Friday, March 13, 2009
Hysteria in Salem--Could it Happen to You?
The above video comes from the Discover network as Part V of their series that attempted to unravel the hysteria that gripped Salem village in 1692.
After you watch the video (the action really starts at around 1:55), be sure to post answers in detail to the following questions:
--Why is it easy to get swept away by the feelings of a crowd?
--There were at least two people who didn't feel any "psychic activity" at the site, but they all agreed something weird or strange was happening in the house? Why?
--What are the character traits that enable people to stay apart from the crowd?
--Do you consider yourself a person who believes in ghosts, witches or voodoo, aliens, or anything else that could be considered eccentric or strange? If so, why do you have these beliefs? If not, why do you not have these beliefs?
--How much of a role do you think this "crowd hysteria" played in the Salem witch hunts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It's really easy to get swept away by a crowd because it’s almost as if you’re dealing with peer pressure. When everyone is saying something you just want to fit in with the crowd and give your own little experience so people can be awed. They all agreed because they didn’t want to be the one to say that everything was fine. They didn't want to be the one who looked like a crazy person. After all these professional people are telling them that there is something weird. I think being set in your own mind is a character trait that makes for being set apart of the crowd. Someone who is stubborn wouldn't easily fit in because they wouldn't be swayed by peer pressure. I do not believe in the super natural. The only reason I do not believe is because I’ve never seen any real evidence in my lifetime. Until I do I have no reason to believe in it. I think this was a good way to illustrate what was happening in Salem because people in Salem didn't want to be the outcasts and they surly didn't want to die.
ReplyDeleteI was amazed at how easy it was to convince a group of random people that they were in the prescence of a spirit. It is easy to convince people of something if everyone around them believes in something regardless of how true it may be. I think that this idea could have played an important role in the Salem which trials. The people of Salem might have believed these accusations of whichcraft just because the people with authority in the town believed those accusations. Without proof the people of this town were forced to believe these accusations or be accused themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt was easy to get swept away with the crowd because when someone says that they feel something, then the idea gets into other people's heads that they should sense something too. The two people that didn't feel anything, but still agreed that there was something weird going on because they saw how the other people reacted to what they thought that they felt. Personally, I don't believe in ghosts, witches, and voodoo. I think that the crowd hysteria played a major role in the Salem witch trials. The town fell into mass hysteria, and as it kept spreading, more people died. When the hysteria died down and people started to grow weary of the trials is when the trials ended up stopping.
ReplyDeleteI think that all the people in the room were just saying things to make the other group members fall and give into what they think is going on, in this case a spiritual prescence. The two people who didn't feel anything were freaked out in the end because they were scared of what all the other people were feeling and were "caught up in the moment". I believe that there is some sort of spiritual presence. In fact, the bible says that there is such things as demons so saying that i don't belive in things of that sort would make me a hipocrite on sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteI once read in a book about something called "mob psychology," in which people exclaiming their thought to a large crowd causes the crowd as a whole to agree with those thoughts. That's a similar idea to the situation which occurred in this video. It's easy to get swept away by the feelings of a crowd because if plenty of people feel and think the same things, one would assume it's true. The two people who agreed that something weird was happening in the house although they didn't feel any "psychic activity" at the site obviously did so because they didn't want to be left out of the situation. And I'm sure that seeing the other people so distraught after their encounters at the site made them believe something was happening.
ReplyDeleteI guess I consider myself someone who believes in some eccentric things, but witches aren't one of them. Spirits/ghosts and other life forms in space both seem pretty plausible to me.
This "crowd hysteria" definitely played a huge role in the Salem witch hunts; if no one had believed the girls at first the ordeal wouldn't have gone as far as it did.
