Conspire: c.1300, from O.Fr. conspirer, from L. conspirare "to agree, unite, plot," lit. "to breathe together," from com- "together" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Conspiracy is from 1386; conspiracy theory is from 1909.
November 22, 2003
Why is it that we do not feel frightened when another person's thoughts make sense to us? For a society of sceptics, we are surprisingly ready to agree and accept the opinions and observations of others. We are increasingly apt to scoff at the supernatural and ethereal, and yet we accept the collective conscious of rationality so readily. Have we suspended disbelief to sustain a system of disbelief?