and the Titanic disaster certainly have widely accepted explanations,
which the conspiracy theories claim to debunk. So do the assassinations of
John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and I'm sure scads of other
events I don't want to try to remember right now.

m a m


On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 11:06 AM, Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> Great citations! Maybe the following from 1872 fits the definition for
> an instance of "conspiracy theory" for the OED :
>
> The nomination of Messrs. Greeley and Brown was the result of a deeply
> laid, cunningly devised, plot. ...
>
> It does seem to be "political in motivation and oppressive in intent".
> But I do not know if the nomination was considered to be an
> "unexplained event".

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