Your superstition is amazing especially for an IQ baring lady. Go on but switch your brain on! You must not read my statement, I think it could be my 13th answer?? ;-))

Dear Maria,

There is no and should not be such a thing as superstition for an intelligent mind than reason. 

You really have a lot of courage dear Maria!

Thank you, Hanno! This is my 14th question!

And your wise words are welcome whatever their number !

My black cat doesn't bring bad luck, except when he moves from right to left, or backwards.

In the end, we'll all agree on the silliness of the subject, but I have noticed several severe cases of superstitious behaviour. And I wonder why... Is there a pragmatical scientific explanation, apart from insecurity?

There is no room for superstition in a mind which follows the scientific way of thinking. Friday the 13th is just another day in the calender and a black cat is just a lovely animal like other cats and there are no ghosts or Draculas in our present time. I do not believe in horoscopes but may read them for fun only.

My dear friend, Maria,

What a daring Gothic question, in the Edgar Allan Poe vogue!

In my humble view, superstition is a supernatural belief un-based on reason or scientific knowledge, but on irrational ideas and what I may loosely call the morbid acuteness of the senses! According to superstition, if one walks under a ladder it brings him/her bad luck!

I would surely never walk under a ladder, specially if there is a bucket of paint on it!

I´m happy that you can count.Big humorous greetings Hanno

I like your great sense of humor, dear Maria! I really do.

Dear suffering colleques,

I propose to discuss the reasons and inducement for superstition. It´s a existing behaviour. Why?

In my pragmatic and scientific mind there is a lot of room for superstition. However, superstition is only an instinctive phenomenon that falls when the reason begins to work. There are so many ways in the folk tradition to ward off misfortune and they appear to do for me so much sympathy that often I repeat them as a joke. 

In summary: NOT TRUE, BUT I BELIEVE!

Yes, thank you!

My idea is that there is a certain degree of insecurity that accompanies the sensitivity of some reasoning minds.

Yes it is, dear Hanno! If you'd like to know more, I suggest reading the fiction of the American author Edgar Allan Poe. He really loves bizarre ideas and supernatural experiences. His short story, "The Black Cat," is one such example of the superstitious at best! 

Yes, dear Marwan. In fact quite gothic, I admit. 

But I consider Edgar Allen Poe one of the brightest intelligent writers of his Era.

And I do share you that consideration, dear Maria!

Dear all,

Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite writers. I love his stories, all!!! But not because of superstition, just because of the totally fascinating irreal world.

Albert Einstein was superstitious.

Thank you, Renzo, I was looking for a psychological analysis on the subject. What you defined as anxiety, is what made me think of insecurity, which is how I analyse the feeling of loneliness brought by different/original ideas.

In that sense, there might be room for both, even in the more pragmatic, insensitive mind.

Dear Renzo,

your message is a statement but I´m missing the reasons.

The mind is powerful, but not enough to control emotions and superstition, fortunately.  Even the stupid things and empty minds make sense in the real world. 

If superstition makes an author of a scientific paper check the correctness of a paper 50 times before submission, I say "Go for it, superstition!". :-) 

Dear Michael,

it´s not superstition, it´s fear to be bad. A real reason to hesitate.

Dear All,

Superstition is a human weakness. Superstition is a consequence of education and cultural environment. Superstitions are produced often by inexplicable phenomena. Many phenomena cannot be explained even by scientists. Scientists are humans.

Dear Michael, Yes, revising 50 times is no superstition, but simply perfectionism. Much more pragmatic and intelligent, than walking a step back to try and begin with the right foot. That was foolish and that delayed the Viva for half a second!

Thank you for your lovely black cat, dear Kamal. It will certainly remove bad spirits away from this thread! 

Dear András, thank you. Yes I believe in weakness as an integrating part of human beings. They keep us going.

Yes, Hanno, I agree, that we should ask Renzo to give us further analysis on the subject. There surely are some more interesting data to analyse this issue.

Dear Marwan,

Dear All,

For me the tales and short stories of Edgar Allan Poe may be the most imaginative issues of Belles-lettres. I like them very much. I have never thought they would be manifestation of superstitions.

