> The term is endlessly used as a vague, dismissive pejorative of everything from investigative journalism the speaker/writer doesn't like to close down any sor

> The term is endlessly used as a vague, dismissive pejorative of everything from investigative journalism the speaker/writer doesn't like to close down any sort of open ended questioning conversation. It's even abbreviated to 'conspiracy' which makes little sense. I would say that it also seems to be a sort of heuristic method that has been carefully planted in the minds of (I would estimate) well over 50% of the Western population, that can be remotely executed when needed (say, in news articles). It also has characteristics of self-reinforcement (social media, forums) and self-protection (observances of it can be dismissed simply by invoking it).