Why Many People Are Too Stupid To See "Avatar"
"Perceptions about UFOs might owe more to Hollywood than previously thought.
David Clarke, author of a book on the British UFO records, notes that the shapes of these objects have changed over time. In the 1940s and 1950s, UFOs were usually described by those who saw them as 'flying saucers' -- round or disk-shaped objects. At the time, movies such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' (1951) and 'Forbidden Planet' (1956) reinforced the idea that futuristic spacecraft would look like Frisbees. Modern sightings, by contrast, involve different shapes, particularly triangles. Which is where that 'Star Wars' sequence, and countless other Hollywood depictions of spaceships in all shapes and sizes, come in.
It's worth noting that the most futuristic-looking of military aircraft, the Stealth bomber, is shaped like a triangle, so these perceptions aren't necessarily or solely coming from Hollywood. But it does seem that when we see unusual and unexplainable lights in the sky, our brains leap to interpret them by forming familiar images of the sort we've been conditioned by science-fiction flicks to expect."
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The Los Angeles Times
There is a delightfully interesting parallel to this in "From Paralysis to Fatigue" by Edward Shorter. It follows individuals' bizarre presentations of medical crises over the last couple hundred years. It shows how people have been influenced by medical conceptions in the way they manifest a breakdown, or call it a stress reaction, but in the guise of a baffling ailment.
ReplyDeleteThese used to be highly dramatic, with paralysis, or violent shaking, when no illness was present. This has progressed to more subtle complaints such as fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivities et. al., changing as patients unknowing keep up with medical ideas, so as not to appear overtly ridiculous. The similarities to the New Age ideas about what ails us are many. are many.