Delusion - Hijacked Minds - Hidden Motives - Shattered Realities - Mass Hysteria – Salem Witch Trials

Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. Teenage girls convulse in courtrooms, screaming that invisible specters attack them. Their testimony—seeing things no one else can see—sends nineteen people to the gallows and one man pressed to death under stones. Over 200 are accused of witchcraft based on spectral evidence, religious paranoia, and Puritan theology that made Satan's influence terrifyingly real. The episode examines how mass hysteria spreads through communities when authority figures legitimize delusions, how fear-based accusations settle personal grudges, and how collective belief overrides individual judgment. Comparing Salem to 1980s Satanic Panic and McCarthyism reveals consistent patterns: perceived threats, collapsed evidence standards, and silenced dissent. Mass delusion doesn't end because people recognize error—it ends when it becomes unsustainable.
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