Understanding "conspiracies"

Submitted by Merry Whitney (United States), Feb 21, 2006 at 16:56

Since conspiracy theorists have seemingly moved from the lunatic fringes (both left and right), and now more regularly rub elbows with and infect (ahem) normal people, it's probably a good idea to get a handle on what makes them tick, and what a common reaction pattern to that "ticking" looks like.

An excellent place to start is with Dr. Pipes' definition of a conspiracist, which can be found in his (1997 copyright, Simon & Schuster/Free Press) book, "Conspiracy." Excellent read.

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