Is mass hysteria more common than you think?
Nudge15 Jan 2024

Is mass hysteria more common than you think?

In the middle ages hundreds of thousands of Europeans danced themselves to exhaustion. Some danced for weeks on end, many ended up dying of heart attacks and heat stroke. But why? What strange illness was causing this oddity? Turns out, it was all psychological. The dancing epidemic of the middle ages was one of the first noted examples of mass hysteria, a phenomenon where these individuals experience real illness, brought on by imagined ailments. Mass hysteria has been documented in 19th century nunneries, 20th century Palestine and 21st century CIA agents. Today, I attempt to figure out if mass hysteria is more common than we think—and I discover how the same phenomenon has changed the wine we drink, the podcasts we love, and the names we give our kids. Sign up to my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Tali Sharot’s book The Influential Mind: https://tinyurl.com/ytvpyuk2 AP Archive footage of the 1983 fainting epidemic: https://youtu.be/8qcQwbJFlsU?si=xgDYI2JWWfmOTJHj Synchronised clapping: https://youtu.be/Au5tGPPcPus?si=PN_jRK2XQkGSTpgn

Episoder(281)

“These two words increased sales by 18%.” Robert Cialdini

“These two words increased sales by 18%.” Robert Cialdini

16 years ago a chain of Chinese restaurants wanted to increase sales without changing the price.  They didn’t change the product.  The service.  The chef.  The food.  Instead, they changed two wo...

23 Feb 24min

When you can’t stop seeing the thing you’ve just discovered

When you can’t stop seeing the thing you’ve just discovered

I watched Home Alone and suddenly started hearing the theme tune everywhere.  I thought I was going insane.  But Tom Bowden-Green and Luan Wise explained that I actually fell for a fairly well-known...

16 Feb 26min

The Psych-Trick Behind One of the Decade’s Fastest Growing Orgs

The Psych-Trick Behind One of the Decade’s Fastest Growing Orgs

HelloFresh is one of the fastest-growing companies of the past 20 years.  And it’s down to one, relatively simple behavioural science tactic.  --- Subscribe to the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepo...

9 Feb 26min

Real-world examples of cognitive biases

Real-world examples of cognitive biases

Most of us are completely oblivious to the cognitive biases that dictate how we live our lives.  Today, with Tom Bowden-Green and Luan Wise, we cover seven cognitive biases that all of us fall for.  ...

2 Feb 24min

“This common pricing strategy is completely wrong!” Robert Cialdini

“This common pricing strategy is completely wrong!” Robert Cialdini

“Say you’ve calculated your price and it comes out at £120,121.  Most would round it down to £120,000.  That’s completely wrong.”  That’s what Robert Cialdini told me on the latest episode of Nudge...

26 Jan 27min

Robert Cialdini: “This study on 6,700 websites proved my principle!”

Robert Cialdini: “This study on 6,700 websites proved my principle!”

This study analysed 6,700 websites in an unprecedented A/B test.  The results proved something that Dr Robert Cialdini had been preaching for years.  Today, on Nudge, Robert Cialdini joins me again,...

19 Jan 26min

The Secret Behind KFC’s Success

The Secret Behind KFC’s Success

KFC keeps its recipe secret.  It’s stored in a vault in an unknown location.  Only two KFC executives know the ingredients.  Neither are allowed to fly on the same plane.  But this secrecy is illo...

12 Jan 23min

Why is it so hard to say no?

Why is it so hard to say no?

In 1963, the Milgram experiments revealed something unsettling.  Most people kept administering what they believed were painful electric shocks, not because they wanted to, but because they couldn’t ...

5 Jan 30min

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