CONSPIRACY, a discreet agreement among one or more individuals, which may be either partially or completely hidden to those outside the agreement. Even those conspiracies which are completely in the shadows may give off small, tantalizing wafts of information (or more playfully, disinformation) to attract the interest of those who are to be the ultimate recipients of the fully-cooked scheme.
Conspiracies often evoke negative connotations, which are unwarranted in most cases, since revealing the facts of a conspiracy too early in its ripening process will often result in the critic feeling unhappy that the surprise was prematurely spoiled. A conspiracy, with its associated theories, should be seen as a beneficial lead-in, rather like an appetizer that helps to prime the digestive process.
