Superstition

Superstition is a very popular thing and has been for some time. Many folks have lucky numbers, a lucky shirt, or a symbol that they carry with them that is meant to bring good luck. In sports superstitions run rampant. Players jump over the foul line to avoid bad luck, a pitcher on a roll will wear the same socks for each outing, and a player who hits well will never change his bat.

In the theater it is bad luck to say 'good luck' though a penny that is head's up is always good luck. Don't let a black cat cross your path and do not, I repeat, do not walk under a ladder. That is bad news bears.

Even our politicians are taking part in superstition while anticipating Tuesday's election. Barack Obama won two primaries on days when he played basketball. On two days when he lost primaries, he did not play basketball. He says that he will definitely play basketball on Tuesday. John McCain carries with him a lucky coin, a lucky rabbits foot, and even on some occasions has a lucky lizard. (He is from Arizona). Why is superstition so important? Let us look at this at a more logical level.

To assume that any sort of 'luckiness' is valid makes huge metaphysical assumptions about the world. When I say metaphysical assumption, I'm talking about making decisions about things that you can't see, things that are extra-physical, or outside of time and space. In order for superstitions to be true, there must be a coordinator of the results of superstitious outcomes. Let's take Obama's superstition about Tuesday. To assume that the playing of basketball somehow created a causal relationship with the outcome of the primary is to assume that there is a force outside of their own power adjusting the outcome, or adjusting the minds of the voters to agree with the basketball player. That's a huge assumption. And frankly one that is pretty silly. To assume that to play basketball again increases chances is to assume that the same director of outcomes will work again on your behalf. Interesting.

Even if we don't have these small superstitions, we still often believe that there is some force at work that will even things out. We assume this without giving the manager a name or a profile. We believe in karma. If I do good, good will happen to me. If I do bad, bad things will come to me. If that were true, then 1. there would be a standard of good and bad that we assume to be aware of, and 2. there would be a being powerful enough to change the future to coordinate with your actions.

So why do we believe it? Because things do happen in patterns, in fact, superstition works about 50% of the time. If I have a superstition about numbers, I will remember the times when the superstition worked, but I will forget when nothing happened, and pass it off as a fluke. The times when patterns happen are engrained in our mind as something special, where the chaotic pattern of everyday life does not impress us as all. We see patterns as supernatural, and we assume a supernatural conductor.

Superstitions are pretty silly, and I'm not thrilled that our potential world leaders are so fully engaged. Perhaps if there were a conductor, he would have a name and attributes; perhaps he would have given us guidelines that might actually have an impact. But those things are scary; we'd rather hold to our own little creators in the image of tiny rabbits feet.