The hoax about the brilliant doctor executed in the electric chair has been touching readers to the core for five years now. The author of “The Table” once again asks the question: why are we so easy to deceive?

About five years ago, a story called the “Massachusetts Experiment” spread widely across the Internet. It talked about the American doctor James Rogers, who developed an effective but unethical method of treating mentally ill people. For this, he was sentenced to death in the state of Massachusetts - death by electric chair. The matter did not come to the execution of the sentence: a few days before the execution, Rogers poisoned himself with a cyanide capsule brought to prison by his former patient.

It soon became clear that the whole story was a figment of the imagination of our contemporary. The hoaxer had no other goal than to test the limits of our gullibility and demonstrate his own talent. The “experiment” is still circulating on social networks, collecting indignant comments from users: how unfairly Americans treat brilliant scientists!

Dramatic plot

The heartbreaking story goes like this. The brilliant doctor James Rogers managed to develop a treatment method that helped return hopeless patients suffering from various personality disorders to normal life.

This helped the patient socialize and even get a job

The doctor did not try to appeal to the client’s common sense and logic and prove to him how ridiculous his thoughts and behavior were, since this was obviously useless (criticality in a number of mental illnesses is reduced).

On the contrary, he convinced the person that his problem was real, it occurs in others, but this is hushed up by those around him in every possible way.

Then Rogers proposed a way to get rid of the pathology and implemented it together with the patient. For example, he ordered an article from a biologist friend to convince a client who considered himself a giraffe that this was not the first case, and such people had previously successfully integrated into society. This helped the patient socialize and even get a job.

A little truth

Despite the fact that this story is fictitious from beginning to end, a similar technique is actually used in psychology and psychiatry.

If the client thinks that he is being watched, the doctor does not try to convince him otherwise

If the client thinks that he is being watched, the doctor does not try to convince him otherwise and does not give him a diagnosis of “delusion of persecution.” But he convinces him that surveillance does not pose any danger and is rather pleasant, because it is a manifestation of attention.

The famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud also used a similar technique. He helped a patient with imaginary pigeons in his head by blindfolding him and firing a shot from a gun nearby, after which he presented his client with two dead pigeons. This helped him get rid of the pathological feeling of birds in his own head and begin to live a full life.

In short, the methodology is more than convincing, which further reinforces faith in history as a whole.

Convincing facts

The author of the story apparently knew well what could give the story credibility. He picked up an old black and white photograph in which supposedly Dr. James Rogers sat casually in the middle of the room with a cigarette in his hand.

The article itself about the “Massachusetts Experiment” contains very specific facts that make it extremely plausible. The date of the event is indicated - 1965, the doctor's place of work - "University of Psychology and Neuropathology", the name of his university colleague - F. Rosentern and Rogers' patient - A. Platnovsky. Rogers' last message, left to the judge as a last word and, according to legend, published in The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, is especially impressive. It says that if we try to explain to another person the most obvious things about the world, we will understand that we exist in completely different worlds. Therefore, you should not impose your point of view on someone, regardless of the fallacy of his ideas. The main thing is that a person is comfortable with his vision of the world.

The man from the photograph

The photo attached to the article is not actually Dr. Rogers. This is an American writer and journalist Hunter Thompson. Like the fictional character, Hunter committed suicide. The events of this story are no less dramatic: at the age of 67, he was tormented by physical pain from operations and psychological pain from divorce, the loss of five children and other difficult circumstances of his life. But that's a completely different story.

Origin of the hoax

Where did the story come from and what was its purpose? The solution is quite simple. In 2013, Facebook social network user Alexander Shamarin published a series of sensational stories on his page. All of them turned out to be fictitious, which in no way detracts from the writing talent and creative imagination of the author, who easily made more than one thousand people believe in his stories. It is also obvious that Shamarin is well versed in psychology. The prototype of the doctor could be the American humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers. True, this is just a guess.

Hoaxers pursue various goals - from entertainment to political ones.

The hoaxer himself, in the post following the sensations, said that, being a cultured person, he decided to organize an exhibition at home and invite friends. To do this, he chose portraits of not the most famous personalities and came up with their stories in the spirit of those common on the Internet. The exhibition did not take place, but several stories ended up on the Internet, where they are still circulating to this day.

