3 ms·

If you want to be super pedantic then my description is perfectly in line with the definition of a secret, which can by definition be anything that is unknown,

If you want to be super pedantic then my description is perfectly in line with the definition of a secret, which can by definition be anything that is unknown, and you would only speculate about things that are unknown. Your example seems silly because we could culturally have the expectation that that is happening, even if it’s unsaid. But if you were to change the cultural context to say, somewhere that would be illegal, then it wouldn’t seem silly to describe that as a conspiracy at all. However my point is that conspiracies are very common place, and a majority of the discussion/commentary about them would by definition be conspiracy theories. Stating this should really only be a casually observing a simple fact, but unfortunately it’s quite a controversial statement to make, because dismissing something as a conspiracy theory has become a mainstream technique for discrediting an idea/argument/person… without engaging with it on any level.

swores 4y ago
> "However my point is" Yeah I completely agree with you (and hoped my last paragraph would show that I wasn't disagreeing with the substance of your previous comment). But back on the pedantic side... bringing in the definition of 'secret' isn't relavent because we weren't using that word - 'conspiracy' doesn't mean "a secret exists", it means "two or more people are plotting to keep something secret", it needs intent. You don't know what my friend and I just ate for lunch, so you could argue that's a secret, but if you asked what I ate then I'd not have a problem telling you, because it's not a conspiracy. And nor is illegality needed, though I think most definitions or 'conspiracy' do include it being something that people could consider being negative in some way; I'm not sure planning a surprise birthday party could ever be classed as a 'conspiracy' (except tongue-in-cheek).

swores 4y ago

> "However my point is" Yeah I completely agree with you (and hoped my last paragraph would show that I wasn't disagreeing with the substance of your previous comment). But back on the pedantic side... bringing in the definition of 'secret' isn't relavent because we weren't using that word - 'conspiracy' doesn't mean "a secret exists", it means "two or more people are plotting to keep something secret", it needs intent. You don't know what my friend and I just ate for lunch, so you could argue that's a secret, but if you asked what I ate then I'd not have a problem telling you, because it's not a conspiracy. And nor is illegality needed, though I think most definitions or 'conspiracy' do include it being something that people could consider being negative in some way; I'm not sure planning a surprise birthday party could ever be classed as a 'conspiracy' (except tongue-in-cheek).