Lunacy: Mind Control From The Sky

02/16/21 • 15 min

3 Listeners

On December 5th, 2012, a bill landed on President Barack Obama’s desk, meant to do one thing: remove the word “lunatic” from the federal code. This is because in 2012, you could still find the word in laws about banking and controlling estates, among others. And not only was it offensive, it was antiquated—ancient, in fact. The word lunacy comes from luna—Latin for moon. This is because there was a time when we thought the power to change our moods and minds came from the sky.

Guests:

Miena Hall is a Family Medicine Resident at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.

Jo Marchant is a science journalist and author of The Human Cosmos.

Footnotes & Further Reading:

For a deep history on “madness,” check out Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity, from the Bible to Freud, from the Madhouse to Modern Medicine by Andrew Scull. Meta-analyses and literature reviews haven’t backed up a lunar effect on human behavior, but more recent studies have found intriguing patterns.

Credits:

Science Diction is hosted by Johanna Mayer. This episode was produced by Johanna Mayer, Chris Egusa, and Elah Feder. Elah is our editor and senior producer. Daniel Peterschmidt composed all the music and designed sound for this episode. Chris Wood mastered. We had fact checking by Danya AbdelHameid. Nadja Oertelt is our Chief Content Officer. Special thanks to Andrew Scull, Chiara Thumiger, who studies ancient medicine, and Janet Downie, Associate Professor of classics at UNC Chapel Hill.

This season of Science Diction is supported by Audible.

Guests:

Miena Hall is a Family Medicine Resident at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.

Jo Marchant is a science journalist and author of The Human Cosmos.

Footnotes & Further Reading:

Credits:

This season of Science Diction is supported by Audible.

Previous Episode

Mesmerize: The 18th Century Medical Craze Behind the Word

In the late 18th century, a doctor showed up in Paris practicing some very peculiar medicine. He would escort patients into dimly lit rooms, wave his arms over their bodies, and touch them with a magnetic wand. Patients would react to these treatments violently: crying, sweating, convulsing or shrieking. But then they would emerge healed. According to the doctor anyway. Many believed he was a fraud, but despite his dubious methods, this doctor inadvertently gave us a new approach to healing—and a new word: mesmerize. Because the doctor’s name was Franz Anton Mesmer.

A depiction of Mesmer’s “treatment” baquets.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Guests:

Emily Ogden is an associate English professor at the University of Virginia.

Footnotes & Further Reading:

For a deep dive on mesmerism, check out Emily Ogden's book, Credulity: A Cultural History of US Mesmerism.

Credits:

Science Diction is hosted by Johanna Mayer. This episode was produced by Johanna Mayer, Katie Thornton, and Elah Feder. Elah is our editor and senior producer. We had story editing from Nathan Tobey. Daniel Peterschmidt is our composer, and we had sound design from Chris Wood, who also mixed and mastered the episode. Fact checking by Michelle Harris and Danya AbdelHameid. Nadja Oertelt is our Chief Content Officer.

This season of Science Diction is supported by Audible.

Next Episode

Robot: Making A Mechanical Mind

In 1920, a Czech writer was stumped. He’d written a play about a future where machines that looked like people do our bidding. They were the perfect workers: obedient, hard working, and never demanded a pay raise. But what was the writer to call these marvelous machines? There wasn’t yet a word for this type of creation.

He had initially chosen labori, from the Latin for labor, but something about the word wasn’t quite right. It seemed...stiff, bookish. This play wasn’t just about machines who labored. It was about machines we exploited, relentlessly. And eventually, the writer landed on a word that fit better: R obot.

Robot comes from an old Czech word for drudgery and servitude. Though in his play - like so very many robo-dystopias to come - the writer showed that a mind we create to serve us, isn’t necessarily a mind we can control.

Footnotes & Further Reading:

See more drawings and diagrams in The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Ismail al-Jazari.

Check out some old footage of Unimate, the first worker robot.

Credits:

This episode was produced by Johanna Mayer, Julia Pistell, and Elah Feder. Elah is our editor and senior producer. We had sound design and mastering from Chris Wood. Our music was composed by Daniel Peterschmidt. Thank you to Craig Cravens, senior lecturer at Indiana University, for helping us with research about Karel Capek. We had fact checking help from Danya AbdelHameid. Nadja Oertelt is our chief content officer.

This season of Science Diction is supported by Audible.