Elusive reality

Fictions and “half-truths” surround us everywhere, they concern both famous people and certain characters with whom we are unlikely to ever be able to talk and find out how true the stories about them are. This is what the authors of sensational statements are counting on. The old film “The Dog Wags its Tail” is very indicative in this sense, where the technology for creating news events is revealed.

Hoaxers pursue various goals - from entertainment to political ones. Thus, in 2014, public attention was attracted by a television story about a “crucified boy”, which was clearly aimed at inciting hatred towards Ukrainian soldiers. This is a case where the refutation of a lie was available to a much smaller audience than the one to which the original story was shown.

Learning to doubt and ask questions is a non-trivial task for a modern person

There are also more harmless situations. The story of a meteorite falling in the Moscow region of Barybino, for example, was staged by local activists to draw attention to the planned development of the area, which, in their opinion, was leading to an environmental disaster.

Today it is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to verify the authenticity of this or that information. “Facts” are losing value, the line between reality and fiction is becoming thinner and is breaking through in places.

The ease with which we can evoke sympathy and noble indignation, gather under a slogan and make us believe in a fairy tale, is amazing and a little scary. The “Massachusetts Experiment” is yet another proof of this, although harmless this time, but alarming. Learning to doubt and ask questions when any information is available in one click is a non-trivial task for a modern person. Thanks to user “Alexander Shamarin” for such a convincing reminder!

Captured in the photograph Dr. James Rogers. In 1965 he was sentenced to death by electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts experiment”, however, two days before his execution, while in his cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by one of his patients.

Recently, the “Massachusetts University of Psychology and Neuropathology,” where Dr. Rogers worked, officially stated that this the experiment is of great scientific importance, and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from James' remaining relatives. And the whole point is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique method of curing seemingly hopeless patients, which he himself developed. He intensified their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one. In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling all around him, Dr. Rogers would tell him that there were so. The whole world is covered in bugs. Some particularly sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it secret in order to prevent panic. The man left completely confident that everything was fine with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the beetles. After some time, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from cognitive-enphasic disorder, spoke at the trial. He believed that he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of this. He stopped talking and refused to take regular food other than leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist he knew to write a short article in which he would more or less scientifically describe the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature there are giraffes that are practically no different from people. That is, there are differences - the heart is a little larger, the spleen is a little smaller, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. At the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to death. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter, which he asked to publish in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The letter ended with the words: “You are too accustomed to the idea that everyone perceives the world the same way. But that's not true. If you get together and try to retell to each other the simplest and most obvious concepts, you will understand that you all live in completely different worlds. And only your comfort determines your mental peace. In this case, a person who believes that he is a giraffe and lives in peace with this knowledge is as normal as a person who believes that the grass is green and the sky is blue. Some of you believe in UFOs, some in God, some in morning breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Living in harmony with your faith, you are completely healthy, but as soon as you start defending your point of view, faith in God will make you kill, faith in UFOs will make you afraid of abduction, faith in a cup of coffee in the morning will become the center of your universe and destroy your life . A physicist will begin to give you arguments that the sky is not blue, and a biologist will prove that the grass is not green. In the end, you will be left alone with an empty, cold and completely unknown world, which our world most likely is. So no matter what kind of ghosts you populate your world with. As long as you believe in them, they exist, as long as you don’t fight them, they are not dangerous.”

08/12/2015 at 00:31

In 1965, he was sentenced to death in the electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts Experiment,” but two days before his execution, while in his cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by one of his patients.

