Conspiracy thinking parallels speculation by providing narrative insurance and wagers on destabilizing events.
Evidence
My contention, however, is that even the most “maximalist” and “pathological” practices of speculation embody a political dynamic that should not be dismissed altogether. If, as we have seen, speculation is predicated on the sociality of trading interdependencies and reciprocal obligations, conspiracy has a similar capacity to satisfy societies’ yearnings for connection. And as with all types of speculation, it encompasses both an insurance (in the form of orienting myths that offer a sense of narrative to otherwise baffling and destabilizing events) and a wager (that seeks to yield returns from such destabilizing events). — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 510
Categorization
- XREF: Extends the speculation/insurance-and-wager framing applied throughout this book’s finance chapters; also resonates with work on conspiracy as epistemic coping. — connects to: Conspiracy, like speculation, offers both orienting narrative and betting opportunity under uncertainty. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 331; Conspiracy functions as speculative insurance and wager, not mere irrationality — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 331; Insurance and speculation share a structure of betting on contingent futures. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 416
- SEED: Angle: finance theory’s own vocabulary (insurance + wager) applied to conspiracy belief as ‘predicting markets’ of the powerless.
Broader Connections
- Conspiracy, like speculation, offers both orienting narrative and betting opportunity under uncertainty.
#expands(1.00) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 331 - Conspiracy functions as speculative insurance and wager, not mere irrationality
#expands(0.95) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 331 - Insurance and speculation share a structure of betting on contingent futures.
#corroborates(0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 416