Dear Maria,

''Is there room for superstition in the more pragmatical, scientific mind?'' A scientific person should as much as possible be scientific in its discourse and such a discourse by definition is a rational narrative about the world and thus exclude in principle the supernatural.  That being said, even a person with a high level of scientific training and practice do not have a purely rational mind and it would be wrong to even try to achieve this goal.  Scientific reasoning has not much to do with how human behave. We often think we act consciously and rationally but multiple studies have shown that we are unconscious of how unconscious we are and we overly try to rationalized what we have done after the fact.  Most of our action are done for reasons we ignore as was saying Pascal.  In science we always tries to find abstract forces, structures acting behing the scence which is very similar to the so-called animist tendencies to ascribe what is happening to invisible agents.  The more tragic and disastrous events will be and the more strong this tendencies to assign the events  to conscious malicious invisible forces.  If we get very great benefit from a rare random events we will have a strong tendency to ascribe this event to a benevolent loving conscious agent.   Scientific training has very little effects on these subconscious tendencies. It does not matter if one decide to resist such tendencies, there are built-in like desire for foods when we are hungry.  Even if someone would get convince that eating too much is irrational, trying to convince oneself repeatedly that it is so will just make things worse.  So by the nature of our work which is to create rationalistic narrative about the world we exclude anything non-rational.  But it is not rational to think that we human being or a scientist is rational.  All scientific research in psychology has rationally demonstrated that we are not rational and scientist are not exception.  But should not be taken to be a failure on our part.  Only robots are rational.

Dear All,

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. “ Is it a superstition?

Dear All,

I agree with Louis. By the way, in the pragmatic, scientific mind there is room for not only superstitions. I think the remaining superstitions are not determining the thinking and activity of a scientist. Frankly spoken, I do not care of with which foot a scientist enter a room.

I think there is some confusion between superstition and the supernatural.  Edgar Allen Poe' stories are gothic horror/supernatural, not superstition.  The supernatural entails belief in ghosts, spirits, demons, mysterious forces, unexplained events, etc.  There is no room for the supernatural in the intelligent mind, unless, of course, one is an intelligent Wiccan or Satanist, but I'm not sure intelligence is an attribute that can be applied to such groups.

When we say we "believe in superstition" the word "believe" does not have the same value as in the case of strongly held religious beliefs. It might be better to say that we react subconsciously and spontaneously to superstitions than that we believe in them.  Our reactions to superstitions are social conventions and customs gained over a lifetime of social and psychological conditioning.  They are no different than patting someone on the back for a job well done, saying "bless you" when someone sneezes, saying "break a leg" to someone about to go on stage.  These reflex reactions are conditioned behavior and they are trivial and inconsequential in terms of evaluating level of intelligence. 

Superstitions and our reactions to them can exist in the intelligent mind without diminishing intelligence in the slightest.

Of course, that's just my opinion and I'm stickin' to it!  I just knocked on wood about that statement and I felt .75% of my intelligence slipping away. 

It might be interesting to consider if superstitions are universal.  Are there superstitions that are unique to your country?

Best regards and thanks to Maria for an interesting question!

John

What is a superstition is mostly in the eye of the beholder.  What is held hard scientific fact for someone will be seen as a superstition by another one and vice versa.  In, The Stability Of Beliefs 

 https://www.missouriwestern.edu/orgs/polanyi/mp-stability.htm

 Michael Polanyi compared the strongly held beliefs of the Azande people with strongly held scientific beliefs and with strongly held political beliefs.  He shows that there is no way to proove nor to disprove a belief within a frameworkd of beliefs.  Any frameworkd of beliefs is circular, it cannot be invalidated within itself.

Polanyi's point was to oppose Popper's notion of falsifiability as a critera for distinguishing science from non-science.  Polanyi was not a relativist, he strongly belief in science but he said this is a conviction and a belief that one has to held and defend but that none can proove. The point of Polanyi was that one should defend his/her strongly held belief not with faked certainty into so-called difference between science and non-science but with his proud affirmation.  Polanyi's point was to promote the notion that scientific discovery is driven by implicit tacit knowledge which cannot be expressed at first but only intuit.  Then how can a researcher justifies a research program based on such vague intuition when a faked positivist scientific culture is promoting the value of precise knowledge against vague knowledge that one gain trhough experience.