Recently, the Massachusetts University of Psychology and Neuropathology, where Dr. Rogers worked, officially stated that this experiment is of great scientific importance and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phil Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from James' remaining relatives. And the whole point is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique method of curing seemingly hopeless patients, which he himself developed. He intensified their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one. In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling all around him, Dr. Rogers would tell him that there were so. The whole world is covered in bugs. Some particularly sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it secret in order to prevent panic. The man left completely confident that everything was fine with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the beetles. After some time, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from a cognitive-enphasic disorder, spoke at the trial. He believed that he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of this. He stopped talking and refused to take regular food other than leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist he knew to write a short article in which he would more or less scientifically describe the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature there are giraffes that are practically no different from people. That is, there are differences - the heart is a little larger, the spleen is a little smaller, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. At the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to death. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter, which he asked to publish in some newspaper. The letter "The Massachusetts Daily Collegian published." The letter ended with the words: “You are too accustomed to the idea that everyone perceives the world the same way. But this is not so. If you get together and try to retell to each other the simplest and most obvious concepts for you, you will understand that all of you you live in completely different worlds. And only your comfort determines your mental peace. In this case, a person who believes that he is a giraffe and lives in the world with this knowledge is as normal as a person who believes that the grass is green and the sky is blue. Someone Some of you believe in UFOs, some of you believe in God, some of you believe in morning breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Living in harmony with your faith, you are completely healthy, but as soon as you start defending your point of view, Faith in God will make you kill, Faith in UFOs will make you afraid of being kidnapped, Faith in a cup of coffee in the morning will become the center of your universe and destroy your life. . A physicist will begin to give you arguments that the sky is not blue, and a biologist will prove that the grass is not green. In the end, you will be left alone with an empty, cold and completely unknown world, which our world most likely is. So it doesn't matter what kind of ghosts you populate your world with. As long as you believe in them, they exist, as long as you don’t fight them, they are not dangerous.”

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Information about the university

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A world leader in the field of exact sciences and technologies, MIT traditionally ranks first in the world rankings of the best educational institutions and is considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Founded in 1861 to train engineers and technicians, the shortage of which was greatly felt in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution of that time, MIT transferred the model of a European polytechnic institute to American soil.

MIT was officially incorporated in Massachusetts in 1861 and received a grant of land two years later. William Barton Rogers, founder and first president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, worked for many years to create an institution of higher education entirely dedicated to the training of scientists and engineers. The outbreak of the American Civil War delayed the opening of a full-fledged university until 1865, when the first 15 students began studying in programs taught in Boston.

MIT moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1916. The large college town is located along the banks of the Charles River. Under the administration of President Carl T. Compton (1930-48), the institute grew from a technical school of good standing into a world-renowned center for scientific and technological research.

MIT has made major contributions to the development and dissemination of digital technologies. In the mid-1980s, several of the largest organizations related to IT, software and the Internet were created here: Richard Stallman's GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation and others.

In this regard, the MIT Libraries deserve special mention, as they demonstrate a new concept for the modern library by supporting the Institute's research programs with both innovative and traditional solutions.

Students, faculty, and researchers can connect to a wide range of library resources from classrooms, the residence hall, or through the mobile version of the site. Each of the network's libraries features state-of-the-art rooms ideal for teamwork and virtual meetings with colleagues from around the world, as well as quiet, isolated rooms for independent study.

In 1976, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology became an official participant in the state program for the study, use and conservation of the country's water and atmospheric resources, and in 1989 - in space exploration. In addition, the largest university nuclear reactor in the United States is located on its campus. The university has also developed several environmental programs, including programs for water purification and the use of alternative energy sources for household needs on campus.

Throughout its existence, the university has been preparing highly qualified specialists in the field of exact sciences, technologies and related scientific fields.

See the positions of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the leading international rankings of technical universities in the world here.

Notable Alumni and Distinguished Faculty

• 80 Nobel laureates;
• 56 National Medal of Science recipients;
• 43 MacArthur Research Fellows;
• 28 National Technology and Innovation Award Winners.

The story about the “Massachusetts experiment” quickly spread throughout the Internet. Shocking facts, the death penalty, mentally ill patients and experiments on them...

This photograph, according to the anonymous author of the story, depicts the man who developed and conducted that very “Massachusetts experiment,” James Rogers, a doctor at the University of Massachusetts in psychology and neuropathology.

This whole story happened in 1965, when the American authorities became aware of what a psychiatrist was doing within the walls of the university.

Massachusetts experiment

According to the author of the story, the experiment on patients was carried out in the 60s. Dr. James Rogers developed a unique technique with which he achieved success even with terminally ill patients. The essence of the experiment was to intensify their paranoia so much that as a result a new round of it appeared, thereby correcting the existing one.

For example, if a patient kept seeing huge black beetles around him, Dr. Rogers did not try to dissuade him. He, on the contrary, said that it was so, that the world was inhabited by these huge creatures. Some people who have highly developed sensitivity see them, but everyone else is so used to them that they simply don’t notice. The state is already aware of all this, but keeps it secret so as not to stir up panic. Thus, thanks to the doctor’s conviction, the person left the office believing that he was absolutely healthy, resigned himself to the beetles surrounding him and tried not to notice them. And after some time there were cases where patients were completely cured.

