Early Science And "The Crucible?"
After watching an excerpt from the Ergot video, what are you contemplating regarding The Crucible? Does the Ergot
video's theory seem plausible? How does it force us to rethink the
theocratic process of the Salem Court proceedings? Are we challenged to
reconsider the behavior and attitudes of the characters in The Crucible?
Please respond thoughtfully while addressing the drama and video.
Complete your response by 2:30p.m. on Wednesday, October 9th, 2013.
posted by Greg T at Sunday, October 06, 2013
22 Comments:
I think that the ergot poisoning stands as a definite possibly for the actions of the witchcraft in Salem at the time of the hangings. I think that this plausibility of ergot poisoning changes the way we need to look at the court due to the fact that the courts may have been unrealistic with their accusations. If the ergot poisoning would also play effect on the characters in the book then we need to consider that the characters do not remember the times they were under the influence. This would cause them to make the kind of accusations and actions that they did. If the whole place was under this poisoning then I feel that the court system must take the ultimate blame.
After watching the video, I think that it provided details and examples to which people like to jump to conclusions with out really thinking about them, just as long as it makes sense. I don't think anyone of them thought that they were poisoned by there own wheat, because blaming witchcraft was a really convenient excuse, and explained the strange things some people do. I think that the girls created a lot of problems by naming off random people, that they probably didn't like, and accusing of them of witchcraft to avoid getting punished. Ergot's theory seems pretty valid to me, because I know that none of the many people that were killed, actually witches.
After watching the video excerpt about Ergot poisoning and the effects it has on people and cattle, it makes me think about all the irrational conclusions that the people from The Crucible jumped to instead of coming at it from a logical point of view first, and ruling out all scientific possibilities first instead of jumping to supernatural conclusions.I think the theory of Ergot poisoning seems very plausible, considering that some of the symptoms described in the video seem to match accordingly with those described in The Crucible, and it also seems to go along with why nobody in Salem at the time would've guessed the answer to their problems would've been something as small as little seedlings growing on their crops. Looking back on the Salem Court proceedings with this new information shows that the court process seemed to be inaccurate in many different areas, and based more on hearsay rather than scientific facts and logical explanations. This absolutely does challenge us to the reconsider the behavior and attitudes in The Crucible because on one hand it's understandable that something such as Ergot poisoning on their crops would've gone unnoticed. However, it also shows the people's lack of ability to look at a situation from every perspective instead of jumping to supernatural causes and witchcraft which I would blame mostly on their raw puritanical standpoint at this point in time.
I really love science and i enjoy going into it and figuring stuff out. Saying that i do think that the scientific way of explaining this is the best way to do so. Especially with all the advancements in technology that is going on today. It makes witchcraft seem so impossible that in my mind its impossible. If there were dangerous fungus growing on the grain grown in Salem there is no way that they could of known, seeing how non-advanced their technology was it makes sense how they would try to pin something on why these people are so sick. The Greeks did the same exact thing, when there was something that they did not understand they would apply what we know as myths today. Like the myth of echo who was cured to repeat people whenever she hears them say something, because the Greeks did not know why sound would echo so they explained it in the best way the could.
After learning about the Ergot poisoning, I wonder if the whole incident could have been avoidable and not have actually happened. The Ergot theory seems to be the most viable option to explain what happened. The affects and symptoms of the girls and ergot poisoning are almost identical. That makes this idea very plausible. It forces to rethink what happened because we realize now lives could have been saved and people wouldn't have been hung. It does make me rethink the characters from the Crucible and my opinion on them. I know realize that not all of their actions are actually faked but honest symptoms caused by poisoning from ergot.
Ergot poisoning and the direct relation to the Salem witch trials is obvious. There has to be a logical reasoning behind the witch trials and Ergot poisoning is the modern diagnosis early doctors could not detect. Why they blamed it on witchcraft in the first place is beyond ridiculous, but this gives us a way to relate to them. If there was no logical reason behind the symptoms at the time the people would look for a blame and source. If they would have had modern treatments and doctors I strongly believe it would not have taken place. The history in the Crucible is interesting though, out of all things they blamed loved ones and fellow citizens.
After watching the Ergot video it has definitely shown me a possibility of could have happened. The Ergot video stated the possibility that the people of Salem might have been poisoned by a fungus in their crops that contained a hallucinogen known as LSD. The thought that some of the people in Salem could have been affect by LSD makes a lot of sense to me and helps explains some of the crazy things that are that are proposed to be witchcraft. I am not saying that everything in the Ergot video is true and everyone in Salem went crazy on LSD. I am sure there are lots of other factors like all of the conflicts that happen in the play. To me living in such a puritan society with such emphasis on religion and so much tension in the church something crazy was bound to happen and the addition of LSD was the tipping point. It may sound out of reason to think that the town of Salem went crazy because they had LSD in their crops, but fact is always stranger than fiction.
After watching the Ergot video I have came to the realization that back in that time period people will just blindly throw accusations out randomly without the proven facts. Blaming people for witchcraft was really the only way out of a sticky situation by finding a scapegoat for ALL their problems. When looking at the crucible It has changed my mind set on them because they too could have ergot poisoning and since it’s similar to LCD it could affect their mind set so much that they can’t remember much making them vulnerable to accusations.
