To begin with, they appear to come in at least three main types, with a few specific subdivisions.
1. Conspiracy Theory Creators.
There obviously must be conspiracy theory creators, because conspiracy theories don't just appear out of nowhere, so who creates them?Possibility 1: Hostile foreign countries.
Here's a question for you. Think about it for a few minutes before you answer... Have you ever heard or seen any conspiracy theories about Russia, or China, or North Korea, or Cuba?No, neither have I, and I've seen a hell of a lot of conspiracy theories over the last few years. Hmmm... That suggests that all conspiracy theories involve the western nations...
Now, who on earth could possibly stand to gain from spreading conspiracy theories about alleged wrongdoings on a massive scale being perpetrated by the evil democratic capitalist countries of the western world...?
That's a really difficult question, isn't it? Surely those foul rumours couldn't possibly originate from one of the benevolent Communist regimes that keep their people under strict government control purely for their own security and safety, could they...?
No, that can't be where they come from, can it...? That would be a crazy idea...
Possibility 2: Supporters of hostile foreign countries.
How about those on the extreme left of the political spectrum in the western countries, who take their lead from, and give their allegiance to, Russia? There's a lot of them about, infiltrating trade unions, student unions, and of course, the Labour Party in the UK...Have you ever heard of any conspiracy theories about poor, working class people, or those on the left wing of politics?
No, I haven't either. It's always the western countries, and it's always the rich, the powerful, and of course, The Government, isn't it...?
Can you see any pattern emerging here? I wish I could...
Hmmmmm..... Sounds a bit like I've just created a new conspiracy theory about hostile foreign countries creating conspiracy theories to discredit western governments, but of course I haven't, because it doesn't fit the criteria. It can't be a conspiracy theory because it doesn't target capitalist western countries, or the capitalist western rich and powerful.
It's quite easy to tell, isn't it...?
Possibility 3: Extreme right wing groups.
It's a tempting possibility, because some of them are not exactly pleasant people, but those groups tend to be fanatically defensive about their countries (those rich, powerful, capitalist countries), and they are also themselves the subjects of many conspiracy theories, so they're hardly likely to start conspiracy theories against themselves or their country, are they...?Possibility 4: Authors of books about conspiracies, mysteries, the paranormal and UFOs.
Hmmmm... Why would authors like that want to create and spread conspiracy theories concerning the subjects they write about - apart from drawing attention to their books, increasing sales of those books, and so on, of course?Anyway, doesn't the fact that they are rich from the sales of millions of books mean that they are also the victims of conspiracy theories? Of course it does, doesn't it...?
Well, no, actually... When you think about it, of all the authors of magazines, newspapers, medical journals, scientific journals, history books and so on, which is the only group of authors that doesn't get singled out as being puppets of THEM, the governments, the rich, the powerful, the Illuminati, etc?
Oh, yes... Authors of books about conspiracies, mysteries, the paranormal and UFOs. I hadn't realised that...
Their word is the gospel truth to conspiracy theorists... How odd...
Possibility 5: Amateur, lone wolf, conspiracy theory creators.
We shouldn't forget the go-it-alone conspiracy theory creators, of course. Sitting at home with nothing else to do, Billy No Mates is in the ideal position to create conspiracy theories. In fact he (or possibly she, of course) is perhaps the perfect person to create conspiracy theories. With ample free time on their hands, and nobody to bounce ideas off (or to tell them how crazy they are becoming), there's no limit to the amount of conspiratorial fantasties they're capable of producing, though sadly their literary skills often leave a lot to be desired...2. Conspiracy Theory Sharers.
Conspiracy theory creators wouldn't get very far without conspiracy theory sharers, of course. Once the theories are created, the sharers take over. Usually they tend to copy memes and faked or carefully edited videos that someone else has posted, and simply post and share them with other people.A fair bit of skill and hard work is needed to become a conspiracy theory sharer, because you have to "Do Your Own Research", which apparently means to search for any meme or video that supports your own beliefs, and share it.
It is, of course, vitally important to totally ignore any evidence you find, however convincing, that contradicts your beliefs, because nobody wants the truth to get in the way of a good Conspiracy Theory, do they...? The more experienced conspiracy theory sharers obviously learnt that years ago, long before confirmation bias was even heard of...
Conspiracy theory sharers appear to be, on the whole, well meaning people, who no doubt genuinely believe the theories they share, and they probably feel they are helping other people to learn about all the bad things THEY (the rich, the powerful, and the western governments) are doing behind the scenes.
Strangely, they see nothing odd about the fact that despite all the billions supposedly spent by THEM to hush up and hide all THEIR evil deeds, a lone keyboard warrior, researching on Facebook and Youtube, can easily break through the cloak of mystery and uncover the whole truth, if they look really hard for a few minutes...
3. Conspiracy Theory Believers.
Conspiracy theory believers are a vital link in the chain, because a conspiracy theory obviously wouldn't get very far if people didn't believe it, would it?To be continued...?