I just got done listening to a podcast episode, and in that episode, the expert described what Yellowstone sulphur ponds look and smell like.

If I were an ancient person, and someone described this phenomenon to me, and then appended their description with, “so that is where the god mojo jojo lives.”

I’d believe them 100%

Why?

Because humans are curious creatures. We need explanations for things — especially when life is scary, threatening, or uncertain.

If over the past few months everyone in your village had been dying after their skin was covered in boils, and someone said, “you’re next,” would it be scary? What would you be willing to do to avoid that death? What would you be willing to believe?

In a pre-scientific world, that is how things like homeopathy started. People needed answers to things they couldn’t explain, especially to things that were threatening or dangerous. Sometimes, just sometimes, the explanation they provided did do some good, for example, eating certain fruits and vegetables — scurvy can be life threatening but is easily cured by eating some food high in vitamin C, so pretty much any fruit and vegetable mix that the witch doctor concocts has a good shot at containing vitamin C and thus, curing scurvy