I'll step up to that one.

A "Conspiracy Nut" is someone who is convinced that almost everything that happens in the world is under the control of some large, centralized organization or entity with almost infinite power to affect what happens in the world.

They fall on ALL points of the political spectrum, although they tend to congregate at the extreme Left and Right. Those on this board who tend to think this way are actually rather mild examples from what I've seen.

What this centralized entity actually is varies widely, and depends on the Nut. Freemasons, Illuminati, The Jews, Bilderbergers, Elders of Zion, the Mossad, NASA, The World Communist Conspiracy, the Government (ANY government), the CIA, lizard people from space, the Vatican, the BATF, or just plain THEM...you name it. A lot of Nuts overlap these groups considerably. It may be possible to be a Space Lizard AND a member of the CIA.

The one thing these entities all have in common is that they supposedly RUN EVERYTHING. These "Powers That Be" somehow manage to do all this without coming to the attention of anybody who does not wear tinfoil on their head, which to the Nut just proves the total control the Powers have over the mainstream.

I have psychological theories on this, including the very common human need for a "god" of some kind to stand between a frightened mind and perceived hostile chaos. Those who feel that an actual God/Allah/etc. controls every aspect of their lives are more tolerated in society than conspiracy nuts, but I personally believe their pyschology is quite similar. That many Nuts are also obsessed with astrology, New Age theory, charms, and other "magical" methods of affecting or analyzing one's environment when reality-based methods seem inadequate is instructive.

It is very interesting that most conspiracy nuts seem to feel the Powers That Be are usually malevolent, or at least indifferent. Has anyone heard of a conspiracy theory where the Powers are acting in the best interests of humanity? I wonder why that is.

The Conspiracy Nut draws on endless reams of "proof," usually written by other conspiracy nuts. In a remarkable blend of credulity and skepticism, they will immediately accept without question information from some selected sources--information that confirms their worldview--while rejecting all information from other sources that tend to contradict their worldview. This, although they may have no real objective reason to believe or disbelieve either source. For example, it is not unusual for a conspiracy nut to believe everything they see on a site like Rense.com, but will assume that everything the U.S. government says is a lie. Again, despite the fact that there is often no third-party confirmation or objective proof from either source. This mix of unquestioning acceptance and immovable disbelief is a hallmark of the conspiracy nut. A real paranoid would assume EVERYONE was lying to him.

I'm sure better analysts than I have done a better job of describing this phenomenon, but that's my shot at it.