Modern Social Phenomena Mirror Historical Witch Crazes Through Attention-Driven Psychological Contagion
Source: Joseph Addington. "Is the Witchcraft Mania Really Behind Us? - The American Conservative." April 26, 2026. www.theamericanconservative.com
The Gist
The author argues that when society pays a lot of attention to certain mental health issues or social problems, it actually creates more cases of those problems. He compares today's focus on gender identity and racism to historical witch hunts, saying they all follow the same pattern of social contagion.
Conclusion
Contemporary social phenomena like gender dysphoria increases and institutional racism accusations follow the same psychological patterns as historical witch crazes, where public attention amplifies and spreads morbid mental conditions
Premises
- Walter Scott observed that morbid mental conditions become more common when public attention focuses on stories about them
- The recent dramatic increase in gender dysphoria and transsexualism correlates with increased public attention to these conditions
- Historical witch-finders used psychological manipulation and torture to extract confessions that led to more accusations, creating self-perpetuating cycles
- Educated people, including Western intellectuals who believed Stalin's show trials, are not immune to credulity and may resist admitting they've been deceived
- The search for institutional racism as an explanation for social problems parallels historical searches for witches or political enemies
- In both historical and contemporary cases, questioning the existence of the phenomenon (witchcraft then, institutional racism now) becomes socially dangerous
Assumptions
- Increased reporting or discussion of psychological conditions directly causes more cases rather than just better recognition
- Social contagion is the primary driver of increases in gender dysphoria and similar conditions
- Contemporary social justice movements operate through similar psychological mechanisms as historical persecution campaigns
- The analogy between witch crazes and modern social phenomena is fundamentally valid despite different contexts and consequences