From wiki: "Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality—that one event causes another without any natural process linking the two events—such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, prophecies, etc., that contradicts natural science."

Accordingly there should be room for superstition in a scientific mind. But  "superstition" can be a scientific field as one can see from the following book:

Stuart A. Vyse Believing in Magic:ThePsychology of Superstition. Oxford University Press 1997, 2014.

I think so. Human beings like us may not be as direct, objective and "scientific" as automatons. This element of subjectivity and "randomness" in us would more likely be the factor of us having a room for superstitions.

Yes, there is. The human mind is an infinity of combinations of ideas. Many people who are overloaded with information and deal with sophisticated operations, for instance physicians and engineers, believe in unexplained phenomena. They often act by intuition which creates a kind of sensitivity -- the kind which reinforced the belief in superstitions and supernatural events. 

University of Virginia Division of Perceptual Studies is just one example of the scientific expression and method of not so common beliefs. They are involved in research on previous lives, near-death and out-of-body experiences, extra-ordinary psychological skills - some may consider these ideas as supernatural.  

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/clinical/departments/psychiatry/sections/cspp/dops/home-page 

There was an association of  (acoustic) engineers who believe in unexplained phenomena but I think that their site is not updated any longer. 

As for superstitions, they may be a product of a culture or a personal experience (and most probably they remain in one's 'personal' vs. 'professional' space) which by any means does not undermine the scientific value of a researcher. 

Dear Costas,

Perhaps I should have consulted Wikipedia before distinguishing between superstition and the supernatural.  But I didn't because I never do.  Wiki is not my preferred source of information, particularly accurate scholarly information.

It is common in the US for one person to respond to the question, "What are you doing tonight?" with this tidbit, "I'm going to stay in and mess up entries on Wiki."  That's probably what happened to your quote.  Let's look at it.

"Superstition is the belief in supernatural causality—that one event causes another without any natural process linking the two events—such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, prophecies, etc., that contradicts natural science."

There is no scientific basis for determining that the type of causality in question is supernatural.  The causality in superstition is an unexplained, unexplainable causality that is irrelevant to the superstitious.  "supernatural causality--one event causes another without any natural process. . ."  is not a logical statement since both terms contain the word natural as their base.  The process for an (as yet unknown) supernatural causality could only be an (as yet unknown) supernatural one that links two events together.  In superstition there is no known process, natural or supernatural, linking two events because, as I wrote previously, superstitions and reactions to them are derived from social conventions and customs.  I might add to those fables, stories, "old wives' tales", etc.  This is why superstitions can be taken lightly while the supernatural should not.

The most egregious part of the quoted sentence is:  "such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, prophecies, etc., that contradicts natural science."  This clause suggests that the writer is a young college student who thinks he'll appear "smart" if he believes every atheistic bit of tripe his professors spout.  To include religion and prophecy in the same category as astrology, omens, and witchcraft is ill-considered, not scholarly, and quite stupid.  I believe our scholarly colleagues in theology and philosophy would take umbrage to the statement, especially when asserting that they "contradict natural science."  Perhaps it is natural science that contradicts religion, prophecy, theology, philosophy.  And this is why Wiki is not a reliable source of information; the Encyclopedia Britannica, among others, is better.

Scientists study both superstition and the supernatural.  I think superstition would be of interest to social scientists while the supernatural is studied by natural scientists.

But then, what would I know about it?  I'm just a humanist.

My apologies for the excessive length.  I'm not trying to be pretentious, I promise.  I'm just a wordy kind of guy. 

Regards, John

No room for superstition in anyone's mind. The one who insists on confirming that I would tell him he has no mind at all.

Dear Maria, personally I don't believe in superstition, there is no room for it. It is purely based on ignorance and false belief.

Dear Maria, there is absolutely no space for prejudices and superstitions in a pragmatic mind, though the human mind can not always obey the rule of pragmatism!!!

Thank you for sharing this question. Hope you are doing good.