I thought that this video was very interesting. I think that it was easy to get swept by this crowd because when many other people start to feel abnormal things or presences, it's easy to question whether you should or do too. Although the other two people didn't feel any psychic activity, they agreed that something strange was going on in the house based on what the other people in the group were experiencing. Character traits that enable other people to separate themselves from the group would be independence and honesty of what they truly feel and not how others made them feel. I personally believe in abnormal activity and ghotsts etc. because I myself have experienced weird thing or presences on some occasions where no one was around me or could have influenced me to believe things. I also believe that this "crowd hysteria" played a major role in the Salem Witch trials because I'm sure it was very easy to convince eachother that these women were really performing acts of witchcraft when they really weren't.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really easy to get swept away because if everyone feels some sensation, you began to feel it too. They all agreed something weird was happening because they were influenced by each other and the so-called psychic. If everyone feels something happening, you begin to feel like something should be happening to you too. Someone that is not easily persuaded by others would set you apart from a crowd. Also, being very close-minded. To an extend, I do believe in life on other planets, aliens is not exactly the word for it. The universe is infinite and the fact that Earth has the only living organisms in it would be kind of impossible. I believe the crowd hysteria played a big role in Salem because people were constantly persuaded by other people, making them believe someone was a witch. People are generally influenced by others.
ReplyDeleteUnder pressure people act differently than if they were by themselves. You can see it clearly that the last subject felt bad for not feeling anything even though he was right. It is hard to decipher the truth from people that are influenced by one another. A person that would not be easily convinced would be a person who is stubborn or close-minded, they would not care what the other people say they would believe what they believe. I do not beieve in things such as ghosts, magic or witches. But i think it could be possible that there is life on other planets. The crowd histeria played a major role in the Salem trials because the "afflicted" girls spurred the town to condemn witches. The people of the town were sudenly turned to the idea of witches being in their town and the hysteria that killed 20 people started.
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy for people in a crowd to be influenced by the emotions or feelings of other people in the crowd. If you notice your friends or peers are acting a certain way around you, you will begin to feel a similar emotion. I think the two people who felt no psychic activity were feeding off of the emotions their peers were feeling. Since they personally felt nothing, they agreed something strange was happening because they noticed something strange happening to the crowd. People who normally stay away from a crowd are usually introverted, or maybe stubborn. I am more of the kind of person who believes in aliens and ghosts/spirits, i don't believe in witches or voodoo necessarily. But i definitely believe that there are supernatural beings among us. And even if they aren't real, it's still fun to think about. I think "crowd hysteria" played a big role in the Salem Witch Trials. I think that if the girls hadn't acted out as if they were possessed by a witch, no one else would have.
ReplyDelete- Elizabeth Garifo
I think it is easy to get swept away by a crowd because once someone says something happened, it gets stuck in your head. Peer pressure also affects you, i wouldn't want to be one of the only people who didn't feel the ghost, i would feel left out. The people in the house who didn't feel anything eventually believed because everyone else was saying that they really truly felt something that they believed them. The more people "felt" stuff the more they all believed it was haunted. Just from the power of suggestion the psychic had on them they easily feel for his trick. I believe in ghosts and spirits and stuff, but i don't believe in voodoo or alien or witches. I believe in ghosts, because if people think that god has angels on the earth why can't the devil have ghosts and spirits on the earth. I definately think "crowd hysteria" played a huge role in the salem witch trials. These girls were very good at playing their part and were very good at acting like they had be bewitched. Just like the people in the movie, it was easy for those who didn't feel anything to fall for it just because the others said that they had.
ReplyDelete--Why is it easy to get swept away by the feelings of a crowd?
ReplyDeleteYou could get swept away by the emotions of the crowd because you feel as if your under "peer pressure." No one wants to be the only one in a group to have a different opinion. They all agreed because they all wanted to be apart of the experiment. After all it would have been a waste of time if they hadn't felt anything. A person who loves being with the "in" crowd would most likely agree to feeling the spirits. Also a gullible, believing person would agree to feeling spirits. I believe in spirits of the ones who have died. The fact that they can come back if they have a message they need to get across. I don't believe in aliens, voodoo, etc. Once I see it, maybe. Crowd hysteria was the core of the accusations in the Salem Witch Trials.
