Mesmerized
Franz Mesmer was an 18th century Viennese doctor and scientist who was a pioneer in animal magnetism – the idea that people have magnetic matter within them that can be harnessed by specialists for healing purposes. Mesmer’s work faced opposition in his hometown of Vienna and he was forced to move to Paris in 1788 where his theories were met with more enthusiasm.
In Paris, Mesmer adapted his approach to suit the love for theater and spectacle among the French. He added elements like incense and harp music to his treatments and started treating patients in groups, which allowed for the belief of one person to infect others and ultimately overcome any disbelief in his methods.
Despite being discredited in his day, Franz Mesmer’s legacy lives on today. He is remembered as the patron saint of charlatans, cult leaders, and snake oil salesmen. In fact, the word “mesmerize” was derived from his name and means to hold someone’s attention with a captivating and alluring display.
Ergodic Systems
Ergodicity is the idea that the outcome for a group aligns with the lifetime outcome of each individual within the group. A simple coin toss is an example of an ergodic system – the results will always tend towards 50% heads and 50% tails, regardless of whether one person flips the coin 100 times, or 100 people flip the coin once. However, when it comes to decision making, it’s human nature to assume that everything is ergodic. But in reality, most human systems are non-ergodic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, that the average number of ICU beds in a country were above some threshold did not mean that all hospitals could handle a local outbreak. In many cases, local health professionals were overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases because public health administrators had assumed ergodicity where it did not exist.
Mere Exposure Effect
In his 1968 paper, “Attitudinal effects of mere exposure.”, Robert Zajonc asked participants to rate their liking for various things such as geometric shapes, Japanese pictograms, Chinese characters, and nonsense words in a made-up language. To his surprise, he found that the mere frequency of exposure to these items, even if it was only for a fraction of a second, greatly influenced people’s liking for them. This phenomenon, known as the mere exposure effect, has been exploited by the advertising industry to shape public desire and drive consumer behavior.
Sacrifice
2 Kings 3 tells the story of Mesha, king of Moab who had rebelled against the king of Israel, ceasing his yearly tributes. In response, the King of Israel solicited help from the king of Judah and the king of Edom to reclaim Moab. But as the battle raged on, King Mesha realizes he is losing. In a desperate move, he sacrifices his own crown prince to his idol, Chemosh. What happens next is remarkable. 2 Kings 3:27 says that there was a great indignation against Israel and the allied armies withdrew their troops! Why was there an indignation against Israel even though it had been Mesha who offered his son as a sacrifice? It appears that the dynamics of the spiritual realm are sensitive to sacrifice. When we choose to give up something we hold dear, whether it’s certainty or immediate gratification, we open up opportunities for the spiritual realm to influence human activity. The question now is what will you sacrifice?
