We abuse the word ‘theory’ in the phrase ‘conspiracy theories’, according to the British journalist George Monbiot. In scientific and other research, a theory is something which we posit as possibly verifiable. We then marshal the evidence, and if this is consistent and coherent in pointing in a particular direction, we conclude that our theory is indeed true.
However, when we use the phrase ‘conspiracy theories’, we always mean that the theory is untrue. It’s fake. It’s a fantasy created by an overwrought or paranoid imagination. Or maybe it’s sometimes made by someone who has a sinister purpose, Monbiot suggests.
Hence, Monbiot argues that we should rather speak of ‘conspiracy fantasies’ rather than theories. This allows us to use the word ‘theory’ correctly, and a ‘conspiracy theory’ might, like a scientific theory, turn out to be perfectly accurate.
An historical example: The Guy Faulks plot to blow away the sitting English Parliament in the 16th Century was undoubtedly a conspiracy. The Elizabethan regime had a theory that there was some sort of conspiracy brewing, and it turned out to be the case. Several Catholic aristocrats were co-conspirators, led by a man called Catesby. Faulks was just the armourer, incidentally, but he too was part of this true conspiracy.
Two contemporary examples: Management within tobacco and oil companies conspired to cover up or obfuscate research that showed that their products were harmful, the former to human health, the latter to the health of the entire planet.
It would be interesting to determine whether our use of the dismissive and derisory phrase ‘conspiracy theories’ has contributed to a scepticism that blunts our suspicions of real conspiracies. After all, no thinking person wants to be accused of being a ‘conspiracy theorist’. It evokes stereotypes of individuals from remote, under-resourced areas who may be perceived—often unfairly—as uneducated or unsophisticated.
Monbiot also argues that because many people obsess over conspiracy fantasies, they are distracted from real ones. For example, a viral post alleges that President Biden was “executed in 2020” and replaced by a robotic clone. Or photos claiming to show a mysterious object in an ice cave have sparked theories about alien tech.
Indeed, conspiracy fantasies about the threat of the global elite or the deep state or that global warming is a hoax seem to characterise the Trump administration. Sensible commentators, of course, dismiss these fabrications but fail to point to the fact that they are the evil fruits of real conspiracies and that we can underestimate their power. To what extent did these fear-mongering fantasies about the deep state or global elite, turbo-charged by algorithms, swing the last US election? I asked AI whether conspiracy fantasies (I used the word ‘conspiracies’) played a part in the US election, and it answered thus: “Yes, they played a significant role in shaping public perception and political discourse during the 2024 U.S. elections”.
So, whether we are talking about true conspiracies or fantastical ones, we need to recognise that both are dangerous. Conspirators frequently conspire to produce and disseminate fantasy conspiracies for the nefarious purpose of political manipulation.
