Original sentence: Allegations exhibiting several of the following features are candidates for classification as conspiracy theories.Confidence in such classification improves the more such features are exhibited:.Conspiracy theory is a term with multiple meanings.It may pejoratively dismiss or ridicule a theory.Literally it means any theory or hypothesis that alleges a conspiracy or group secretly working together.The term is also used in popular culture and entertainment to indicate a type of fiction that can take the form of first person accounts and narratives which may include a wide variety of allegedly false, eccentric or paranoid arguments each describing the existence of vast conspiracy
Edited sentence: A conspiracy theory is an account of social or natural phenomena, according to which a secret organization or powerful individual is responsible for a phenomenon and has deliberately deceived public opinion in connection with it, typically with the motive of partisan gain at the expense of the wider society.Allegations featuring some of the following could be considered conspiracy theories, and are more likely to be so if they include several:.In almost all cases, believers in a particular account vigorously reject the classification of their belief as a conspiracy theory, implying as it does that their beliefs are false.In common usage, the term loosely refers to misconceived, paranoid or disproven rumours, similar in many respects to urban legend.Such classification may be seen as an attempt to use ridicule to evade a serious allegation, leading to controversy over legitimate uses of the term.The term is also used by academics to identify a type of folklore with certain regular features