Regards,

Shankhadeep

There is a video here where you can test if  your mind as we put you through a series of games and experiments that will reveal how your brain may be hardwired to be superstitious.

http://bg3.nationalgeographic.com/episode/16/

A flimsy piece of material was all that protected Franklin from a lightning bolt?

Franklin knew that a piece of dry silk would protect him from nature because he understood natural laws. He then invented the lightning rod to help protect the homes of people who lacked his level of insight – he was not paralyzed by superstition or the precautionary principle, reason was his parameter. People accepted his technology even if they did not understand it, they didn’t forego building houses because houses might get struck by lightning, they embraced a way to protect houses from lightning.

http://geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/10/30/science-as-profane-what-superstition-of-1752-and-2014-share-in-common/

Dear John,

Dear All,

Here is an example of the superstitious at best (in my view). But I agree that the supernatural is that  which transcends reality beyond common sense (defined as supernatural sensations), whereas superstition is based on magic, perhaps, and nonsensical ideas!

"The Raven"

By Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—

Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—nevermore!

In 2000, Alan and Susan Sykes sat down to watch a Channel 5 TV documentary about Dr Samson Perera, the Leeds University scientist who murdered and dismembered his teenage daughter, 15 year earlier. As the programme unfolded, Alan and Susan were shocked to discover that their modest house in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was the actual scene of the horrific act and that police had never fully recovered all of the 100 body parts that the poor girl was hacked into. Alan and Susan were distraught. They immediately moved out of the house of horror, selling it six month later.

Would you have been distraught? Why?

Dear Prof. Louis Brassard, I lived in West Yorkshire for 5 years & I know Wakefield very well. Some people in Yorkshire do believe in the so-called "haunted houses" & they avoid living in them.However, the educated "elite", there, do not  largely fear from such houses. Mr. & Mrs. Sykes are seemingly simple ordinary couple.

Superstition is a Platonic form of a subcoscious reaction. We are superstitious in a lot more incidents than with "black cats" or "13s" and it is most evident when we are quickly trying to figure out some intrinsic risk involved and our failure to do so prompts an idea of avoiding that unknown risk by being superstitious. It looks funny only because a "black cat" is very Platonic. It is not funny at all when our mind relates us to some abstract form or some construct, or a series of the same. In general I think that we vary to the degree of being Platonic and hence only funny happenings become anecdotal while the more conspicuous reasonings remain obscure. 

My proposal is, superstition is a sign for missing understanding. And if humans don´t understand, they need pseudo reasons to build rules for the daily behaviour. You get crazy if you don´t have rules.

The behaviour is ruled by daily experiences, only the connections to the initializing event are wrong. Superstitions are wrong, but the rules, people derive often are not.

Of course not at the level of black cats, Adebars bringing the new born babies or all the other amusing examples. Literature is full of such examples. My favorite E. A. Poe (wonderful example hier in this round from dear Marvin), Goethes Erlkönig and all the creepy examples causing goose bumps and the feeling "I just escaped the desaster" are needed from humans, but are no proove for scientific explanation or acceptance.

Dear Maria,

All who stated you were/are brave are absolutely on point you are! Facing fears, insecurities, and misunderstandings are no easy task.

It seems to me that there is plenty of room in a pragmatic scientific mind for superstitions. Let us be fair here, there are enough people who believe so we must not simply deny it  existence as a harmless mental condition which many in the social world suffer from. Superstitions can be debilitating to some and others a mere inconvenience, still others a simple annoyance. From the sever to the mild annoyance superstitions do exist in the minds either consciously or unconsciously.

The actions taken however do have serious consequences to the general public and that is needing some attention in this thread.

Douglas 

Dear All, I am living in India and here people of all walks of life believes in superstition it may differ in degree but it is also true they may not accept it. I believe that is because of all possibilities and chances of failure or going thing wrong. Anyways our minds have tunned up this way. Thanks

Vilemar and Ajay, few people believe in superstitions but most people, even the intelligent, exert subconscious (or conscious, in some cases), spontaneous, inadvertent physical reactions to superstitious stimuli the meaning of which has long been forgotten in the collective social world view.  Haven't both of you observed intelligent people knocking on wood, crossing their fingers, throwing salt over their shoulder, entering a room with their right foot first?  Have you done any of these things?  Have you wished a friend, "Good luck on your test"? 