However, there were also more complex cases. For example, Aaron Platnovsky, who was a patient of the doctor and suffered from a severe form of mental disorder. The patient was firmly convinced that he was a giraffe, and, thanks to the doctor’s efforts, believed that this was absolutely normal. It was impossible to dissuade him of this. Neither comparing his photo with a photo of a giraffe, nor logical arguments helped. Aaron got so used to the role of a giraffe that he stopped talking altogether, only making some kind of mooing sounds. And then he completely abandoned normal human food and switched to grass and leaves.

In 1965, Dr. James Rogers was sentenced to death as punishment for the “Massachusetts experiment” and mockery of the psyche of patients. The court considered the doctor's actions inhumane, immoral and dangerous to people's lives. However, Rogers never saw the punishment carried out. A few days before his execution, he poisoned himself with potassium cyanide, which was given to him by one of his former patients.

According to the author of the story, Dr. Rogers left behind an angry message in which he said that people are accustomed to the idea that everyone sees this world the same way. But this is not at all true, because everyone lives in different worlds. And those who believe that they are giraffes are as normal as those who see that the sky is blue. After all, there are scientists who can also prove that it is not blue at all. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how we see this world, but as long as we believe in what we see, we are mentally healthy and harmless to ourselves and others.

Massachusetts experiment: true or false

Interesting story, isn't it? But is all this true? Most likely not. After all, the story received wide publicity only in

Internet, and here anything can happen. And it doesn't have to be true.

There is no other information about the “Massachusetts experiment” or Dr. James Rogers, except for the above, anywhere, not even on the Internet. The author of this story wishes to remain anonymous. And in the photograph supposedly depicting the doctor, it is not him at all, but Thompson Hunter Stockton, a famous American journalist and writer who died in 2005.

And of course, the University of Massachusetts Psychology and Neuropathology does not appear anywhere, except for a sudden link to an article by our anonymous author.

So you should not unconditionally believe everything that is written on the Internet, even if it looks very plausible.

Hunter Stockton Thompson was born in 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thompson's first name came from a presumed ancestor on his mother's side, the Scottish surgeon John Hunter. Thompson's father died very early, and his mother eventually began to drink heavily. The future scandalous journalist had all the skills to play sports. He was invited to clubs for juniors, but he never went anywhere. Hunter got into journalism, joined a literary club and helped create the yearbook The Spectator. But he was kicked out due to problems with the law. Charged with being an accessory to a robbery after riding in a car with a gunman, Thompson was sentenced to 60 days in jail. After his early release, the writer was enlisted in the US Air Force.

Thompson was only 20 years old when he wrote a letter to a friend who was asking for life advice. This happened about 10 years before the journalist wrote his first scandalous report about life with bikers from the Hells Angels motorcycle club. The book appeared in Russian later under the title “Hell’s Angels.” In that letter, Hunter discusses the meaning of life:

“Go with the flow or swim towards the goal? This is a choice we all have to make, consciously or unconsciously. Few people understand this! Think about any decision you've ever made that affected your future: I could be wrong, but I don't see what it could be if not a choice. But why not give in to the flow if there is no goal? That's another question. It's certainly better than swimming in the unknown. So how can a person find purpose? Not a castle in the stars, but a real and tangible thing. How can a person be sure that this is not an illusion? The answer and the tragedy is that we evaluate incorrectly, we look at the goal, not at the person. We created it, and it requires certain things from us. We adapt to demands that CANNOT be valid.”

Dr. James Rogers Massachusetts Experiment. It's a shame not to know such obvious things! The famous Massachusetts experiment

