Summary: With the recent clown sightings across America, many people are concerned about their safety. What most people don't know is that this isn't the first time America has experienced reports of seeing clowns, in the 1980s something similar happened in Boston. Loren Coleman calls this the "'Phantom Clown Theory', or the proliferation of clown sightings to mass hysteria (usually sparked by incidents witnessed only by children)." There is no way to tell whether a person saw an actual clown, only think they saw a clown, or are making the whole thing up. Clowns are nothing new, and neither is the idea that they could be evil. Studies show that two of the things that creep people out the most are males and awkward eye contact. Most clowns are male, and their makeup often makes it seem like they are always looking at you. Its likely that clown sighting will continue, and may even happen again in the future.
Analysis: I think that most of the clown sightings are either attempts to gain attention, or just a scared person thinking they saw a clown. I do think that some of the clown sightings are real however, and that these real ones set off the others. This could be compared to the Salem Witch Trials because both events had people being accused of wrong doings by children and then persecuted by adults. I'm interested to see whether this just dies down or we start seeing people getting arrested for dressing up as clowns.
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/03/health/creepy-clown-sighting-psychology/index.html
I think this is very creepy because I am not a big fan of clowns. But in your summary you didn't mention how these fiendish clowns have reportedly tried to lure women and children into the woods, chased people with knives and machetes, and yelled at people from cars. They've been spotted hanging out in cemeteries and they have been caught in the headlights of cars as they appear alongside desolate country roads in the dead of night. And if this is "truly" happening I think this problem needs to be dealt with asap
ReplyDeleteThis is defiantly creepy and I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing more of these clowns. I've heard most of the things you brought up and I think it's pretty scary that people are doing this.
ReplyDeleteSo I love clowns because they creep other people out even thought they aren't inherently scary and I just think its funny. I think it is definitely possible that the bulk of the clown sightings are caused by mass hysteria, but I don't think that all of them are, because there is evidence that there are ACTUAL clowns trying to scare people, because the clowns have social media to try to scare people further, there are pictures of them, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe history of mass hysteria is really interesting, for example, in one school almost all the female student got a leg twitching disease, that was in fact just faked by the first person to have it as a cry for attention. Another example is a convent of nuns that all became possessed in a short period of time in 1637.
I didn't have a problem with clowns, but after the whole thing I'm not a fan. It's sad because messed up people are the ones who tainted clown's image.
ReplyDeleteYea, I'm not a big fan of clowns either. At first, I thought that the whole, "clown thing was ajoke until I started seeing it more on social media and the school announced something about it. -Jada Brown
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