The Epistmology of Conspiracy Theories - Essay Example

What exists about such events is only fantasizing of what might have been the cause. There are various such conspiracies in the world. The first one concerns the source of Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. People speculate that it was a product of Soviet or American biological warfare and that it was released either with or without the knowledge of the scientist who made it. People were also not aware that such virus existed. The second conspiracy concerns extraterrestrials that frequently visited the earth with the intention of killing cows and human beings.

The memories of these individuals and animals are then erased from our memories such that forget them forever (Keeley 6). The third conspiracy explains that there once had a good transport system in Los Angeles city which was made up of street cars. In 1930 to 1940, car manufactures, rubber makers and oil marketers formed a conspiracy group that distracted this transport system. The intention of the group was to turn the city’s transport system into an automobile type. It, therefore, made large sales by selling such automobiles.

The fourth conspiracy is that of “Trans World Airlines Flight 800.” The plane was accidentally sunk into the sea by a United State navy missile. The government then covered the facts behind this accident by refusing to release the right information to them media. These were just the mere speculations that went around in the public. The sixth most common conspiracy is the most surprising one. The United State is said to record all telephone calls made by people living in Transatlantic. The National Security Agency was the body behind this monitoring and recording (Keeley 8).

Their primary intention is still yet to be known. The fifth conspiracy speculates that a small group of Jewish bankers controls the world economy. Other groups that were speculated were the Trilateral Commission and Freemasons. The sixth and the most talked about conspiracy involve the Oklahoma City bombing. It is speculated that a police officer guarding the main entrance of the building had in the previous days killed a person. His friends swore to revenge by throwing a bomb at him. They did so and killed the officer together with an extra 168 people.

A clear analysis of the Oklahoma City bombing can reveal some characteristics of a conspiracy theory. After the bombing, news went around that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had been forewarned before it took place, which they denied. A wise person should understand that such speculations or news in the media may be false or true. However, a conspiracy can be identified by a number of characteristics (Keeley 10). First, it offers the clarification of the event in question. The aim of this clarification is to confuse people’s minds and distract them far away from the truth.

The second characteristic is that the people behind the bad event are revealed as weak and not capable of doing such an event. They are revealed to have played a helping role. They are seen as setting the main event that caused the disaster. Third, the group that does wrong or harmful event must be small in number. Other larger groups of people whom they are acting for, is largely hidden. Fourth, they cast doubts on an official story that had been earlier released. It, therefore, acts as a cover