Most of the superstitious reflexes involve avoiding bad luck or obtaining good luck.  That mysterious and elusive thing called "luck" seems to be a major factor in superstition. 

Best regards, John 

Thank you sirs, and Ladies, for your precious comments on this issue.

I'm enjoying myself a lot, in reading and re-reading you all !

I love Kamal's black cat so much, that I ask permission to copy it to the highlighted question field.

As much as I had imagined, there's no possible concensus on this question, and I notice several interesting regional differences (as expected !)

I , for myself will silently keep on dreading number 29: My grandfather was dead on a 29th of May, My father had his first heart attack on a 29th of August, my brother died on another 29th of May, and I , for myself had a severe near fatal health accident, on the 29th of May, and also lost one of my dearest, closest friends on the 29th of June, last year.

Too much of these coincidences make me change the dates of my lectures if they are programmed for that date, and I prefer to stay home and not answer phones, nor check for the mail on that date.

My years are shorter than yours, and probably that is why I look a bit younger than I actually am.

Strangely, I admit to my sillyness, because I do tend to think clearly, otherwise, but I allow myself the right to feel insecure on this specific date, and not to need psychological help on the subject.

Dear Marwan, thank you for including "The Raven".  It gave me a flashback of memory to a pleasant episode concerning my daughter 15 years ago, an experience I would "do over" as your question indicates.  A colleague of my wife, a teacher, challenged Jessica, then in the third grade, to memorize "The Raven" and she would reward her with $20.  The next week she recited the poem flawlessly but refused the money saying, "I didn't do it for the money.  I just wanted to see if I could do it."  I had forgotten how long the poem is until you posted it and now I realize what an accomplishment it was to memorize it at Jessica's age.

Her attitude about doing things without monetary reward continues today as she is invited by various churches to perform as guest solo vocalist and violinist.  She steadfastly refuses payment saying she does it not for money but to serve God. 

Warm regards and an affectionate embrace, John  

That is lovely ! 

Thank you, John !!!

PS - Jessica is LUCKY to have a father such as you !)

I believe. superstition for me is a much wider term. it is 49% luck and 51% hard work. (or may be the other way round). I agree with Sarvan Dubey that in India every one believes in superstition. The degree may vary. 

Dear Hanno,

Oevres of Poe and Goethe has nothing to do with scientific approach. In that time a lot of similar phenomena were considered as totally “normal” and most of people believed them. Also the message of these literary works had nothing to do with superstitions. I can but emphasize, superstitions have no practical role or influence in natural science (Naturwissenschaften) or research.

These human weaknesses make a bit more mysterious our life and can connect modern people - who have often lost their traditions - with their past.

Dear András,

of course your literary analysis is better than mine. But without superstition you could not be afraid of some ominous people somewhere in the landscape or in some dark castles or...So you can call the Goethe or Poe figures non superstitious, their missing knowledge and real understanding of natural phenomena has the same effect as not beeing willing to learn and understand like we in our modern scientific world try it.

Superstition in science NO without any hesitation and doubt.

Much of this discussion has centered on the definition of superstition when the question asked about pragmatism and science. Definition is necessary to answer the question. Superstition involves cause and effect. If A then B. A fully logical statement requires a solid, unconditional definition and a solid connection to B. Superstition allows no logical structure or examination so superstition is the refusal of admitting a logical structure and examination.

A black cat crosses your path. You have something unpleasant happen. How long between cat and unpleasantness is allowed? Does the black-cat effect have a half-life? Does the black-cat effect have nine lives?

We have our common superstitions that are easy to laugh about and sometimes worry if it could be true. We also have our self-developed superstitious rituals (many good examples from athletes) that we impose for luck or to ward off bad luck. If A then B.

There is likely little harm in common or self-developed superstitions, in particular, if the latter has a comforting effect. There is harm in believing a cause-effect relationship that has no natural, scientific basis.

Superstition is not confined to the number 13, phases of the moon, ladders, mirrors, or which foot enters the room first, etc. The list is enormous and not subject to logic or examination. Often we hear, "Science cannot not explain ..." when what is meant, "I refuse to accept the scientific explanation. We must keep an open mind."

