Mass hallucination

[Mister Agenda]

Too many, I think that would more properly be a mass delusion.  

What's the difference?

If I see a squirrel that isn't there, that's hallucination. If I am convinced squirrels are secretly more intelligent than humans, that's delusion. It's a difference between a perception and a belief. If I believe the earth is flat because I was an astronaut and that's what it looked like to me while I was in orbit, that would probably be an hallucination. If I'm convinced the earth is flat despite having been in orbit and directly experiencing its oblate spheroidness, that's a very strong delusion.

Interestingly, a person can experience hallucinations without also having the delusion of believing they're real. I would consider that a good evidence of something being a mass hallucination: everyone saw it but some people realize it was hallucinatory.

[Pat Mustard]

What's the difference?

If I see a squirrel that isn't there, that's hallucination. If I am convinced squirrels are secretly more intelligent than humans, that's delusion.

Yeah, it's the mice who are more intelligent. Everybody knows that.

[Rahn127]

If someone writes a story saying 500 people all saw the same thing, that is very different than 500 people all coming forward to say they all saw the same thing.

The first is an unsubstantiated claim from a single person who may have made up the story.

The second could be a mass hallucination or a realter, of something non specific that the receivers of the stories then alter, making the vague reports into a specific report.

Then over time, that report gets altered like a bad game of telephone.