What is up with all these conspiracy theories?

What is the point of conspiracy theories?

• I mean really! They swindle people out of their money, cause paranoia and waste peoples' time. And for what? At school last week a friend of mine told me that a solar flare was going to happen "some time" which would "wipe out the Earth's power grids and send us back to the Stone Age" (or something like that). Now he wasn't wrong about the solar flare (that did in fact happen a day or two before he told me about it), but obviously he was wrong about the power grid failures (because we're still here in the 21st Century with all our electricity intact). I just have to wonder why we would need to spread this kind of false information in the first place. Do conspiracy theories utlimately serve some kind of purpose, or are we just believing and spreading them to make ourselves feel more important? Any insight would be appreciated (especially from a conspiracy theorist themselves).

• Answer:

  First of all conspiracy theories are great for media. Even though I myself don't like "yellow" journalism, when I see a title like you described about the solar flare, or a huge meteorite hitting the Earth etc., I can't help but click on it and read it. Can't you? I think many people can't. So media love it, because it makes people read it. Also conspiracy theories are good - and now I mean political ones - because they make you think. There are two that are "out there" and really intriquing. First is that the US government knew about the Japan preparations to attack on Pearl Harbour in the WW2, but they let it happen in order to have a reason to attack Japan. The other is that the US gov. knew about 9/11 and let it happen for a similar reason. Now, is that true? Don't think so. But it makes you think, doesn't it? It does make me think, definitely... So I'd say that the biggest added value to conspiracy theories is to show us that there are usually more sides to every story...