Between 1400 and 1780, it is estimated that 100,000 people, mostly women, were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe. Approximately half were executed: murders motivated by a constellation of beliefs about women, truth, evil and magic by qualifying them as witches.
But the witch hunt would not have had the scope it had without the media machinery that made it possible: a printed manual industry that taught readers how to find and exterminate witches.
I regularly impart a class on philosophy and witchcraft, where we analyze the religious, social, economic and philosophical contexts of the witch hunt of the first modern era in Europe and colonial America. I also teach and invest the ethics of digital technologies.
These fields are not as different as they seem. The parallels between the dissemination of false information in the era of witch hunt and in the current online information ecosystem are surprising and instructions.
Birth of an editorial empire
The printing press, invented around 1440, revolutionized the dissemination of information, contributing to create the equivalent of the time to a viral conspiracy theory.
For 1486, two Dominican friars published the “Malleus Maleficarum” or “Hammer de las Brujas”. The book contains three central statements that came to dominate witch hunt.
First, he describes women as morally weak and, therefore, more likely to be witches. Second, it closely links witchcraft with sexuality. The authors claim that women are sexually insatiable, part of what leads them to witchcraft. Third, witchcraft implies a pact with the devil, which tempts witch aspiring through pleasures such as orgies and sexual favors. After establishing these “facts”, the authors conclude with instructions to interrogate, torture and punish the witches.
The book was a success. He had more than two dozen editions and was translated into several languages. While the “Malleus Maleficarum” was not the only text of this type, its influence was enormous.
Before 1500, witch hunting in Europe was uncommon. But after the “Malleus Maleficarum,” charged impulse. In fact, the new editions of the book correlate with the increase in witch hunt in central Europe. The success of the book was not only due to its content, but also to its credibility. Pope Innocent VIII had recently affirmed the existence of witches and conferred authority to the inquisitors to pursue them, which gave the book greater authority.
Ideas about witches from previous texts and folklore, such as the “fact” that witches could use spells to make the penis disappear, they were recycled and reorganized in the “Malleus Maleficarum”, which in turn served as “source” for future works. It was frequently summoned in later manuals and integrated into civil law.
The popularity and influence of the book contributed to the consolidation of a new field of specialization: the demonologist, an expert in the dire activities of the witches. As the demonologists repeated their false statements, a resonance chamber of “evidence” was created. Thus, the identity of the witch was formalized: dangerous and decidedly feminine.
The skeptics counteratacan
Not everyone believed in hysteria about the witches. Already in 1563 dissident voices emerged, although, notably, most did not argue that the witches were not real. Instead, they questioned the methods used to identify and process them.
Dutch doctor Johann Weyer argued that women accused of witchcraft suffered from melancholy (what we would call mental illness today) and needed medical treatment, not execution. In 1580, the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne visited imprisoned Bruges and concluded that they needed “eléboro instead of hemlock”: Medicine instead of poison.
These skeptics also identified something more insidious: the moral responsibility of those who disseminated the stories. In 1677, the English chaplain, doctor and philosopher John Webster wrote a scathing criticism, stating that most of the demonologists were simple copies and pegas, where the authors repeated the lies of others. Demonologists did not offer any original analysis, no evidence or witnesses, which prevented them from complying with the standards of good investigation.
The cost of this failure was enormous. As Montaigne wrote: “The witches of my neighborhood are in danger of death every time a new author who confirms the reality of his visions appears.”
Demonologists benefited from the social and political status associated with the popularity of their books. The economic benefit fell, for the most part, in printers and booksellers, what we know today as editors.
Witch hunt faded throughout the 18th century throughout Europe. Doubts about the standards of evidence and the growing awareness that the accused of “witch” could have suffered delusions were factors that contributed to the end of persecution.
The voices of the skeptics were heard.
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Psychology of viral lies in the era of misinformation
The skeptics of the first modern era understood something we still deal with today: certain people are more vulnerable to believe in extraordinary statements. They identified the “melancholic”, people with predisposition to anxiety and fantastic thinking, as particularly susceptible.
Nicolas Malebranche, a 17th -century French philosopher, believed that our imagination has an enormous power to convince us of false things, especially the fear of invisible and evil forces.
He pointed out that “extravagant tales of witchcraft are taken as authentic stories”, which increases the credulity of people. The more stories they told, the greater their influence on the imagination. The repetition served as a false confirmation.
“If they stopped punishing (women accused of witchcraft) and treated them like crazy,” Malebranche wrote, “in a short time they would stop being sorceresses.”
Current researchers identified similar patterns in the spread of misinformation and erroneous information (false information aimed at confusing or manipulating people) online.
We are more likely to believe stories that are familiar to us, stories that connect with content that we have already seen. The “Like”, shared publications and retweets become indicators of truth. The emotional content designed to impact or outraged is quickly spreading a great distance.
Social networks are particularly fertile land. The algorithms of the companies are designed to maximize the interaction, so a publication that receives “likes”, “share” and “comment” will be shown more people. The greater the number of spectators, more probability of interaction, and so on, creating a confirmation bias cycle.
Speed of a key to misinform
The skeptics of the first modern era reserved their hardest criticisms not for those who believed in witches, but for those who spread the stories. However, they kept a curious silence about financial referees and beneficiaries of what was printed and circulated: editorials.
Today, 54% of American adults are informed at least a little through social networks. These platforms, such as the printers of yesteryear, not only distribute information. They mold our beliefs through algorithms that prioritize interaction on precision: the more a story is repeated, the greater its priority.
Witch hunting offers an alert reminder that deception and misinformation are recurring characteristics of human society, especially in times of technological change and social agitation. While we sail for our information about the information, the questions of those first skeptics remain urgent: who assumes responsibility when false information causes real damage? How do we protect the most vulnerable from exploitation by those who benefit from confusion and fear?
At a time when anyone can be editor and extravagant stories spread at the speed of a key, understanding how previous societies dealt with similar challenges is not only academic: it is essential.
*Julie Walsh She is an associated professor of critical thinking and philosophy at Wellesley College, Whitehead.
This text was originally published in The Conversation
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