The genius is on the left, the lunatic is on the right

Chapter 26 The Curse of the Pharaoh
When Tutankhamun's tomb, the most mysterious pharaoh's tomb in ancient Egypt, was opened, a dusty curse also appeared in front of the "invaders". There was a stone tablet at the entrance of Tutankhamun's tomb. Impressively wrote a sentence: "Whoever disturbs the peace of this pharaoh, the god of death will spread his wings and descend on his head."

However, nothing can stop the long-cherished wish of years of hard work, and the archaeological team resolutely entered the deepest hidden tomb.

Since then, horrible things have happened one after another. First, Mr. Carnarvon, the sponsor of the archaeological team, died suddenly for no reason.A few months later, Carnarvon's assistant died in the hotel bathroom, and then a person involved in the excavation died unexpectedly...

Death seems to have taken special care of the team that discovered Tutankhamun's tomb, even the people around them.Could it be that opening the mausoleum really touched the souls of the dead deep in the ground?
Because of these inexplicable deaths, Tutankhamun's tomb was even shrouded in mystery and horror, and the words on the stone tablet, also known as "the curse of the pharaoh", were widely spread.

This is a real event that happened in the 20s, and everything around Mr. Carnarvon's death began to become confusing and unpredictable.Combined with words such as "curse" and "accidental death", everyone who participated in this work was terrified. They were afraid that the curse of death would fall on them at any time, so they became more and more anxious and panicked.

The more this is the case, the more curious people are, wanting to unravel the mystery behind the curse.Psychological and sociological researchers continue to visit those participants. However, when they aggregated the interview data, they found a strange phenomenon. The experiences described by these people are different each time, and, over time, With the passage of time, more and more mysterious colors are added, such as "a sudden flash of light in the tomb", "a mysterious flying insect flew by", "a faint voice from the depths of the ground" and other descriptions began to appear. .

Are these people making up?Or did these things actually happen?If so, why do their descriptions seem inconsistent?

The brain-burning logic of a genius or a madman
"The Curse of the Pharaoh" has been circulating, and the participants in those days have become more and more superstitious. There are many inexplicable taboos in their lives, such as not living in a room facing north, not going out on a certain day, and so on.Such superstitious behavior may not have a serious impact on their lives, but superstitious thoughts have troubled them for life.However, according to the research of scientists, the curse of the pharaoh is actually because some ancient mummies contained molds. For people with low immunity, they are likely to be infected with these toxic pathogens and lead to death.

Obviously science can get rid of these superstitions, why would people still prefer to be influenced by something completely irrational in their way of thinking and behavior?

Here, we can first cite the concept of "collective unconsciousness" proposed by Jung, the founder of analytical psychology. Jung believed that the so-called collective unconsciousness can be divided into individual and non-individual.The phenomenon of the individual is very easy to explain, because it only exists in the early memory of the infant; the latter is much more complicated, and may be related to the tradition of the ancestors, the remnants of life, and the inheritance of consciousness, which have passed through generations in different groups. Passed down from generation to generation, it can be found in everyone's mind and is universal, so it is called the collective unconscious.

This typical group psychological phenomenon can be said to be deeply rooted, and it enters people's brain memory unconsciously. Because of this "unconsciousness", people simply remember it without rationally analyzing and judging it. .Just like if you ask a Westerner why the number 13 is so taboo, he may answer the story of "The Last Supper", but there are more reasons that cannot be explained. The strongest support is "because Everyone shy away from it."

However, this explanation just provides a basis for those who support superstition. They believe that the superstition that can be accepted by so many people must be reasonable and have withstood the test of time.

When we look back at history, we can find that when science is not popular and people's lives are relatively backward, people are more inclined to find power from something more powerful or more mysterious.Just like people worship the sun and believe in the gods of wind, water, and fire. This is not only a fear of the unknown, but also an instinctive self-protection.Inner fear caused by ignorance is actually a negative emotion, which requires a positive energy to counteract it, and the pious belief in gods will erect a protective wall of "positive energy" in people's hearts to eliminate Counteract those fears.

In the results of the researchers' survey of the behavior of residents in war-torn areas and peaceful areas, it can also be seen that those who face more uncertainty are more superstitious, and they are more likely to avoid certain days. Or a special habit in order to find peace; it is also easier to worship something in order to find the belonging of the heart.

This "uncertainty" is actually an approximate concept to what we call "fear of the unknown".In other words, those living in a turbulent society are more likely to be anxious, have no confidence or sense of security about the future, at this time, they will regard superstition as belief, and carry it out to the end for no reason.

(End of this chapter)