Chelsea
It is easy to get swept by the crowd because i think people get pressured to say something that they really dont believe in. I think that those two people said that they felt something when they really didnt because i believe those two people felt pressured by the others in the room. If a group of people say that they felt something in the room then most likely there's not going to be someone who chooses to be an oddball and say that they didnt feel anything. I'm really not a believer in supernatural things, or aliens or anything like that. I think its pretty much in your head kind of deal.
ReplyDelete-andrew R
I believe that this video showed exactly what happened. I also believed that people that have strong beliefs and are comfortable with who they are would not be susceptible to such trickery. "Crowd hysteria" is a powerful tool and is still used today.
ReplyDeleteIt is fairly easy to be swept away by the feelings of a crowd because you hear the opinions of the others and they add to your own thoughts and persuade you about the topic at hand. Its kinda like peer pressure in a way. You have a bunch of people telling stories and you just want to be noticed so you listen and tell your own. Even though they might now of felt something they had a lot of input on the topic so it altered their perspective on the situation. I believe in it a little. I do believe there are things like witchcraft but as for supernatural spirits or anything of that sort i don't believe they exists. I think witchcraft exists because my aunt is wicken and she practices it. I've kinda grown up with it in a way. i have tried some things myself like tarot cards and such but thats all. As for ghosts i just think its your mind psyching itself out. The crowd hysteria i think played a big part of the problem and ongoing of the salem witch trials. They had people running around accusing people and you believe because its basicly forced upon you.
ReplyDeleteThe power of perusasion can be very useful in life. You can use it to change the views of people and even their overall opinion on something. That is exactly what the hypnotist in the video did. It was nothing he directly did that caused the people to believe that there was a spirit. In a sense, he just planted the seed and the subjects watered it themselves. All he did was place a little statement in their minds that there was supposedly a spirit in the house and then they themselves built up the sensation and feeling as big as they wanted. They were basically making themselves scared when in all actuality there was nothing to be scared of. I myself do ,to some extent, believe in supernatural things. Not as much as to say that there are witches and stuff but neither do I rule out the posibility that anything can happen in life.
ReplyDeleteIt is really easy to be munipulated into believing something that you normally would not believe in. Peer pressure has alot to do with it. You don not want to feel left out so you say and do things just to fit in with that crowd. I think they all went along with it because the first person said he felt something and the other people felt like they had to feel something; I think it was all in their head. The first man who did feel something was told by an expert that there was somthing weird going on so he already had that on his mind. I personally do not believe in supernatural experiences because I have never seen any evidence in my own experience. I have seen stuff on T.V. but that's just T.V. and anything can be done. The people of Salem are just like the people in this experiment. They did not want to be the person to say they do not believe in what the whole town believed in. I think that you had to believe it or you will be accused of witchcraft and die anyway. I feel it was a matter of survival, going along with something in order to stay alive.
ReplyDelete~Lindsey~
The video was a good example of what happened. It shows how easy it is to get an isolated group of people to believe something that isn't there. The people of Salem listened to what the higher-ups believed, and they took it to heart.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to hauntings, people normally tend to believe everything they are told about the haunted place. When these people entered this house they had the mindset that there was a super natural being that existed there. The way the place looked played a huge role in the hysteria. In situations like this, after one person has an "experience" the people around them feel it to.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Wat
^Mike
ReplyDeleteI think it was so easy to be swept away because the hypnotist was so persuasive. The setting they told the the group also helped set the mood of the group which led them to believe that the place was really haunted. Christian and Mike are jews. As for the two people that felt like they felt the "psychic activity" probably felt odd for not saying that they felt something so they lied to fit along with the group. I believe that that there could be spirits but to an extent. I just think people that do exorcism take it a little to far as well as the people that say they are "possessed".
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy to be swept away by a crowd because it is the same thing behind peer pressure. you believe what other people say or do just to fit in with that group or click. the reason the other two didn't feel any sensation and still believe they just didn't want to seem like the odd people of the group. back to the reason they didn't feel any sensation was due to maybe the other people had a more Gullible minds than the two who didn't feel the sensation. personaly I do not believe in ghost or the supernatural. there wasn't any edvidence so i can't believe in something so crazy like that. i think the crowd hysteria played a big part in the salem witch trials being that it was like peer pressure just do as everybody else does or believe what everybody else does.