A more malignant form of superstition is the support of fears and dislikes that refuse logic and examination of foods, chemicals, energy forms, technology, and science. These superstitions are supported by groups and political movements. There is purported scientific support for many of these superstitions, but close examination reveals claims of statistical significance and/or the words could, might, leads to, associated with, ...

There is no room for superstition in science. One might argue pragmatic acceptance as a means to an end. Pragmatic acceptance means an end to science.

Big hug, John and all my respect! As ever, Marwan

I agree Researchgate site isn't the right place to declare everybody's maniacal attitudes, but feel free to admit yours.  I have one in particular that It is based on the odd and even number of magpies you see early in the morning. It works. 1 magpie == not good  for you go back to  home - 2 magpies == very good fortune - no magpies = you can switch on your mind.

Ah, Ah! Alessandro! That is surely new !!!

I'll have to try that. There are certainly not often magpies in my Faculty lawn.

Isaac Newton produced many works that would now be classified as occult studies. These works explored chronology,alchemy, and Biblical interpretation (especially of the Apocalypse). Newton's scientific work may have been of lesser personal importance to him, as he placed emphasis on rediscovering the occult wisdom of the ancients. In this sense, some believe that any reference to a "Newtonian Worldview" as being purely mechanical in nature is somewhat inaccurate.

John Maynard Keynes, for example, opined that "Newton was not the first of the age of reason, he was the last of the magicians".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_occult_studies

On the other hand there is a connection of superstitious and evolution:

“According to an article in the Royal Society journal Biological Sciences, superstitious behaviors are a natural product of evolution. 
Imagine an animal living in an environment where, over the course of a day, he might hear some rustling in the leaves or maybe in the grass. Now, movements in the grass could signal a predator attack, whereas the breeze in the trees is probably just the wind. Still, the animal has a choice: he can ignore all this rustling and go about his business, or he can run and hide. 

The most logical response would be to hide only when he hears the grass move. But what if it’s hard to tell whether the noise came from the grass or the trees? “I could’ve sworn that was the trees” could be his final thought. So the animal learns to bolt at the sound of the breeze, because it could foretell certain doom. That better-safe-than-sorry attitude is essentially a superstition. One that that cautious critter will likely pass on to his young. Knock on wood.” —Karen Hopkin 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/superstitious-behavior-makes-evolut-08-09-18/

Everything that happens, happens for a reason. Now, I am not superstitious, but some reasons are truly weird. For example, if you walk under a ladder, you are likely to open an umbrella indoors. If you throw salt over your shoulder the umbrella will not scare a black cat across your path. If you are holding the umbrella when you throw the salt do not stand near a mirror. Breaking the mirror is not as bad as it used to be. Breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck, but you owe 33% to the government. The same is true with 4-leaf clovers, the government gets one leaf, unless you have a rabbit's foot - you give the rabbit to the government. Hanno Krieger has a punctuation problem, ending his sentences with ;-)), while Maria Bettencourt Pires cannot put her best foot forward. It is clear that more ducks fly south than in the winter, because both legs are shorter than the other. This explanation is a clear triumph of science over superstition.

Dear Joseph, excellent!  Do you engage in creative writing?  If not, you should.

Regards, John

Dear Joseph,

I´m waiting for your first novella, but please on friday and in the dark.

"Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto" (I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me) Terentius

