The medical miracles delusion.

Humans are not ants, but we often trudge together along the same trail, neglecting to look around for alternatives. Mass delusions involve large groups holding false or exaggerated beliefs for sustained periods. Humanity has a long, sorry list of these shadow-the-leader epidemics of collective consciousness which appear obviously wrong only in hindsight. Some last for centuries: early alchemists intent on transmuting base metals into gold and the Christian Crusades of Europe’s middle ages, for example. Others have correlates which resurface decades or centuries later: McCarthy’s persecution of alleged communists in the 1950s harked back to the Salem Witch hunts of 16th century America just as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis had much in common with the ‘South Sea Bubble’ which slashed 17th century Britain’s GDP.