Comments on: Latah and the rules of rule breaking

By: Xavier Lawrence

Xavier Lawrence — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 05:49:54 +0000

Suprisingly, most of the individuals with this condition are usually ethnic malays. I have yet to come across any of the other ethnic races displaying the state of latah….Strange but True..

By: Lilian Nattel

Lilian Nattel — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:46:23 +0000

It would be interesting to know what characterizes people who are susceptible to this in Indonesia, and how people with those same character traits play them out in other cultures.

By: GeraldD

GeraldD — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:36:26 +0000

I am a UK expat living in Indonesia and have always been fascinated by Latah.
A lot of Indonesians believe that it is an act; a socially acceptable way of attention seeking in a culture that generally frowns on outbursts and overt individuality. I have never found it particularly convincing when I’ve encountered it but that might well be my cultural bias.
Equally fascinating is the phenomenon of hypnosis crime over here. My Indonesian friends and in-laws often recount how they or people they know have been hypnotized into emptying their bank accounts or handing over their valuables, normally after being tapped on the shoulder (?!)

By: brainfart

brainfart — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:45:53 +0000

Thanks for sharing the phenomenon Latah. This is the first time I have come across it. It reminds me of stage hypnotism. From what I understand, the ‘state’ in stage hypnotism is no more than simply giving one permission to be silly and act out different scenarios that may otherwise be inappropriate to act upon. There is a common factor here of suggestibility. I would be interested if anyone else made some connections here.