ReplyDeleteAll of the people in the crowd felt that there was a spirit among them because only two people did not feel a presence. The stories told were not exactly too far fetched by the ones who said they felt something, so it was probably easily believable, especially if one was actually there on the site. A trait that can make a person apart from a crowd is courage. A person who can say that they are different is quite brave. I personally have no opinion on strange or supernatural things. I haven't had any experience to make me believe in them, yet seeing as I haven't had one, I can't say they don't exist. While learning about the Salem Witch Trials, I believed that the whole ordeal was more or less entirely crowd hysteria. This video gives a little more evidence into it.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is really easy to get swept away with the feelings of a crowd because you yourself pick up on and feed off of the energy of others. Its really hard to go against a crowd when they seem to present evidence, even though you yourself dont necessarily feel those phsyical things. To stay apart from the crowd i think it requires a person to be honest and really logical. I am the kind of person that believes that there is always something more to the world. I would have been one of the ones who were "senseing things", If i trust some one and they tell me something is there, Im going to try and find it. I guess I trust people too easily. I know that there is something out there, as in outerspace, and i think that the spirits of all the deceased do linger in some way. Not like movies might portray but in a more realistic sense, with the whole "unfinished business" sort of thing. I am a firm believer of past lives, and people being able to have psychic abilities. I think that some people are just given a gift and have more sensitive senses to the world around them. In a biblical sense it says that God puts a veil over our eyes,and keeps us from seeing the frightening things around us, the same logic that Salem used. This crowd hysteria was the fuel that kept the Salem Witch Trials burning and having seen this experiment done it just emphasizes how bogus this part of history was.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated reading these comments, though I am not sure what Ty meant by part of his. This is not really the time or place to joke around in that way, so please be aware.
ReplyDeleteThe reason everyone claimed they "felt" something supernatural in the movie set is probably because of the fact that they were grouped together and were being influenced by the acting hypnotist. It takes only one person to rouse emotion in others, and the spread of this emotion increases exponentially as each member of the group grows increasingly unsteady. The two people in the group who did not feel activity at the isolated site but agreed that something strange was going on probably said this because they were influence by the other spooked four. People are easily influence by others: this was probably the reason so many people panicked during the Salem Witch Trials. It is entirely possible that some hallucinogen caused a few of the girls to convulse and act strangely. A few Puritans, well aware of Satan's capabilities, probably related the two and accused the girls of witchcraft. As fear developed, some may have been so heavily influenced by the thought of the Devil that they began to act strangely.
ReplyDeleteBelief in the possibility of ghosts or witchcraft probably influenced the people in the group too. It is much easier for a superstitious person to believe in strange occurrences than a person who is devoid of any supernatural theories. I am open to the idea of ghosts and if I was in the situation presented in the video, I may have claimed to "feel something" only because others believed it. I think ghosts could be real because there must an explanation for some of life's strange incidences and coincidences.
I think its extremely easy to get caught up in a feeling, whether its your own or not. When a large group of people get together, its easy for hysteria to spread, or any emotion. They had no proof that these people were legit or the stories they were telling. Sometimes, I feel like people are too trustworthy. I didnt feel like anyone in that gruop questioned what the directors of this experiment were saying. And when they went out into the field, they were psyching themselves out. And the "pychic" guy wasnt helping out either. The first girl didnt feel anything because i felt like she had the chance to go into the situation with an open mind. She didn't have other peoples experiences to think about or to freak her out. When youre scared going into a situation, any slight noise will catch your attention, no matter the amplitude of it.
ReplyDeleteI do believe in supernatural beings and encounters. Ive experienced one before. Im terrified of them, yes, but im also completely fascinated by them. Its hard not to when its something that is so mysterious. I think all things are possible with things like this. Im not sure how. But when things happen that cant be explained, you have to open your mind and see the possibilties of what it could actually be. And im sitting at home, in the dark, typing this, scared out of my mind =]=]=]