Since gaming season is back upon us and I’ve started up my Delta Green RPG campaign again, I’ve been doing a bit of research on conspiracy theories, and it struck me that this is one element of human interest that truly baffles. For some reason, we’re obsessed with conspiracy theories, and I wonder if it is something that has become the norm since the beginning of the Cold War or whether it is something that goes much further back in history.
Why do we feel the need to theorize about thigns we don’t understand? Why is it that sometimes we refuse to accept the standard line as to what happened in a particular event (JFK, anyone?)?
I think it might have to do with an underlying need to believe there is something more to the universe than what we’re capable of perceiving (which would also explain religion, but that’s a can o’ worms I’m not willing to open in public). It also seems that we not want to know, but in some cases need to know, what exactly is going on in the world around us. Again I wonder: Is that a modern thought process or has it been around for longer?