"Doc Zone documentary Superstitious Minds asks why, if we’re living in an age of rapid scientific advances and technological change, westernized society is more superstitious than ever. Be honest now - when you spill salt, do you throw some over your shoulder? Do you knock on wood when you want something good to happen or blow out birthday candles after making a wish? What about stepping on sidewalk cracks, killing spiders, and opening an umbrella indoors? How do you feel about Friday the 13th? This film will delve into the fascinating world of superstition, travelling the world to explore myriad superstitions, learning about their origins, and above all, discovering what they tell us about ourselves. We live in the most scientifically and technologically advanced time in all of history. Yet we are more superstitious than ever. Multi-million dollar skyscrapers are designed in consultation with feng shui experts, and 80% of all buildings lack a thirteenth floor. Stock markets consistently go down when there is an eclipse, and there is now an investment fund which buys and sells solely guided by superstitious beliefs. Almost no one is immune. Athletes, architects, actors, fishermen, even politicians and scientists – all can be captive to complex superstitions, convinced that their success depends upon carrying out these precise rituals. We know it makes no sense, but the instinct is so deeply ingrained that we cannot help ourselves. New studies are starting to shed light on why we are superstitious: because it works. Psychologists argue that superstition is good - it helps us deal with life, and scientists say it’s hard-wired into our brains As we move through this world of irrational beliefs, we will meet skeptics and believers, experts and ordinary people. Whether we view superstition as a waste of time or even harmful, or embrace it as a positive force to help us get through our lives, one thing seems clear: to believe in superstition does not make you stupid, ignorant or crazy. It makes you human".  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0uv-ONsWQE

Dear Zoi,

"homo sum" without all your nice kinds of  habits and superstitious actions. But really interesting are your thoughts about the needs to find pseudo solutions in difficult situations not to get craizy and overwhelmed by the attacks of life. But our question here asks for pragmatic science and superstition and not for psychological methods to release our brains from overextensions.

Please, dear Maria, friends and partecipnats all, visit these sites:

http://www.flonthego.com/2014/on-stage/02-12/its-not-true-but-i-believe-it/

http://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/english/superstitious-neapolitans-use-horns-to-ward-off-world-s-end-no576761/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236798655_It%27s_not_true_but_I_believe_it_Discussions_on_jettatura_in_Naples_between_the_End_of_the_Eighteenth_and_Beginning_of_the_Nineteenth_Centuries

They may be amazing. Thank you for your interest.

Article "It's not true, but I believe it": Discussions on jettatura ...

Dear Joseph !!! I can't stop reading and re-reading your latest comment !!! Simply hilarious, and indeed creative! 

Thank you !

Thank you John and Hanno, for taking good care of this debate, as I had my usual good night sleep that is fundamental to solve my deepest quests in regards of the harmony of the Universe...

It's great to know that at least 350º of the planet are wide awake and active and creative when I dedicate my fragile mind to rest and restauration, for my usual 8 hours deep dsleep.(That keep me going!)

Thank you Zoi and Enzo for your impressive cultural approach to the debate!

Female Homo sum!!!

Good morning to you all! It's great to be fortunate to read you!

M.

@Hanno Krieger

Ok  we need a revolution instead of pseudo solutions :-). As   "Marx observes:... all forms and products of consciousness cannot be dissolved by mental criticism . .. but only by the practical overthrow of the actual social relations which gave rise to this idealistic humbug; that not criticism but revolution is the driving force of history."

Dear Maria and Dear Zoi: Einstein (as Marx) was not the first thinker and was not the last. In my opinion, both should be observed in their context.The knowledge was much more limited in their ages than it is today. People need to believe in anything and religion was traditionally the best support: God is everywhere, so you need to behave correctly even when anyone is seeing (this was already somehow suggested by Mohammad Hamad Al-khresheh, meaning that it looks transversal to all religions and cultures). When someone does not feel so comfortable or confident with himself/herself (and it may happen for very different reasons), superstition can substitute the basic principles and the question of good luck or bad luck can arise. The problems of humankind only can be solved by the correct interpretation of the Universal and Humanistic values (as established also by the traditional religious principles). I do not see another way. So I agree with Lawrence: The answer for your question Dear Maria is simply no.

You are indeed right, António!

I do agree with your idea of the lack of self-confidence, and transversality of cultural and religious beliefs.

What I have also noticed is the more prevalent supersticious rituals in Polytheist cultures, and the gradual disapearance of superstition in Monotheist Cultures.

Would you agree?

Could we conclude that Monotheism gives rise to more self-confident humans?

