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How the CIA Invented "Conspiracy Theories"

oldjones

CanBarelyRe Member
Aug 18, 2001
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From Wikipedia, I highlighted pre-CIA dates. Your source's source is in there — the 1964 one:

Etymology and definition
The Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as "the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event". It cites a 1909 article in The American Historical Review as the earliest usage example,[16][17] although it also appears in journals as early as April 1870.[18] The word "conspiracy" derives from the Latin con- ("with, together") and spirare ("to breathe").

Robert Blaskiewicz notes examples of the term were used as early as the nineteenth century and states that its usage has always been derogatory.[19] Lance deHaven-Smith suggested that the term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission shared its findings, with The New York Times running five stories that year using the term.[20]

A conspiracy theory is not simply a conspiracy. Barkun writes that conspiracies are "actual covert plots planned and/or carried out by two or more persons". A conspiracy theory, on the other hand, is "an intellectual construct", a "template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events". Positing that "some small and hidden group" has manipulated events, a conspiracy theory can be local or international, focused on single events or covering multiple incidents and entire countries, regions and periods of history. Conspiracy theorists see themselves as having privileged access to special knowledge or a special mode of thought that separates them from the masses who believe the official account.[21]


It's hardly surprising a spy agency would be in the forefront of conspiracy theorizing. It's their stock in trade. Sensible people don't try to beat professionals at their own game. The last paragraph is the critical bit that points out the defining distinction between real knowledge of hidden things and mere fantasies. It's a way of feeling special.

Nothing new.
 
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