An attempt at classifying conspiracy theorists

My attempt to broadly classify different breeds of conspiracy theorist. I recognise there are other candidate groups.



Here are my 4 broad types of conspiracy theorist.



1. Conspiracist



“Old School” - Obsessed with JFK or sometimes with 911. Almost always wrong but at least somewhat concerned with facts and reality.



Case Studies:

John Judge

Jim Di Eugenio

Daniel Hopsicker



2. Denialist



Deny every event actually happened, favourites are: the Holocaust, moon landing, 911, Sandy Hook, Boston bombing.



Case Studies:

Phil Jayhan

Simon Shack

Jim Fetzer



3. Fantasist



Believes anything they feel like without any decent epistemology. Have lots of theories and ideas, don’t care about truth. Typically: UFOs, Lizards, illuminati, other strange woo.



Case Studies:

George Noory

David Icke

Most users of conspiracy websites



4. Paranoids



Typically think everything is worse than it actually is. Often particularly obsessed with: Martial law, Fukushima, vaccines, drugs, economy, humanity



Case Studies:

Alex Jones



Any thoughts?

Agreement, disagreement...