"The photograph shows Dr. James Rogers. In 1965, he was sentenced to death by electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts experiment,” but two days before his execution, while in his cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by someone one of his patients.
Recently, the “Massachusetts University of Psychology and Neuropathology,” where Dr. Rogers worked, officially stated that this experiment is of great scientific importance and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from James' remaining relatives. And the whole point is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique method of curing seemingly hopeless patients, which he himself developed. He intensified their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one.
In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling all around him, Dr. Rogers would tell him that there were so. The whole world is covered in bugs. Some particularly sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it secret in order to prevent panic. The man left completely confident that everything was fine with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the beetles. After some time, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from cognitive-enphasia disorder, spoke at the trial. He believed that he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of this. He stopped talking and refused to take regular food other than leaves.
Dr. Rogers asked a biologist he knew to write a short article in which he would more or less scientifically describe the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature there are giraffes that are practically no different from people. That is, there are differences - the heart is a little larger, the spleen is a little smaller, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. At the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to death. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter, which he asked to publish in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian."
This text will probably end up or has already ended up in your stupid Facebook feed with its stupid reposts of stupid stories... And stupid Facebook readers believe it. There are many psychologists among stupid Facebook readers. And among psychologists there are a lot of really stupid people. However, even the more intellectual VKontakte was also not spared by another wave of distribution of reposts about the Massachusetts experiment. Readers should be prepared for this experiment to come up in idle conversations among acquaintances.
Yesterday I was talking with a novice psychologist, and she casually told me: “Vasily, do you remember how a similar method was used in the Famous Massachusetts Experiment?”
And I felt ashamed. I don't remember. But I didn’t show it and nodded my head in agreement: “Of course, I remember.”
I wanted to check this story and find the original source. When I went online, I felt completely ashamed. Where did I study psychology, in what basements? Why were they hiding it from me? If I don’t even know that such a famous scientist was sentenced to death, he innocently suffered from the authorities. And this happened quite recently. What a shame! It’s good that I didn’t admit to the psychologist about my lack of education.
It’s only strange, after all, that I had never heard of such a striking fact before...
But having delved deeper into the topic, I was pleased to discover that the Massachusetts Experiment is a famous fake. It was dismantled back in 2013. For example, at a trowel.

Another wave of this story circulating on the Internet has begun. This is exactly what the story itself sounds like. I quote:

The photograph shows Dr. James Rogers. In 1965, he was sentenced to death in the electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts experiment,” but two days before his execution, while in his cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by one of his patients.

Recently, the “Massachusetts University of Psychology and Neuropathology,” where Dr. Rogers worked, officially stated that this experiment is of great scientific importance and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from James' remaining relatives. And the whole point is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique method of curing seemingly hopeless patients, which he himself developed. He intensified their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one.

In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling all around him, Dr. Rogers would tell him that there were so. The whole world is covered in bugs. Some particularly sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it secret in order to prevent panic. The man left completely confident that everything was fine with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the beetles. After some time, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from cognitive-enphasia disorder, spoke at the trial. He believed that he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of this. He stopped talking and refused to take regular food other than leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist he knew to write a short article in which he would more or less scientifically describe the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature there are giraffes that are practically no different from people. That is, there are differences - the heart is a little larger, the spleen is a little smaller, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. At the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to death. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter, which he asked to publish in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The letter ended with the words:

“You are too accustomed to the idea that everyone perceives the world the same way. But that's not true. If you get together and try to retell to each other the simplest and most obvious concepts, you will understand that you all live in completely different worlds. And only your comfort determines your mental peace. In this case, a person who believes that he is a giraffe and lives in peace with this knowledge is as normal as a person who believes that the grass is green and the sky is blue. Some of you believe in UFOs, some in God, some in morning breakfast and a cup of coffee. Living in harmony with your faith, you are completely healthy, but as soon as you start defending your point of view, faith in God will make you kill, faith in UFOs will make you afraid of abduction, faith in a cup of coffee in the morning will become the center of your universe and destroy your life . A physicist will begin to give you arguments that the sky is not blue, and a biologist will prove that the grass is not green. In the end, you will be left alone with an empty, cold and completely unknown world, which our world most likely is. So it doesn't matter what kind of ghosts you populate your world with. As long as you believe in them, they exist, as long as you don’t fight them, they are not dangerous.”

End of quote.

Let's start with who is in the photo.

This is a man who lived a very exciting life and ended it no less beautifully. Further from Wikipedia: “The football season is over. No more games. No bombs. No walks. No fun. No swimming. 67. That's 17 more years than 50. 17 more than what I needed or wanted. Boring. I'm always angry. No fun for anyone. 67. You are becoming greedy. Act your age. Relax – it won’t hurt.”

Shot. On February 21, 2005, Hunter Stockton Thompson was found at Owl Farm in Woody Creek near Aspen, Colorado with a gunshot wound to the head. There were no direct witnesses to the incident; Thompson's wife Anita, who lived with her husband, left the house shortly before the fatal shot. The writer's body was found in the hallway by his son, Juan Thompson, who was in the house with his wife and son. Accident? Hardly. Thompson was too good with a gun.

