Why do we (and I include DU,) embrace eagerly conspiracy theories?

[DirkGently]

24. Irrational conspiracy theories, you mean.

Problem with the way the term is used as a catch-all for "bullshit," is that it is also happily wielded by anyone who disagrees with any idea at all, valid or not, just as often driven by a cover-your-butt motivation or a conscious motive to cover up the truth. "Woo" is a similarly abused term on this particular website.

Conspiracy itself, or just plain old wrong doing by Powers that Be, and subsequent lying about it and trying to discredit or ridicule anyone pointing at the possibility of an as-yet-unproven truth, is a real thing best not ignored.

Nothing anyone has fever-dreamed up is any wilder than the real machinations of the Nixon administration, or the CIA, or the Bush / Cheney / Rumsfeld conspiracy to lead the U.S. to war in Iraq. False information, criminal acts, discrediting attacks on critics, ridicule, appeals to authority, etc.

All of those things actually happen, all the time.

It's up to us to think critically and not lump ideas or facts into simplistic buckets consisting only of the empirically obvious popular wisdom vs. the ridiculous or unlikely and therefore impossible.