A conspiracy theory describes a current or past event as a conspiracy. A group of people is suspected of pursuing a secret goal to the detriment of third parties. This can be either lawful or unlawful.The value-free term conspiracy theory is in most cases used in the media in a deliberately defamatory manner just like the original value-free term “sect”.

Mostly alleged facts are mentioned which are supposed to support the conspiracy theory, although these cannot be proven. Or correct numbers, data and facts are used, from which, however, wrong conclusions are drawn. A conspiracy theory can be creatively woven further by an unclear factual situation and, depending on the popularity, a growing foundation for a publicly accepted opinion is created.

For a conspiracy theory to be spread, a certain number of believers are needed to support the theory. In today’s world, conspiracy theories can spread rapidly thanks to the Internet and reach a broad population. Conspiracy theories are especially appealing to people who experience insecurity, distrust, injustice, or a feeling of loss of control. They ally themselves and look for further followers in order to then jointly resist the suspected machinations. There are countless conspiracy theories, such as about UFOs, extraterrestrials, world government, secret societies, Illuminati, Skull & Bones, terror attacks under false flags, congresses, Zionism, 9/11, corporations, secret services, assassination of John F.Kennedy etc. Every theory is connected to a real situation, person, community, given, etc., which makes it appear real. However, upon closer examination, it must be noted that the connections rarely have verifiable sources or often there is no solid evidence for many of these theories. An assumption or assertion is by no means proof of the authenticity of a conspiracy theory.

Conspiracy theories can also be used specifically to control the behaviour of certain groups of people, which can have an effect on a political election campaign, controlled propaganda or an information war, for example. The term “conspiracy theorist” has negative connotations and stigmatizes people who offer an alternative view of a current situation that contradicts the average accepted theory. It should be noted that many of today’s verified truths were initially considered conspiracy theories.

An example of this is Copernicus’ theory of the globe, which is contrary to the religiously shaped “truth”, namely the world view of a flat earth. As various people have continued to study Copernicus’ “conspiracy theory”, it has been transformed into a new version of the truth.

Thus it can be concluded that conspiracy theories cannot be generally dismissed as false reports, but that they should be examined more closely in the event of increased public attention. After all, any activity of intelligence services, secret services, covert military operations, secret treaties, secret government talks, confidential price fixing, secret political congresses held in camera, etc. can also be classified as conspiracies under certain aspects.

Such theories should not be nipped in the bud, but should be checked as far as possible. Through fact-based investigations, which are rarely possible because they are covert operations, a conspiracy theory can ideally be verified or falsified.

Otherwise, a conspiracy theory that meets with blind acceptance in society can create a wave of unreasonableness that, fueled by emotionally charged propaganda, can even lead to religious, political, cultural or racist persecution, violence, denunciation, defamation, incitement to hatred, etc. Wars and terrorism can be taken as memorials here.

In conclusion, it can be summarized that a conspiracy theory is a theory like any other, which has not yet been proven or disproved. So also scientific theories are always a hypothesis and can always be replaced by another scientific theory. The danger lies in the fact that a person, community, religion, medium or party etc. claims the absolute truth for itself and persecutes or censors other people or opinions. This is always seen as an attack against the fundamental rights of the human being.

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