The Conspiracy of Everything!

[Rhyfelwyr]

Because ideas are often labelled as "conspiracy theories" to discredit them, I think there is a bit of confusion as to why exactly falls under that banner.

Take for example Lemur's chart, which seems to label global warming as a conspiracy theory. EDIT: Global warming denial that is, silly me.

By conspiracy theory, do we man a wacky and highly improbable fringe theory? Or do we take the term more at face value - a conspiracy to a particular end between two or more parties?

The former covers mostly silly notions, but the latter is a fact of life, one of the most basic interactions between individuals or institutions.