Blog Post #2: Mass Delusions & Hysterias What's That Smell?

    In this lesson, I learned about the War of the Worlds that took place on Halloween, 1938. It was a social experiment produced by Orson Wells meant to see how people would react to a realistic news broadcast depicting a Martian invasion. He claimed that Martians landed in Grovers Mill, NJ and were attacking people with heat rays and poisonous gases. At the time, it was claimed by psychologist Hadley Cantril that 1.2 million people around the country went into panic after hearing the broadcast. It was later found that this did not happen at all. People were disturbed and angered by the broadcast, but there was no evidence that there was any mass panic, despite several books and articles claiming otherwise. I found this part of the lesson very interesting for a few reasons because it left me asking questions. Why did Orson Wells put so much effort into creating this fake broadcast? And why did Hadley Cantril exaggerate the results? 

    I also learned a little more about aromatherapy, a term that I have heard used several times before but never done much research on it. There are a lot of people who claim that there are aromas that can provide health and wellness benefits. The most emphasized being pure essential oils. Different scents can provide different benefits. For example, in the clip shown in the slideshow, a woman talks about how lavender oil is the most beneficial oil there is because it provides the most benefits. She tells a story about a doctor who was working at a cosmetic company and his arm caught on fire due to an explosion. He immediately dipped his arm in lavender oil and the pain went away. He had no blisters and his arm healed extremely fast. She goes on to claim that lavender oil is naturally anti-septic, anti-viral, anti-depressive, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-biotic, and anti-inflammatory. Despite all of the miraculous claims about essential oils, there is very little evidence to prove that any of it is true. A study conducted by the Ohio State University Medical Center found no evidence towards the claims of essential oils effects on stress and pain. It is most likely a placebo mixed with the fact that the oils smell good which makes people a little happier. 

    It is important to always be skeptical with the "facts" that you hear on television and media. Even science can be wrong, so it is important to weigh all the facts before coming to a conclusion.