Comments on: Conspiracy Theory Rock http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/08/conspiracy_theo.html The Law, the Universe, and Everything Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:18:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Benjamin Nelson http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/08/conspiracy_theo.html/comment-page-1#comment-57495 Benjamin Nelson Thu, 10 Aug 2006 22:23:39 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2006/08/conspiracy-theory-rock.html#comment-57495 This cartoon is interesting. The official claim is that Lorne Michaels canned it because the allegations of the last few lines really upset him. I've heard someone else claim that they were parodying conspiracy theorists, and not the companies themselves. I've never understood why it is people are cynical about conspiracy theories. No less than Adam Smith can be counted among the ranks of those purportedly cranky zealots who both recognized and appreciated the dangers associated with conspiracy. A popular quote of his from Wealth of Nations reads: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices". The threat of conspiracy is especially grim in this day and age. It's easy as anything to engage in conspiracy when you have teleconferencing and the internet at your disposal. (Though the sword is double-edged, for it's also easier to expose, as acute bloggers have shown over the course of the newscycles of the past five years.) I've heard people go on about how by "conspiracy theory" they mean grand hypotheses without evidence, of the "Bush administration planned 9-11" sort. But I don't know why this misunderstanding is so tolerated. The whole phrasing makes legitimate inquiry based on evidence seem illegitimate by association. This cartoon is interesting. The official claim is that Lorne Michaels canned it because the allegations of the last few lines really upset him. I’ve heard someone else claim that they were parodying conspiracy theorists, and not the companies themselves.

I’ve never understood why it is people are cynical about conspiracy theories. No less than Adam Smith can be counted among the ranks of those purportedly cranky zealots who both recognized and appreciated the dangers associated with conspiracy. A popular quote of his from Wealth of Nations reads: “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices”.

The threat of conspiracy is especially grim in this day and age. It’s easy as anything to engage in conspiracy when you have teleconferencing and the internet at your disposal. (Though the sword is double-edged, for it’s also easier to expose, as acute bloggers have shown over the course of the newscycles of the past five years.)

I’ve heard people go on about how by “conspiracy theory” they mean grand hypotheses without evidence, of the “Bush administration planned 9-11″ sort. But I don’t know why this misunderstanding is so tolerated. The whole phrasing makes legitimate inquiry based on evidence seem illegitimate by association.

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