Comments on: Mass Hysteria

By: Mergence

Mergence — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:05:07 +0000

Interestingly the affected people in the video all seem to be adolescents or there about. And female. It would impress me more as a stand-alone phenomenom if an arthritic 80-year-old man would take up the sport. Is the Holy Spirit that picky? I’m associating this with data on poltergeist manifestations . . . often thought to be discharges of energy that is of enigmatic but not categorically supernatural origin.

By: Waking the Tiger Part 2 - Shaking & Trembling | Perigee-Syzygy

Waking the Tiger Part 2 - Shaking & Trembling | Perigee-Syzygy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:58:37 +0000

[...] visions, speak in tongues, get healed… complete chaos. Yet I am unable to dismiss it all as mass hysteria or emotional manipulation (although that probably explains 60% of what I witnessed over the years). People’s lives [...]

By: Godless Girl

Godless Girl — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:29:41 +0000

If I didn’t feel anything, I though something was wrong between me and god. Damn guilt.

By: Perigee-syzygy

Perigee-syzygy — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 00:26:31 +0000

I know that feeling too well! Ah, so many hours standing there while music played, waiting for my body to emotionally respond or physically react, because of course, only those who could shake and cry violently were the most spiritual and closest to god;) I share your ‘ugh’.

By: godlessgirl

godlessgirl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:23:34 +0000

You reminded me of another experience (this time at a youth conference) where all the kids around me were visibly emotional about a sermon we'd just heard. I didn't feel anything, so I honestly thought something was wrong with me. Ugh.

By: amemur

amemur — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:32:22 +0000

True. We behave pretty much as the people we want to be with… or at least (in my case) we manage to maintain a low profile so people we have to interact with wouldn't harass us. I imagine a lot of stress in being in the middle of a row where everybody is falling and you just don't want to be the one standing because of your fear of others taking offense.

By: godlessgirl

godlessgirl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:23:33 +0000

I wonder about stress as a cause for laugh attacks. I'd have to admit I don't see the correlation in my own experience above, but it does come out of an extreme emotional state, so maybe that's a sort of stress?

By: godlessgirl

godlessgirl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:20:12 +0000

I think our desire to be accepted and affirmed ultimately drives any desire for a so-called religious/spiritual experience. Notice that people don't desire things that would make them an outcast.

By: godlessgirl

godlessgirl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:17:56 +0000

Just in case people didn't know what that experiment entailed, here's a link: http://bit.ly/7rh0u

By: amemur

amemur — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:01:09 +0000

I didn't finish watching it because it was a little bit disturbing to me. Although I think that it could be explained in relation to some sort of empathetic behavior? People, when they're not thinking, behave pretty much as the next person. It seems like they want to be involved no matter how foolish their behavior might look.