The phenomenon known as ‘mass psychogenic illness’ (MPI) – in which a group of people starts feeling sick with similar symptoms in the absence of a clear physical reason – is nothing new. Indeed, the historical record dates back to medieval Europe – including one notorious case in which nuns were reported to be meowing in unison like cats. In Believing Is Seeing, Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist at the University of Auckland, argues that our exceedingly interconnected world of social media is just as conducive for social panics as secluded medieval convents once were. Focusing on a trend in which tic disorders seem to spread via TikTok videos, Bartholomew breaks down why this ‘placebo effect in reverse’ can still cause genuine illness, as well as why he believes that social media should come with more guardrails. Believing Is Seeing is part of the 2022 short film collection from the New Zealand filmmaking initiative Loading Docs.
Director: Sophie Black
Producer: Nikhil Madhan
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Biology
Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves
3 minutes
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Animals and humans
What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own
8 minutes
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Life stages
At 14, Asal is excited about her engagement. Her relatives all have their own opinions
33 minutes
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Metaphysics
Bertrand Russell wanted to kill off causation. Can contemporary philosophy rescue it?
8 minutes
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The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes
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Psychiatry and psychotherapy
Pondering the peculiar one-sided intimacy of the client-therapist relationship
3 minutes
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History of science
Bat-people on the Moon – what a famed 1835 hoax reveals about misinformation today
8 minutes
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Biotechnology
What it’s like to wear a prosthetic that ‘feels’
6 minutes
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Family life
Fifty years ago, a train collided with Jack and Betty’s car. Here’s how they remember it
9 minutes