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Jayson_Virissimo comments on What causes people to believe in conspiracy theories? - Less Wrong
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When people use the term conspiracy theory, they usually mean false conspiracy theory. This is confusing terminology because in the archetypical examples, the "official story" actually involves a conspiracy.
Right. I for one happen to believe the theory that al Qaeda conspired to execute deadly attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. That is literally a conspiracy theory. Is the process by which I came to believe that relevant to the discussion here? (If yes, I'd be happy to give more information.)
But the phrase "conspiracy theory" commonly implies (like the faked moon landing) that relatively few people believe it, generally because the evidence against the theory is fairly convincing. (Conspiracists may answer that additional evidence is not available or widely known to the public.)
What's distinctive about "conspiracy theories" is generally not so much the alleged conspiracy to do whatever-it-is but the conspiracy to hide their having done it. And, usually, the fact that it would have to be an exceptionally effective conspiracy, because keeping such things secret is often difficult.
And, related to this, the epistemic pattern whereby anyone who ought to know the facts of the situation and claims my theory is false must therefore be part of the conspiracy.