Me Too!

[vegitafalis]

So since Siajara stole it from JennyLisa I'll steal it from her. Despite what the music industry, television and movie industries and intellectual property nuts will tell you progress is only made through theft of ideas

Comments

[vegitafalis]

I think it depends on what you believe a superstition is. I think traditionally people think of a superstition as a habit or practice formed for fear of supernatural reprecussion. Tossing spilled salt over your shoulder, not bathing after eating, etc. Often people don't regard them as superstitions, if it is supported by religious doctrine, unless of course it is supported by someone else's religious doctrine. Fasting for lent to a Catholic is not superstition, however not eating beef, pork or complete vegitarianism is, despite the same psychological underpinnings. Under this definition I do not believe that I have any superstitions. I do not believe that any action I commit, will have supernatural consequences regardless of the source.

However one could also say it is a habit or practice formed for fear of natural but unreasonable, unwarranted or even foolish reprecussion. Everyone has these, I think that this is really only superstitious when it becomes exagerated. Not leaving raw egg or uncooked chicken juice on the counter for fear of salmanila (or however you spell it) is reasonable and sane, though even at that if you didn't do so it isn't like there is a guarantee that anyone is going to get sick. Disinfecting your entire kitchen and showering after every time you handle chicken is superstitious (and neurotic, and we knew someone who pretty much did this). If you think the bird is that filthy why the heck would you ever eat it.

In this sense I think everyone is superstitious about somethings, however the exact illogical nature of these things prevents us from really being aware they are superstitions. I think the only time that people maintain superstitious behavior despite the rational knowledge that it is unreasonable or illogical is as an act of faith, or possibly as an affectation to generate some sort of desired persona or perception of themselves.

That being said, washing my hands is probably the most superstious behavior I have. It seems reasonable to me, but if I stop to think about it, I can say it is superstitious, not because of things that cause me to want to wash my hands, but juxtaposed to the things I don't. I wash my hands after using the restroom, after taking out the trash, after holding the handrails on public transportation or in public places, before meals. These are all pretty sane. I also wash my hands after shaking hands with people with clammy hands or otherwise when I get 'creeped out' by their handshake, but generally not others. After I use someone else's phone but not my own (even if it is say a work phone that I inhereited off my predecessors desk). And I don't scrub my face down or anything when I was my hands. So it is a little neurotic and illogical, therefore by the second definition of superstion, superstitious.

[jossel]

Re: your second paragraph, I think an act of faith sometimes comes out of learned experiences taken too far. So with your hands example, it may seem neurotic and illogical now but if you have an association with clammy hands and germs, (ie at some point you shook someone's hand, it was clammy, and then you got sick), then it is not superstitious as much as learned behavior. Now, its irrational to assume that everyone with clammy hands is going to have germs, but if that's your one experience... At some point your superstition really isn't so different from the scientific method, except that you fail to test it adequately and just assume the link between cause and effect.

A better example of this is a lucky t-shirt. Or the routine actions that ball players take before a game because they performed the routine before one game and in that game they played really well... This part gets tricky because that routine may actually help to boost one's confidence and thus increase performance. If the player doesn't do it s/he might be worried about it during the whole game, perform poorly, etc.

Just some initial thoughts, not sure I've teased through these ones thoroughly enough - you're more than welcome to of course : )

[jossel]

er, your third paragraph, not second