The Dancing Plague of 1518.

[JohnEmmett]

Prime Directive: Under no circumstances whatsoever is the Bible to be contradicted.

well…

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

IF this actually happened ... and isn't just something on paper ... then I attribute it to Satan.

Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

Lucifer, when he was created, was put in charge of music.

Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

And when he rebelled, he honed the music industry into a fanatical form of worship and anarchy.

So a cop-out answer then. Fine.

 

[AV1611VET]

So a cop-out answer then. Fine.

If they can attribute this dance craze to the supernatural, so can I.

It's just that I'm more specific: even giving examples from Scripture.

If you consider that a "cop-out," then good luck learning theology.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

If they can attribute this dance craze to the supernatural, so can I.

It's just that I'm more specific: even giving examples from Scripture.

If you consider that a "cop-out," then good luck learning theology.

The people at the time attributed it in part to demonic possession, among other things such as overheated blood. Honestly, the second one is the weirder one out of the two.

Then you've got what happened to the woman who got bit by a venomous spider which made her dance compulsively.

 

[AV1611VET]

The people at the time attributed it in part to demonic possession, among other things such as overheated blood. Honestly, the second one is the weirder one out of the two.

Then you've got what happened to the woman who got bit by a venomous spider which made her dance compulsively.

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not.

Which do you go with? the supernatural or science? (I know: dumb question.)

By the same token, what do you attribute the Pokémon Craze to?

Just a fad?

These people walked off cliffs, stepped into oncoming traffic, and ran into lampposts.

 

[Warden_of_the_Storm]

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or not.

Which do you go with? the supernatural or science? (I know: dumb question.)

I do think that everything has a scientific explanation, but it's hard to say with 100% veracity what that explanation is unless we were present (and no, don't try and bring any Biblical miracles into this, we're stick with the dance plague).

By the same token, what do you attribute the Pokémon Craze to?

Just a fad?

These people walked off cliffs, stepped into oncoming traffic, and ran into lampposts.

People are dumb. And diehard fans of things can be even dumber than people. Combine that with how phones are way too good at drawing people's attention, you get a good mixture of accidents.

Was never really a Pokemon fan anyway.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I suspect Havana Syndrome is also a case of mass psychogenic illness. We may never know with any certainty.

SciAm Op-Ed by:​

ROBERT BARTHOLOMEW is an honorary senior lecturer in the department of psychological medicine at Auckland University. He is co-author of Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria (Copernicus, 2020).​

​

A ‘Havana Syndrome’ Investigation in Congress Rests on Politics, Not Science​

Lawmakers should look in the mirror if they want answers to who hyped dubious reports of Havana syndrome. Instead they are investigating the spy agencies telling them the truth about the mystery

After years of speculation over the possible involvement of Russian or Chinese agents using a sonic or microwave weapon, in March 2023 the U.S. director of national intelligence reported that most U.S. intelligence agencies regarded that scenario as “very unlikely.” Instead, the intelligence community reached a consensus that the “syndrome” was “probably the result of factors that did not involve a foreign adversary, such as preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors.”

These findings did not sit well with some members of the Intelligence Committee

Instead of shooting the messenger, the congressional committee should unearth the role of credulous lawmakers and the Trump administration’s State Department in cooking up a dubious syndrome that somehow merited millions in compensation while hobbling diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Adding further embarrassment to foreign conspiracy proponents was the release of a classified report in 2021 by a panel of experts who found that the mysterious sounds accompanying many “attacks” were the mating calls of the Indies short-tailed cricket. Other scientists had reached the same conclusion. These findings led the intelligence community to conclude that some of the symptoms were likely psychosomatic in origin, finding that “social factors” played a role in them, after victims had been primed to believe they were the targets of an imaginary weapon.

ETA:

Despite symptoms, NIH research finds no evidence of ‘Havana syndrome’ in brain scans​

 

[AV1611VET]

Adding further embarrassment to foreign conspiracy proponents was the release of a classified report in 2021 by a panel of experts who found that the mysterious sounds accompanying many “attacks” were the mating calls of the Indies short-tailed cricket. Other scientists had reached the same conclusion. These findings led the intelligence community to conclude that some of the symptoms were likely psychosomatic in origin, finding that “social factors” played a role in them, after victims had been primed to believe they were the targets of an imaginary weapon.

Should be easy enough to test, shouldn't it?

Just record some short-tailed crickets, then play them over the musack at McDonalds and see if people start doing the Hustle.

Maybe there is something to that song, Disco Duck?

 

[FreeinChrist]

Hnndreds literally danced themselves to death.

This is an interesting topic to me. It ties into Saint Vitus, who was said to be the patron saint of dancers. Those in a Germanic culture were said to dance manically on his feast day. It sounds like it was kind of a craze for religious folks back then who were dealing with the stresses of illness and death and hunger in their day.

But it also ties into a disease once called St. Vitus Dance. Now we call it Sydenham's chorea, which is caused by having an autoimmune reaction to a Group A Beta Haemolytic Streptococcus. The movements are jerky. Interestingly to me is that those afflicted with this often become very obsessive - compulsive.