Wikipedia on the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic of 1962. (Via the excellent and eclectic Meine Kleine Fabrik.)
The Killing Joke
May 23rd, 2008 · 4 Comments
Tags: Asides
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4 responses so far ↓
1 M.Christian // May 23, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Thanks — so glad you liked it! I’m working on an article on mass hysteria right now for Dark Roasted Blend.
2 Jest A Minute « Pith Helmet // May 23, 2008 at 9:29 pm
[...] stranger than fiction,” Prof. Rob’t MacDougall, Propt’r & Gen. Mg’r of Old Is The New New, posted about an epidemic of laughter that occurred in Tanganyika in 1962 which was appropriately [...]
3 Mr. O. W. Lowe, ESQ. // May 24, 2008 at 12:35 pm
It’s rather like Monty Python’s “The Unknown Joke” skit, isn’t it?
But… if stress and pressure were significant factors, though, why wouldn’t it strike Japanese students, for instance?
This whole MPI thing sounds like an impressive name they assigned it to make it seem as if it were a rational clinical condition we understand.
4 Distractions » Blog Archive » Fritterlog // May 24, 2008 at 2:47 pm
[...] Rob MacDougall and the Wikipedia-blog Meine Kleine Fabrik, a Wikipedia article on Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic, [...]
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