On October 30th, 1938, the United States experienced mass hysteria--?

Question

--most pronounced on the east coast in New York and New Jersey--in response to a radio broadcast put on by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater On The Air. The public reaction has prompted decades of research into mass hysteria, been used as a model by the military around the world to design information warfare against enemy troops and civilian populace, Welles was a genius. He had people believing there was an invasion, then he turned around and told them that it was all a joke.

My question is this: are people too smart to believe such foolishness these days? It seems people of the 30's must have been fairly stupid and gullible.

Answer 1

Hi James,

I'm reading a really fascinating book right now called "Markets, Mobs & Mayhem: A Modern Look at the Madness of Crowds." It's a fast read. I suggest it.

The author examines mob mentality and mass hysteria. He looks at the most famous instances of irrational group thought. Orsen Welles' 'War of the Worlds' broadcast certainly applies.

There have always been and always will be moments in human history where mobs prevail.

In just the last 15 years, we've had several:
* The dot-com Internet stock bubble.
* The severe drop in the market and irrational fear of travel after Sept. 11.
* Furbies, Tamagotchi's, Tickle Me Elmo's, Pogs, the Macarena, etc.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and I'd imagine that at some point in the future, our children will look back on the 90s and think we were all very stupid and gullible.

Cheers,
Sensational Luke

Answer 2

I don't believe that most people were stupid back then--maybe a little bit gullible, but I think that the "success" of the radio stunt had to do with the fact that most people in that era believed that people were good with their word--honest. Mr Welles used that fact to pull off his "live report" of the martian invasion . You have to remember that radio was a fairly new medium also. People depended on it and on newspapers for their news. This was an ideal medium to pull something like what Orson Welles did in 1938. Some reporters and actors were so expressive in their ability to describe a live scene as it unfolded. The burning of the Hindenburg, (a German zeppelin ) while landing at a naval air station in New Jersey after a Transatlantic flight, was described by a reporter, Herbert Morrison, so vividly,(you could feel the absolute despair in his voice) that one could feel vicariously, the helplessness and the despair of watching people die from a distance. One could not see whether Orson Welles, the actor was "keeping a straight face" during his so called "report." He was able to express the emotions of despair and fright on the air. The fact that you can't see with your eyes what's being described, triggers a person's imagination and the power of imagination is awesome. By the way, the Hindenburg crashed and burned in May of 1937. Morrison's description of the crash was recorded and Welles pulled his stunt in 1938. I wonder what helped him to get the idea. Hmmm...

Answer 3

People of the 21st century are no better either! All you need to do to agree with this is to reflect back on the repeated warnings from Homeland Security about possible further attacks on America, all of which were later denied and turned out to be a hoax if not a joke! Another example is how Bush and Blair company made the world to believe that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction which later was proved to be false and was based on faulty intelligence!

Answer 4

If you think that it isn't possible to "fool all of the people" then you are mistaken. If people are more sophisticated and better informed then the ruse simply has to be more believable. One look at the "smiling Bob natural male enhancement" commercials should be enough to convince you that people can be sold any idea if it is presented properly.