Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-35911608-20180823132725/@comment-35911608-20180823223745

DrBobSmith wrote: RedNova Tyrant,

You're going to need more to make me accept a nocebo effect taking people down to the point of death. A few kids play senior ditch, saying they feel crappy with a cold. That's a LONG way from making people die. How do you bridge that gap?

Dr. Bob Have you ever heard of the dancing plague of 1518? It’s the earliest recorded instance of mass hysteria. One day in a small French village, a woman started dancing in the street to no music and for no reason. Over time, more and more people suddenly joined in, and they didn’t stop. This went on for an entire month, resulting in a few deaths from exhaustion, until one day they all suddenly stopped.

My aim with this story was to create the idea of a disease that spread by idea, not through any physical means. As rumours and suspicions grow, people begin to believe the disease has become deadlier. With the media hypercharging reports, it spreads faster and becomes more serious. I very carefully wrote “a possible symptom” when referring to the leg paralysis - the old lady could have just fallen down. But word spread. And if a lie is a believable enough lie, the brain may interpret it as a truth - much like a placebo/nocebo effect.

I hope this helped in some way