I believe that the theory that is stated in the Ergot video could easily be true. It is plausible because they got scientific proof that the towns people could have been ingesting LSD and imagining things happening. They had no way to explain what they saw so they just blamed it on witch craft.It forces us to rethink the Salem Court proceedings because there were many innocent people who were killed because of unfair trials.After seeing this video,I am definitely reconsidering the behaviors and attitudes of the people in the Crucible because they got afraid and blamed everything on witch craft because they had no other way of explaining it.
After watching the Ergot video my perspective on "The Crucible" has actually changed. The theory from the Ergot video was that there might have been LSD in the wheat that the girls ate. The girls had the same symptoms as a "bad trip". So all these people who were accused and hanged because the girls had the fits from a "bad trip". This makes me almost sick knowing that the people of Salem were so afraid of what they didn't know that they blamed it on the supernatural.
It was hard reading the Crucible and not say "they just had Ergot poisoning." It was very believable. They had good examples to why this could have happened. It is easier to understand why they saw the devil and other people with him. Witchcraft just isn't a very realistic excuse.
While the theory of the Ergot poisoning in Salem is very plausible for the history of the witch trials in Salem; I do believe in “The Crucible” Abigail and the others girls were naming women and pretending to see things out of pure enjoyment. I think that idea of the poisoning goes along perfectly with the actual history in Salem. It does help change my view on the history of the witch trials; because there is a chance that the people of Salem in 1963 were sick from poisoning caused in the wheat they were in taking, I do see it as a sad event rather than a crazy one now. Going back to “The Crucible”, I do think that Arthur Miller wrote the play with intentions of the girls creating the witch trials for enjoyment. Mary Warren would not have confessed it as a lie to John Proctor if she and the others were purely poisoned. In the end of act three she confesses to John that the Abigail was naming women for fun and that none of the girls including herself have ever seen the devil. Because of some of the events in the play; I have a hard time believing the girl in “The Crucible” were poisoned, I do believe the witch trials in the play were purely a game and an act to the girls of Salem.
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After watching the video excerpt about Ergot poisoning and the effects it has on people and cattle, it made me think about how most are afraid of the unknown and will go to drastic measures to come up with an explanation, no matter how exaggerated it may seem. Watching this video changed my opinion of "The Crucible" because before I didn't understand how people just believed what they were told so easily. Now I know that many just want a solution to what they are scared of, and if they go against what others believe, they might be deemed as suspicious as well. I think this is also very commonly seen in modern day today, people still don't think for themselves.
The possibility of ergot poisoning seems plausible, making it a likely theory. It also increased the belief of the theories and ideals back than, which would account for the rigorousness of the witch hunts. However, none of this would have happened if these people didn't have these irrational beliefs in the first place.
After watching the Ergot video my view of the Crucible has changed a little bit.In the ergot video they said that LSD was a very possible contender as to why people were making up things and for peoples strange behavior. In the Crucible people were automatically thinking that witchcraft was the answer to all the strange behavior and strange acts of people but maybe it was just their imaginations and mind not thinking clearly that caused people to not think straight.
After watching the Ergot video, I think the poisoning can be possible. but the video has changed my view on the Crucible. In the crucible the the people believed the first thing they hear but now they want an explanation of what scared them and they go against what others believe. Today, I think people do the same thing, they don't think for themselves.
After watching the Ergot video, I think the theory is very possible. I can understand now why the people in the Crucible were jumping to conclusions like witchcraft. But also I believe they went a little to far by hanging people and accusing almost every body in the village of some sort of witchcraft. Its pretty sad to think that so many people might have died just because they had been poisoned.
Just as in the Crucible, the court with out fact accuses people of witchcraft. We tend to make accusations about a group or individual and act before taking account the truth behind the situation.
I do think that the ergot theory is very very possible. Due to the fact that those under the influence of ergot report the same behavior/hallucinations when being under the influence of LSD. Shows the importance and huge impact that ergot can have on an individual. If those characters in The Crucible where under the influence of ergot would definitely explain the hallucinations of the devil and such as well as the unexplainable behavior. The court would have to re-think their proceedings for the main fact that those convicted my simply be under the influence of ergot instead of being witches. To prove that they are guilty of witchcraft they would have to have a way to test for presence of ergot before going to trial. The ergot theory is definitely possible and could have affected the characters behavior in a huge way.
The ergot theory was a huge surprise to me for a couple of reasons. First I was very surprised that the ergot has similar effects on people to LSD. This might explain the hallucinations of the girls claiming to see the devil and other such demons. If ergot was in fact present during the same time period. Then the characters would have definitely been effected in many ways.. Even if the person didn't know what was happening to them they would have had weird behavior and weird hallucinations. The courts would have had to try every one accused for traces of ergot before taking them to court for witchcraft. The ergot theory sounds pretty good to me because it explains why only some were affected and the strange behavior. Salem not knowing about this substance would have no clue about it and would be the reason for accusing people of witchcraft.
I definitely think that the theory the Ergot video proposed is plausible. Back then when they didn’t know very much about science and medicine, it would have definitely been possible for people to get poisoned without anyone even knowing. Because they had no idea where this strange behavior was coming from, they would have wanted to find some sort of explanation, and would have blamed it all on witchcraft. During the court hearings it is totally possible that the victims of “witchcraft” would have fits in the middle of testimonies and people would blame it on the witches being tried. This also changes our outlook on the behavior of the characters in that they sure would feel silly if they knew that these people had been poisoned by the grain and were not in fact victims of witchcraft.
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