Superstition is affair of believes and/or past inherited traditional social cultures with less scientific knowledge. Science needs evidence and logic not ghosts. However supernatural is another question; mostly from not  understand phenomena yet. Scientific knowledge and/or discoveries do not ended yet or do not attain their ultimate limit!! Many scientific questions were considered in the past as a form of disbelieving in God even with their scientific evidence example the cosmic or satellite technologies. Nowadays superstition could be considered as a form of psychological and cultural behavior. In some cultures children were/are educated to fear some ghosts for the sake to be quiet or to sleep. This is not good for the mental and personal education of the child who will fear something irrational who he/she couldn't understand/see/sense etc.. And could grow with more irrational fears, ideas or feeling and a weak personality rather than a more rational and pragmatic thinking.

Indeed right. Thank you Fairouz !

You very well summarize the best common sense conclusions on this debate. Thank you !

« Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams, than with the imagination being awake?»

-

« The senses are of the earth; Reason stands apart in contemplation»

Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks

Superstition is, always has been, and forever will be, the foe of progress, the enemy of education and the assassin of freedom.                

                                                 ---Robert G. Ingersoll---

Dear Maria,

Just some food for thought,

"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education".

George Bernard Shaw

"The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition".

"We have to be very conscious of the fact that beneath every illness is a prohibition. A prohibition that comes from a superstition.

Alejandro Jodorowsky

George Herbert

"Superstition is the poetry of life".

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go".

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”

― Albert Einstein

Douglas

Thank you, dear Douglas !

Can't stop laughing at your Einstein quote ! Exquisite !!!

(Reminded me of my Mom's favorite phrase: «If stupidity were music, there'd be many more great symphonies in this World !» )

Just poped up here, on Friday the 13th, only to let you know that I'm not superstitious enough not to post something on RG, because of the date.

Maria

Your post came out as a big smudge. What did you say?

I had to look up the dictionary for smudge. Do you mean dirty , or suffocating???

I wouldn't want to do either to such good friend as you !

I said I don't believe in witches, pero che las ay, las ay ...

I meant an unreadable smear. That you were unlucky and the post was a dirty cloud. I guess I was the unlucky one. I had to explain my joke. 

Now about those witches ... 

I didn't even notice that it is Fri. 13th.

"I don't believe in witches, pero che las ay, las ay."  Good one, Maria!

Joseph, I got your joke!  Good one!

I didn't notice it's Fri. 13th and nothing bad has happened.  By George, I think I have the answer!  Don't notice an omen and nothing will happen.  So the next time you see a ladder with an open bucket of paint at the top walk under it with your eyes closed.  That should work! :D

I enjoy coming back here, because I get the certainty of good laughs!

You are great!

When nothing happens, it's bad luck dear John!  As days go by , I wish for things to happen, good AND bad, otherwise it would be a waste of time... In a World of sustained development, I hope things happen everyday, otherwise, the World would stop. and Einstein's laws fail to apply!

This is to bring good luck to you all, RG friends !

http://youtu.be/2D9FcjTNaEk

Tomorrow, we have one more Friday the 13th. I just remembered how I will miss dear Kamal's serene insight to this subject.

Here's a good stray cat to protect us !

Again dear Maria, I´m jittering dreadfully.;-(((

don't worry, dear Hanno ! My cats will protect you !

Dear Maria,

I hope you know what fennecs eat. Take care for your cats, especially for the left one. Hm, delicious and tasty.

werewolves frrighten more...

I just learnt from our dear friend Dr. Irina, on another thread, that tomorrow is anotherr more special Friday...

.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/solar-eclipse-supermoon-spring-equinox-friday-will-see-three-rare-celestial-events-10111592.html

Equinox, supermoon, solar eclipse...

Indeed a special day !

Dear Maria: Have you ever see a pig riding a bicycle, a study about donkeys’ intelligence, or a scientific documentary affirming that due to the thermodynamic laws all mass will end one day? Well, I already saw all that on TV, and things perhaps even more abnormal. So, why should someone worry about superstitions?

(I was just wondering, dear António... I have no answer to my question...)

Please check on Hanno's beautiful pictures of the Eclipse, on this other thead. (Absolutely unique !)

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Im_addicted_to_collecting_old_rare_books_Does_it_make_you_rich_old-fashioned_interesting_square_helpful_or_helpless_What_do_you_think

Mind is more culturally tuned to a great extent. we just follow practices, which we have seen over a period of time without applying any rationale.