Chapter 10: Belief in Conspiracies Summary and Analysis

Agenticity can be found in flesh and blood. The source of the "demon" in conspiracies is human. Conspiracies are associated with political assassinations, unexplained disappearances and deaths of famous people. Conspiracies are also suspected to be plotted against society such as the secret spreading of aids or the distribution of cocaine and guns to the inner city. One thing conspiracies have in common is that humans are behind all of them. The term "conspiracy theory" is generally used as a pejorative to indicate that that lunatic fringe of society has an over-active imagination and is not in touch with reality.

All conspiracies cannot be dismissed out of hand. But there are certain elements of a conspiracy theory, however, that should send up the red flag. For example: There is no evidence to support it; the...