Suicide? Can this be called suicide? Most likely, Thompson simply ended his life as a warrior, performing a sad ritual on himself. “Recently, he has been plagued by injuries and illnesses – he suffered a broken leg and surgery on his hip.” Thus he overcame old age. “I think he made a conscious decision. He lived his 67 years admirably, he lived the way he wanted - and was not prepared to suffer the indignities of old age, says Douglas Brinkley, a historian and friend of the writer. “It wasn’t an irrational act.” It was a well-planned act. He wasn't going to let anyone dictate how he should die."

The writer’s widow, Anita, expresses similar thoughts: “For Hunter, as a master of political moves and a supporter of the idea of ​​control, it was completely normal for the decision to end his life on his own schedule, with his own hands, and not to give power over himself to fate, genetics or chance. And although we will regret it bitterly, we understand his decision. Let the world know that Hunter Thompson died with a full glass in his hands, a fearless man, a warrior." - Rolling Stone.

As for the text of the story itself, there is information that the author of the hoax is Alexander Shmarin, who published an “article” about the doctor on Facebook on May 21, 2013.

A week later, on May 28, Alexander Shmarin admitted that this and other sensations of his authorship were hoaxes: “Thank you all very much. I thought I’d amuse my friends by writing about fifteen stories, stylized as classic stories from the Internet, attaching pictures of various figures to them, printing them out, putting them in frames and setting up an exhibition “Persona non grata” in the apartment. Myth in the Internet environment as a cultural space”, taking place in the context of the “Era of New Seriousness” events. The exhibition, of course, was necessary to invite friends not just to drink, but to drink at the opening of the exhibition, as befits cultured and senseless people. And after a couple of hours the situation got out of control. The idea of ​​the exhibition has now apparently lost all meaning, but I promise to post the remaining four texts. To anyone who has friended me for any reason, I express my sincere sympathy.”

Naturally, the University of Massachusetts Psychology and Neuropathology does not exist in nature... Actor James Rogers and country star Jimmie Rodgers could serve as the prototype for James Rogers...

"The photograph shows Dr. James Rogers. In 1965, he was sentenced to death by electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts experiment,” but two days before his execution, while in his cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by someone one of his patients.

Recently, the “Massachusetts University of Psychology and Neuropathology,” where Dr. Rogers worked, officially stated that this experiment is of great scientific importance and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from James' remaining relatives. And the whole point is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique method of curing seemingly hopeless patients, which he himself developed. He intensified their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one.

In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling all around him, Dr. Rogers would tell him that there were so. The whole world is covered in bugs. Some particularly sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it secret in order to prevent panic. The man left completely confident that everything was fine with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the beetles. After some time, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from cognitive-enphasia disorder, spoke at the trial. He believed that he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of this. He stopped talking and refused to take regular food other than leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist he knew to write a short article in which he would more or less scientifically describe the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature there are giraffes that are practically no different from people. That is, there are differences - the heart is a little larger, the spleen is a little smaller, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. At the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to death. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter, which he asked to publish in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian."

This text will probably end up or has already ended up in your stupid Facebook feed with its stupid reposts of stupid stories... And stupid Facebook readers believe it. There are many psychologists among stupid Facebook readers. And among psychologists there are a lot of really stupid people. However, even the more intellectual VKontakte was also not spared by another wave of distribution of reposts about the Massachusetts experiment. Readers should be prepared for this experiment to come up in idle conversations among acquaintances.

Yesterday I was talking with a novice psychologist, and she casually told me: “Vasily, do you remember how a similar method was used in the Famous Massachusetts Experiment?”
And I felt ashamed. I don't remember. But I didn’t show it and nodded my head in agreement: “Of course, I remember.”

I wanted to check this story and find the original source. When I went online, I felt completely ashamed. Where did I study psychology, in what basements? Why were they hiding it from me? If I don’t even know that such a famous scientist was sentenced to death, he innocently suffered from the authorities. And this happened quite recently. What a shame! It’s good that I didn’t admit to the psychologist about my lack of education.

It’s just strange, after all, that I had never heard of such a striking fact before...

But having delved deeper into the topic, I was pleased to discover that the Massachusetts Experiment is a famous fake. It was dismantled back in 2013. For example, at