Talk:Tanganyika laughter epidemic

The important question
what was the joke? :-)


 * Thats what I want to know. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.222.215.153 (talk) 06:03, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you like fishsticks?... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.79.205.151 (talk) 22:18, 27 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Damn you bastard, you killed me :/
 * _DEADGUY_ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.48.123.85 (talk) 04:41, 13 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Technically, to cause this kind of havok, it'd have to be the one about the wizard and the farmer's daughter. But it is insane that these so-called scientists claim to have extensively interviewed the girls involved and never asked the only important question in this entire ordeal. Then again, it could be a case like those mutated flu strains – they avoid telling the public out of fear for its own safety. — LlywelynII  16:48, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Does
Does it bother no one that the text of this article completely contradicts the source material? In fact, the "Humor" article referenced  is specifically discussing the tendency of people to invent material like this article: "But most current representations are flawed by their exaggeration and misinterpretation of the role of laughter in the event, relating it to a humorous stimulus, a virus or environmental contaminant, or identifying it as contagious laughter."

And of course the primary scientific report reproduced here  also paints an entirely different picture.

Dispute as to verifiability and factual accuracy
This page is unsourced. Of the three external links, two are dead, and the third leads to a page that doesn't discuss the "Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic" at all. --Carnildo 06:38, 17 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I found a copy of the cited journal article in the Stanford University Library system (Jackson Medical Library). It's legitimate. 128.12.186.193 10:07, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

???
What do you mean? The last link works and discusses the laughter epidemic. --User:Wackojacko1138 00:45, 20 February 2006


 * Agreed. The americanscientist.org link works, and the first several paragraphs describe the Tanganyika incident.


 * The NIH have a 167-70 page document published in 1963 which describes the incident. "An epidemic of laughing in the Bukoba district of Tanganyika.".
 * --Kevin L&#39;Huillier 23:45, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

University Challenge
The BBC's quiz programme University Challenge had the following question in tonight's show ((between Newcastle and Royal Holloway College): Apparently an instance of an MPI, or mass psychogenic illness, the epidemic that hit the vicinity of Kashasha in Tanganyika in 1962, originating with a group of teenage schoolgirls, caused in those afflicted an outbreak of what? What's more someone from the Royal Holloway team knew the answer. I don't know whether or not this adds any more authenticity to this article (maybe Jeremy Paxman got the question from from Wikipedia ;-). 80N 20:12, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Radio Lab
Radiolab did a documentary on this. Highly intrugueing story, this. See. 90.128.144.42 (talk) 14:23, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Mass Hysteria or Mass psychogenic illness?
Both terms are used in the article, but redirect to the same page, called Mass Hysteria - which term is to be prefered? JackAidley (talk) 15:23, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
 * 'Mass psychogenic illness' seems to be a term that would be used in the medical community, whereas 'mass hysteria' is a term more familiar to the common person. I think the context in which each is used in this article is fine. The reason we have redirects is so it doesn't matter which term we use. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 23:05, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
 * "Mass hysteria" is the actual term. "Mass psychogenic illness" (MPI) is Britlish jargon, like "foeti" and "bangers". But wp:uk dictates we go with the first poster's version, whatever that was. — LlywelynII  16:55, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

Wait, what?
It isn't entirely clear what actually happened, or how/why. It's vaguely glossed over once or twice but that's it. Oddity- (talk) 09:40, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
 * What happened is: a bunch of people started laughing uncontrollably for an unusual length of time. The article states that it is now known why it happened, but it does give suggestions. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 00:58, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Twas NOW, but t'ought be NOT. — LlywelynII  16:56, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

