# When does a theory become a “conspiracy theory”?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-a-theory-become-a-conspiracy-theory/798028
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 5, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-a-theory-become-a-conspiracy-theory/798028 "2017-10-05T15:19:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2017, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-a-theory-become-a-conspiracy-theory/798028/41 "2017-10-11T05:57:08Z")
I would say, while “the government did it” is technically a conspiracy theory, it only becomes a CT in the pejorative sense if we have no independent reason for supposing that that’s the case; it has zero explanatory or predictive power versus the generally-accepted description of events.
With the Las vegas shooter, the only one of these theories with anything behind it is the ISIS one, because apparently that group claimed responsibility for the shooting (right?).
However that theory now looks unlikely as we have found no additional corroboration; no note on motivations, no quran or other ties to islam.
And this ties in with the other thing with bad CTs: any new information is always interpreted in a way that supports the CT, they can never be refuted, or even diminished.
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-a-theory-become-a-conspiracy-theory/798028/42 "2017-10-11T06:10:12Z")
> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> [Rationlwiki’s take.](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory)
>
> Editorial: I like these guys. They remind me of the more astute of the Doper population, right down to the snarky style. Are any of y’all contributors there?
>
> …
I actually found this place from rationalwiki! Though I only contributed a few snarks here and there and not much actual info.
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