Mystery AtlasScientific Theories & Frontiers
Psychology & the Mind
Consciousness, memory, perception, and the psychology of belief — including why people believe conspiracy theories, misinformation, and the paranormal.
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What Caused the Dancing Plague of 1518?
What caused the 1518 Strasbourg dancing plague: the documented outbreak, the mass psychogenic illness theory, and the discounted ergotism explanation.
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Who Were Betty and Barney Hill?
Betty and Barney Hill: the 1961 New Hampshire couple whose hypnotic-regression testimony became the template for modern alien abduction claims.
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Why Do People Believe Conspiracy Theories?
What psychological research says about why people believe conspiracy theories: the needs belief serves, the biases involved, and what the evidence shows.
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