People Of Madagascar

Ancient Dancing Outbreak Believed to Be a Case of Social Contagion

It was centuries ago, right around this time, when the city of Aachen, Germany, was struck by an unusual outbreak that, legend says, spread as far away as Madagascar.

According to the scant written accounts there are of the outbreak known as St. Vitus' Dance, back in 1374, groups of people -- sometimes thousands at a time -- started dancing uncontrollably. It continued for days, and in some cases, weeks and months. Some people reportedly danced until they collapsed from exhaustion or even death, while others suffered heart attacks and broken bones.

"One written account described people as united by one common delusion," said James Fowler, professor of medical genetics and political science at the University of California, San Diego.

The dancers also seemed to hallucinate and lose control of their senses, Fowler said.

To this day, no one knows what led so many people into the dancing fits. At the time, many people believed it was a curse.

Fowler and other experts, however, believe the 14th-century dancing outbreak was an early example of social contagion. Just as yawning and laughing seem to be contagious, experts say manic dancing can be as well.

St. Vitus' Dance, which began exactly 637 years ago last Friday, is also a medical condition known as Sydenham chorea, named after the doctor who discovered it. The disease seemed to resemble the manic dancing that took place in Europe in honor of St. Vitus, the patron saint of entertainers.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes Sydenham chorea as a central nervous system disorder characterized by jerking movements mostly of the face, arms, legs and hands. It's caused by infection by the same bacteria that cause rheumatic fever.

But as far as the early dancing outbreak is concerned, it's consistent with the belief that people tend to mimic others around them.

"We tend to imitate body language and the emotional state of people that we're with, and we're not aware of it," Fowler said.

John Cacioppo, director of the University of Chicago's Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, said, "A couple of different processes contribute to something like this. One is peer pressure. If you're sittng in a setting and everyone is acting in a certain way, you do the same thing."

There's also a concept called pluralistic ignorance, which Cacioppo described as, "I would stop, but I don't see anyone else stopping.

A Malagasy Reader's Perspectives on Madagascar and My Thoughts

&Nbsp;       First, I just want to point out that there are no problems with the Malagasy culture . Finding a problem with another culture means that I inherently find my own culture superior; anyone who has seen American reality television knows this is a hard point to argue. I think both of our cultures can learn a lot from each other, but neither is right or wrong . That said, I think you meant what problems are there in Malagasy society and/or Madagascar itself.          Ah, Malagasy meetings… they are so long! I agree, it is wonderful that people meet and offer up ideas. However, often they then spend most of their time discussing one small point until the meeting adjourns, at which time no action has been decided on! I remember one of my first meetings with the VOIs (forest management groups) in 2008. We started talking about setting up a regular patrol of the forest, agreeing that the first patrol would be handled by the main group. They then moved on to other topics, or so I thought: because of my poor language skills so early in my service, I zoned out for about two hours. When I “zoned in” again, I realized they were still discussing who would run the first patrol…             The major issue I saw amongst community groups was the lack of trust. Most Malagasy seem to share ideas, work and profits very well with their own family members. But when put into a group of farmers nothing gets done because no one trusts one another. Each farmer thinks that his neighbor will steal his fertilizer or somehow obtain an unfair share of the profits. This lack of trust makes working in large groups very difficult, and since these types of groups are the catalyst for true economic and social change, the lack of trust is a major problem. (Note: some PCVs have had great success working with women’s groups / farmers’ groups / VOI… this is only my experience).             Yes, this is the same almost everywhere (and is why so many people dislike politicians). I think the most important political aspect missing in Madagascar and other countries is compromise. Politicians need to learn to work together with their rivals and opponents, rather than stock all posts with their allies and yes-men (you mention this in your next question).

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