Real conspiracies exist and cannot always be cleanly separated from false ones.

Evidence

To build a boat sturdy enough to embark on this unsettling voyage, let’s pause to attempt to define a conspiracy theory. Splicing together a few different definitions offered by academics and historians, it’s a belief that a small group of people are working in secret against the common good, to create harm, to effect some negative change in society, to seize power for themselves, or to hide some deadly or consequential secret. An actual conspiracy is when a small group of people are working in secret against the common good, and anyone who tells you we can always easily distinguish fictitious plots from real ones probably hasn’t read much history. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 50

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines conspiracy theory and notes the blurred boundary with real conspiracies.
• XREF: connects to: Real past government conspiracies make continued belief in secret plots rational — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 80

Broader Connections

• Real past government conspiracies make continued belief in secret plots rational #corroborates (0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 80