What are conspiracy theories?

- Explanations – power relations
A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused through secret planning and deliberate action, an illegal event or situation.
People formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the perceived existence of evil forces.

- Oxford English Dictionary: The American Historical Review - 1909
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of the phrase "conspiracy theory" occurred in a 1909 article in The American Historical Review

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
- A sense of control
There are number of factors, but probably one of the most important ones in this instance is that, paradoxically, it gives people a sense of control. People hate randomness, they dread the sort of random occurrences that can destroy their lives, so as a mechanism against that dread, it turns out that it’s much easier to believe in a conspiracy. Then you have someone to blame, it’s not just randomness.
- Psychological forces (VS evidence-based thinking)
Psychological forces like motivated reasoning have long been associated with conspiracy thinking, but scientists are learning more every year. On the other side there is the evidence-based thinking which most of the people who do not believe in these theories have. o Motivated reasoning Motivated reasoning is an emotion-biased decision-making phenomenon

- Expand the conspiracy
Another common trait is the need to constantly expand the conspiracy as new evidence comes to light. An example of this is the climate change conspiracy theory which states that the climate changes are not true and are made up. This is, as we all know, a topic that has been researched a lot, but the conspiracy theorists means the scientists involved are corrupt. After the Climategate scandal in 2009, they even began accusing the major scientific organizations, and this is how the conspiracy theorists expand their theory. And when they expand the theory, it becomes more trustworthy since it seems like there are more evidence behind the theories , even if it is not.

- Previously proven theories
Some people also uses previously proven theories as reasons to believe in other theories. An example of a proven theory is the theory that government mass surveillance was tracking a large percentage of the world's telephony and Internet traffic.

- Small forces -> huge consequences
It is also that many people have trouble believing that small forces can have such huge consequences. That is why people have such a hard time believing that a lone gunman assassinated the President of the United States. They think there must be something behind this.
- British study – one theory -> several

What is the New World Order?
• Totalitarian world government
As a conspiracy theory, the term New World Order or NWO refers to the emergence of a totalitarian world government.
• Secretive power elite – globalist agenda
The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government
• Replace nations which will replace sovereign nation-states—and an all-encompassing propaganda whose ideology hails the establishment of the New World Order as the culmination of history's progress. Significant occurrences in politics and finance are speculated to be orchestrated by an unduly influential cabal that operates through many front organizations.

Why do people believe in the New World Order?
• Statics:
• “28% of voters believe secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order.” – Public Policy Polling (PPP), 02.April.2013
As we can see almost a third of the voters believe in the New World Order. Other studies compliments this and also shows that most of the believers actually are conspiracy theorists from the left-wing, but it has seeped into popular culture too.

• Self-sealing nature of reasoning
Basically what’s happening in any conspiracy theory is that people have a need or a motivation to believe in this theory, and it’s psychologically different from evidence-based thinking. A conspiracy theory is immune to evidence, and that can pretty well serve as the definition of one. If you reject evidence, or reinterpret the evidence to be confirmation of your theory, or you ignore mountains of evidence to focus on just one thing, you are probably a conspiracy theorist. We call that a self-sealing nature of reasoning. Psychological traits Dollar Bill
The eye of providence
1776 – illuminati
Roman numerals

“Novus ordo seclorum“ = New order of the ages is a misinterpretation which leads us to

Misinterpretations
The main reason why so many people believe in the NWO world government conspiracy theory is because of misinterpreting the actual meaning of the words "New World Order" and the way the political world is changing.
• Every politician since George H.W Bush mentioning a New World Order
When politicians mention bringing in a new world order (which many of them DID say) they are not talking about a world government, but a change on how the international system works. For example, when the Soviet Union collapsed that was the beginning of a New world Order. When China becomes a world power that will be another change of the world order. Not as in a world government, but how the distribution of power in the anarchical international system changes.
• U.N, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund - Changes in the international system
Another point of misconception. Conspiracy theorists who believe on the NWO idea see the U.N., the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc. as evidence of an emerging world government. What they fail to see is that these organizations are a change in the international system; these organizations, called international governmental organizations (IGO) signal an era of global cooperation between sovereign countries, NOT the beginning of a world government. Some would point to the U.N. as a pseudo-world government, but it is too ineffective to have global rule; in fact countries who abide by U.N. laws do so willingly, they don't have to if they don't want to (like when the U.S. went against the U.N. and invaded Iraq in 2003).