The post at the head of this thread is about practical ways to help us distinguish real from unreal conspiracy theories.
There is no doubt that people connive to hide the truth, but some guidelines are necessary to assist us in sifting wheat from chaff when we hear a story of conspiracy.
911 is not a conspiracy theory, but a whole package of theories - there is plenty there for everyone. But it would have to fit within the group of theories that require considerable collusion by a large number of people. Such conspiracies are by far the hardest to keep secret. I expect if there is truth in it, then it's secrecy is basically impossible to maintain.
To sustain some secret domination or manipulation on a large scale in the world, by a few evil Svengalis, vastly over endows those people with powers that are simply unrealistic. The world is way too complex and unpredictable for this.
This is about a small number of people maintaining large scale manipulation, which is not the 911 scenario. It's main conspiracy theory that most would recognise, is the one where the world is being controlled by a small select group of extremely rich Europeans (the Club of Rome type of thing, although that is actually not a conspiracy - it is a group of concerned researches who became alarmed at the way the world was heading, whose predictions were thoroughly researched and only proven false in one main aspect - the food shortage - by the miracle of the Green Revolution. Many today still point back and say their predictions were only false in timing. But for some reason I don't understand, they were vilified as an evil group trying to take over the world.)
Probably the closest 911 comes to being under this category, is if you believe Bin Laden did plan to change the world by blowing up the twin towers. Before it happened, I suppose that would be a conspiracy, and it certainly did change the world - if it were planned by anyone else, you would have to say it was a complete failure, but if planned by BL, then it has been for them their most striking success - pretty much single-handedly destroying the US empire, due to the (anticipated I would then presume) excesses of US response. If it were planned by the CIA or Israel, then it would have to be the greatest blunder in human history.
If it was planned by the 'good guys' then it certainly fits my attribute of "The world is way too complex and unpredictable for this." But actually it doesn't fit the category I was addressing, because it is a single event. I was addressing where an ongoing manipulation of the world on a large scale is done by a small group. They certainly try - of that we know only too well - but the complexity of the world is beyond the powers of a small group to secretly maintain control. Even Jesus and Buddha couldn't pull that off. Everything goes pair-shaped eventually.
In the category I am addressing, the usual situation is where a large group maintain control for a long time - typically a whole layer of society. But then it's not a conspiracy really. The best example is of the how the extreme wealthy organisations, backed by the top layer of wealth individuals, in the US, continue to get the common populace distracted by emotive issues, including conspiracy theories, abortion, gay marriage, gun ownership, and the whole host of dangling trinkets that parade the commercial television channels, while they assiduously attend to sucking the wealth off of the low and middle layers of society, up to the top.
But actually this is not a conspiracy - it is well known and documented. They laugh their gut off, because they don't have to keep it secret. The public is too stupid to mount an effective response, mainly because they don't have the minds to focus on complex un-emotive issues for any length of time. I think France is the only country where the public still take to the streets regularly, to tell the leaders they are pissed off with the way these organisations are planning to change their country.
But there are plenty of other categories in that original post, just as there are plenty of conspiracies going on in the world. And whistle blowers continue to suffer, like Julian Assange. Transparency is not appreciated by those who have something to lose.
Nonetheless, I have to ask myself, does it matter? When the greatest conspiracy is being perpetrated daily upon the minds of all humanity, and not by humans? I always have held through life: look for the biggest, most critical issue facing me. Deal with the rest as a pastime, but never ever allow them to distract me from constantly seeking the core nub. Start at the top, then work my way down.
And the top conspiracy is that we have no control of our predicament. Many conspiracy theories are actually a response to this subconscious awareness of powerlessness. We think we control our thoughts, but in reality, our thoughts control us. Once we have succeeded in that battle - the battle against the Guardian - then we can look at the rest with different eyes.
The Guardian causes us to fight against it by proxy, and in that way maintains it's absolute domination. The Goose in the Bottle conspiracy.