Explaining Cultural Hallucination and Illusions

The Effect They Have on Mental Health and on the World

As we act out are parts as members of society, and go through our every day lives, it becomes very apparent that a great number of collective or shared hallucinations are present. Although it would be very effective to discover what leads us to make these assumptions and hallucinations on an individual basis, such is nearly impossible. However, their can be no denying that culture, on a whole, possesses a great influence over the collective and shared hallucinations that we see all too often. From alien abductions to lost cities and continents, it seems that we have a part of our nature, which seems to embrace the unexplained or that which is not understood. While it is very open to interpretation as to why people believe such impossible things often without the slightest hint of questioning, the role of culture in this phenomenon cannot be undervalued or overlooked.

One of the clearest viewpoints regarding the collective and shared illusions of society can doubtlessly be find in the book, "The Demon-Haunted World", by author Carl Sagan. In the book, Sagan attributes many of the delusions that we posses in society towards the overall influence of culture. Sagan mentions that "We would surely be missing something important about our own nature if we refused to face up to the fact that hallucinations are part of being human". And, indeed, there is nothing abnormal or strange about dreams or even the minor delusions that we encounter in life, they are simply a part of being human. However, as Sagan describes, the greater danger that we face lies in the very common and often misunderstood hallucinations that can impact the mental well being of even a normal person.