Strange Explanations Essay, Research Paper
Sleeping disorders occur to millions of people around the world. People say that they are medical problems, and some people would just say it was stress. Then there is the explanation that some people choose to follow that is the explanation that aliens had abducted these people. People around the world resort to many different forms of explanations for things that have happened. Some of these are pretty sensible, while others are completely off the wall. Strange explanations are used for many things, the Puritans chose to explain the strange behavior of young girls in the community by saying witches had possessed them. In today’s time we still use strange explanations, this can be shown in the idea of spontaneous combustion and alien abduction.
The Crucible brought to life the depressingly, amazing story of the Salem witch trials. Even better it showed how a sensible group of people could take an ordinary situation and give it an extreme explanation. When young girls of the village began to act strangely, the explanation that witches were to blame was quick to be accepted. “I knew it! Goody Osburn were midwife to me three times My babies always shriveled in her hands” (47). Soon people of high status are being accused. It’s as if no one is safe from the crazy explanation that has stemmed from a very ordinary situation.
Rebecca’s in the jail They’ve surely gone wild now, Mr. Hale My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church, Mr. Hale-and Martha Corey, there cannot be a woman more closer to God yet than Martha . Believe me, Mr. Nurse, if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning (71).
In the end, the only thing the Puritan’s succeeded in explaining was how sensible people can be gullible enough to believe such radical ideas.
While the Puritans chose to say witchcraft was the reason for such an ordinary occurrence, some people today choose to use alien abduction as another. These people say that ordinary things like a sinus headache or an unusual scar or mark they can’t remember ever having are signs of an alien abduction. Then there is the idea that if a person must sleep against the wall or with their bed against the wall it means they could easily have been abducted.
While some choose to find explanations for strange behaviors or other ordinary things, others choose to use radical explanations to define an extreme situation. Take for example the case of Mrs. Charles Williamson, who on a January morning in 1932 suddenly burst into flames. She had not been beside any fire, nor had she been in contact with any cleaning fluid or other flammable substances. The explanation: spontaneous combustion, or when an unsuspecting person suddenly bursts into flames. Many find this explanation hard to believe, but there are the few who find this to be a normal occurrence in everyday life.
All in all, it is hard to believe all these explanations. Some we know to be false, while others have yet to be proven either way. Still, it is hard to imagine the idea of every day people relying on extreme explanations for certain situations. Who knows, maybe alien abduction really is the reason people suffer from insomnia? Then again, someone else could have an even better explanation.
Works Cited
“Spontaneous Combustion.” 1 June 1999
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin, 1976.
“58 signs you could have been abducted.” .