What is a conspiracy theory? Let's break it down.

A conspiracy is defined as "a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal". That's pretty simple, and it's a definition that pretty much everyone can agree on. The word "theory" is not so well defined, which quickly becomes problematic. Traditionally, a theory is essentially a testable, well documented, logically sound, substantiated explanation based on evidence. There are no leaps of faith or jumping to conclusions with scientific theories. By this definition, a "conspiracy theory" should be factually correct, devoid of baseless assertions, or jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence. However, that is rarely the case.

Here lies the problem. Using the traditional meaning of theory, most "conspiracy theories" aren't theories. The time to believe something is true is after you have seen sufficient evidence supporting a claim, not before. It's very tempting to jump to conclusions, and much more difficult to take the intellectually honest, nuanced approach to withhold belief until it is justified via reasonable, logically sound arguments supported by evidence. The burden of proof is on the person making the positive claim. Although we should not dismiss the possibility of conspiracies being a reality, we should also refrain from accepting claims as truth until they have met the burden of proof. This is why in the USA, in a court of law, a defendant can either be found guilty or not guilty (as opposed to guilty or innocent). Failure to demonstrate innocence does not imply guilt, nor does failure to demonstrate guilt imply innocence. In this example, guilt is the positive claim that must be demonstrated to be true. If the burden of proof is not met, then you should withhold belief that they are guilty. That is not the same as believing they are innocent.

Disbelief in a conspiracy theory is akin to finding someone not guilty. We should not accept conspiracy theories as true, nor should we dismiss them as false, until we have evaluated the evidence, being mindful of the quality of said evidence, and evaluating it honestly. It's important to refrain from jumping to conclusions. We should not accept claims as true without evidence, or in spite of evidence that contradicts it. The more you follow the basic rules of logic, the more likely your beliefs are to align with reality.