Conspiracy是名詞，解a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful，密謀、陰謀活動。 Conspire是動詞，解make secret plans jointly to commit an unlawful or harmful act，密謀從事非法或具傷害性的行動。
A conspiracy to overthrow the government是陰謀推翻政府。一個地方局勢動蕩，才會出現政變的conspiracy。太平盛世，被懷疑密謀的一方多是政府或其他有權有勢的大機構。懷疑某事情背後有陰謀的想法或說法，就是conspiracy theory，即a belief that some covert(隱蔽的、暗地的、隱藏的) but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event，陰謀論。
常聽見的、歷久不衰、「解」之不散的流行陰謀論有不少，moon landing hoax是其中之一。 Hoax解騙局，moon landing hoax是認為美國太空人登陸月球是個騙局。
他們的主要理據是：
For one thing, they argue, the flag the crew planted seemed to flutter(飄動) in videos, which shouldn’t happen since there’s no wind on the moon. Besides, wouldn’t mini-meteors(迷你隕星) have killed the astronauts the moment they ventured outside?
紓解疑慮
《華盛頓郵報》文章”Why do people believe the moon landing hoax or other conspiracy theories?”指出，市民相信conspiracy theories並非無關痛癢︰
(T)he theories should be taken seriously for their effects on political and social discourse(辯論、談話) – and research suggests that, under the right circumstances, many people are susceptible(易受影響的) to their allure(誘惑力) .
為什麼看來荒謬的conspiracy theories會有人相信，是否有些組別的人特別容易相信conspiracy theories等，都成為不少研究的課題。 Vrije University社會心理學家Jan-Willem van Prooijen說：
While people’s attraction to conspiracy theories might seem illogical(不合邏輯的), it stems from a very logical(合邏輯的) desire to make sense of the world. Assigning meaning to what happens has helped humans to thrive as a species, and conspiracy theories are internally cohesive(有紋有路的) stories that help us to understand the unknown whenever things happen that are fearful or unexpected.
相信conspiracy theories可讓人紓解疑慮，使令人混淆的局面好像變得清晰，這心理的好處，比所信的是否事實真相重要。
有學者認為，教育程度較低，又或對現狀不滿的人，特別容易相信conspiracy theories。但事情是否那麼簡單？教育程度較高的人較懂得搜集和分析資料，但這樣一來，他們可能會看到更多的疑點，成為conspiracy theories的製造者。
資訊發達，對查探conspiracy theories是真是假會有幫助，但fake news和misinformation的數量亦增加，散布面無限擴大，散播速度加快，造就更多conspiracy theories。
掌權掌勢的人和機構欺騙大眾的勾當源源不絕。但Mick West在Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect中就提醒大家要懂得分辨：
Conspiracies are real, but with every one of these very real conspiracies and plausible(似合理的) potential conspiracy there’s a slew of(大量) false conspiracy theories.