"Holy laughter movement"?
Does anyone know what that redlink is referring to? --babbage (talk) 18:49, 25 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Not really sure, but a Google search gives some ideas. This result and this one (and other search results), both mention the Toronto Blessing as part of the "revival" of holy laughter, or somesuch gobbledygook. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 19:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Obviously a hoax
The real MPI is not the laughing-epidemic, but the believing-in-the-laughing-epidemic-epidemic... Come on people, use your brains please. It is a nice story, but there is no such thing as a laughing epidemic, especially not one that lasts for years. If the epidemic has spread for two years, why were there no journalists, scientists, officials, doctors at the place? Why does not one of the "thousands" of victims talk about the incident now? Let's all start a thinking-epidemic instead :-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.236.48.125 (talk) 04:23, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The United Nations Laughter Committee debated the topic, eventually voted, and then dispatched a "UN Laughter Police Force" to the area.  By the time they arrived, the 'laughing-epidemic' had disappated and all that remained was "chronic-giggling".  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.67.104.4 (talk) 15:21, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Even though your argument is fairly solid, we can't just delete an article because it seems unrealistic. I could deduct that god doesn't exist, still that's no reason to delete any pages on religion. If we can't refer to any pages proving that it's all a hoax, we can't delete it, since deduction is not reason enough.85.225.196.188 (talk) 15:13, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * This article seems loony. References please. - Invmog (talk) 22:12, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Background information needed
If indeed this episode happened, it seems to compare with the 1692 Salem Witch Trials hysteria in which more and more "afflicted" girls, then adults, including men, were screaming, fainting, "seeing things", having "fits", harming themselves, etc. in the courtroom while accusing perfectly innocent people of being witches. (There was no laughing, though - when talking about the Puritan's devil and witchcraft, those who laughed at the whole episode tended to be hanged.)

However, there were causes and stresses for the Salem witch hysteria. They included manipulation and collusion among the initial group of girls acting out against the repression of being a Puritan child, family grudges against most of those accused of witchcraft, possible cases of child and wife abuse, constant fear of Indian attack (they considered the Indians to be agents of the devil), suspicion against those who did survive Indian attacks (were they working with the Indians or with the devil?), one victim was suspected of being a Baptist (akin to devil worship in Puritan eyes), and political uncertainty (the colony's charter had recently been revoked by the King along with their rights to self-government; they sent representatives to England to negotiate with the King, but didn't yet know how it was going to turn out).

It sounds very much like the Tanganyikan school girls found an effective way to disrupt their classes, and like Salem's afflicted girls, found it hard to jump off the moving train they had set in motion. What other things were happening in Tanganyika during this period that would nurture the spread of this hysteria? That's what this article lacks, a foundation. Otherwise, it makes the whole episode seem like a goofy April Fool's-type prank.

All the best, Wordreader (talk) 18:10, 1 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Actually, ergotism is the leading theory behind the Salem witchcraft trials. Do your research. The same is true of your assumption of the girls malingering, as there are 5 sources in the article that are operational and verify the story is NOT what you state, indeed, food was examined, medical tests performed and documentation was made.

Unless you think YOU know more than hundreds of physicians.Wzrd1 (talk) 03:03, 9 January 2012 (UTC)


 * The speculation that ergotism was the cause of the Salem witch hysteria was promulgated by Linnda Caporael (a psychologist, not a botanist, agriculturalist, toxicologist, or MD) and was dismissed with ease by Nicholas Spanos & Jack Gottlieb in 1976. It is not the leading theory by any means. According to the interview with Caporael at the PBS Secrets of the Dead website, "Ergot poisoning can't even explain all of the events at Salem, Caporael concedes. Some of the behaviors exhibited by the witch accusers probably were the result of mass hysteria -- or outright fakery." So, even she has wavered in her ergot claim. Actually, I have done quite a lot of Salem research as I am a direct descendant of an accuser, Henry Kenney, who was aligned with the Putnams.


 * In the references section to the "Tanganyika laughter epidemic" WP article, the ones that don't come out and call the episode a mass psychogenic illness, strongly imply it. There was at least one stressor found, too: "The young people involved reported that they were feeling stressed by the higher expectations of their teachers and parents." Examining 1962s 'laughter epidemic' However, I'm confused by what you mean by "hundreds of physicians": do you mean that hundreds of physicians examined this Tanganyika episode? I didn't see a specific number offered in the references, but I'm sure that other professionals looked into the matter, too, not just physicians. It's too bad that the researchers didn't leave better records: "No good records were kept on it, so it's going to be hard to get reliable information." Examining 1962s 'laughter epidemic' Thanks for your time, Wordreader (talk) 05:40, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Imagine if it’s a parasite
Shits terrifying if it’s real, Hopefully it’s not the ladder and isn’t some weird parasite that hasn’t been discovered. 24.189.231.178 (talk) 17:16, 26 December 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Plagues and People- Spring 23
— Assignment last updated by Oneton III (talk) 15:35, 9 March 2023 (UTC)