Why conspiracy theories are important

People often ask my why I got involved in researching conspiracy theories, and for quite a long time I struggled to answer in any sensible way beyond the rather obvious fact that I found them interesting. Why that was, I wasn't so sure. I rationalised it to myself that they tended to touch on subject areas that I was already interested in, history, politics, ethics, biology and physics, and it was more fun to spend a Saturday night reading through research papers and news articles than it was watching whatever light entertainment the television could offer. As time went by, and the research took up an increasing amount of time I began to think more seriously about what I was doing and why and I came to some conclusions that I think may be quite interesting. I treated the project as I would any other research project, trawling the journals and forums for existing research and hypothesis, and looking for evidence of the possible options presented. I have secretly held an opinion that many conspiracy theories are in large part highly questionable for two reasons, firstly that one of the things mankind is very good at, at a genetic level, is pattern recognition. If we watch a flock of starlings preparing to roost, wheeling across the sky in a great ball we almost automatically see patterns in the shape of the flock. As it might be, “look at those birds making the shape of a number 2” rather than “isn't it interesting that when I see a flock of birds that I know can not have any understanding of numerical symbols, I still see them as creating a number 2”. In a similar vein we create patterns in clouds and see faces in the fire. Does this same effect have an influence on how we view the actions of others, seeing patterns where non exist?

The second reason is that based on the evidence of thought experiments, particularly in the subjects of Physics and Statistics we consistently see that people are very often wrong when they rely on their intuition. We tend to find it very difficult to analyse accurately, and are prone to being fooled by our senses. Our perception tends to be a very long way from our reality. These two reasons combined for me to make it difficult to accept other peoples theories at face value. So, if I consider the theories themselves to be suspect, why do I engage with them? It made no logical sense until I added in a couple of other factors. The first of these is that however you look at it there is absolutely no doubt that on occasion our political leader lie to us. This may be for the best of reasons, national security or to protect domestic interest or whatever, but the fact that politicians and leaders lie is just that, a fact. This leaves open the possibility that if they can lie about one thing, they can lie about others, so it is at least possible that some conspiracy theories have at least a germ of truth and are therefore worth investigating. I know several conspiracy researchers in the field of aviation black projects who have no intention of ever publishing their work because they feel that to do so would jeopardise national security. They research simply for their own curiosity. A similar charge was laid at the door of the Wikileaks website, many people suggesting that the release of some sensitive documents put the lives of security and intelligence personnel at risk. Certainly, for my own part, if I feel that there is a possibility that information I come into contact with has current and ongoing security implications I make an informed decision whether to publish or not. That is just common sense. Another factor to add in is that conspiracy theories cover a vast array of subject areas, and as such investigating them leads a person to explore areas that they might not otherwise have done, and if for no other reason than the principle that research and education and in general, good things, that gives at least a possibility that studying this area has some logical merit.

Whatever your opinion of conspiracy theories, whatever you opinions of our political leaders and industrialist and the military, engaging with an area that will increase your exposure to debate, research techniques, argument, logic, psychology and international politics and economics has to be a better and more productive use of time than sitting on the sofa watching the latest reality TV offering, doesn't it?