Magical Thinking Is Good For You 467
Hugh Pickens writes "Natalie Wolchover says even the most die-hard skeptics among us believe in magic. Humans can't help it: though we try to be logical, irrational beliefs — many of which we aren't even conscious of — are hardwired in our psyches. 'The unavoidable habits of mind that make us think luck and supernatural forces are real, that objects and symbols have power, and that humans have souls and destinies are part of what has made our species so evolutionarily successful,' writes Wolchover. 'Believing in magic is good for us.' For example, what do religion, anthropomorphism, mysticism and the widespread notion that each of us has a destiny to fulfill have in common? According to research by Matthew Hutson, underlying all these forms of magical thinking is the innate sense that everything happens for a reason. And that stems from paranoia, which is a safety mechanism that protects us. 'We have a bias to see events as intentional, and to see objects as intentionally designed,' says Hutson. 'If we don't see any biological agent, like a person or animal, then we might assume that there's some sort of invisible agent: God or the universe in general with a mind of its own.' According to anthropologists, the reason we have a bias to assume things are intentional is that typically it's safer to spot another agent in your environment than to miss another agent. 'It's better to mistake a boulder for a bear than a bear for a boulder,' says Stewart Guthrie. In a recent Gallup poll, three in four Americans admitted to believing in at least one paranormal phenomenon. 'But even for those few of us who claim to be complete skeptics, belief quietly sneaks in. Maybe you feel anxious on Friday the 13th. Maybe the idea of a heart transplant from a convicted killer weirds you out. ... If so, on some level you believe in magic.'"
I don't believe in magic (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
I say "Oh God" when I'm having sex, doesn't mean I believe in god one bit.
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
I say "Oh God" when I'm having sex
So... never?
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
Well, someone's being a real Capricorn!
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
"does not like you to use full throttle until its warmed up" with "a top thet 'doesn't want to come off'"
That's not magic, that's my wife.
Re:Baloney (Score:4, Funny)
Of course in my experience, some people believe that everything which is written in a slashdot comment is true.
The rest of us live a fact-based life.
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
Heh. I think that a person is allowed two irrational beliefs per lifetime, if only because it makes them more interesting.
What's your second one?
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
Well, I'll admit to this. I'm a Secular Humanist, I don't think that there are any forces out there that are caused by magical critters and that we could explain it all with some simple science. I know that we don't have all the answers, but I don't think any of the answers are "ghosts", "a wizard did it" or "it was the Hand of God!"
Yet, for some reason, computers and electronics will start working better when I get close to them. It's almost like they know that I am ready, willing, and eager to take them apart and that I'm carrying a screwdriver. It's even the machines that I haven't seen before.
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
I asked my car very nicely to start in the morning.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always work and it the vehicle tells me to go f' myself. Repeatedly hitting the car can coax some much needed respect, but I've stopped doing that now. The other day I was about to strike the dashboard and it said, "Maybe today your breaks fail when you exit the intersection. Maybe they work just fine. I dunno, I'm not really an expert on brakes. I do know that seat belt has been real finicky lately. Just sayin."
Anyhow, that is the last time I buy a used car from an Italian stereotype.
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
Man, I was into solipsism BEFORE it was popular!
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
Wow - you *are* magical. For most of us, they stop working right when we get close to them.
When the wife of a friend walked by a clock on the fireplace mantel, the clock fell off the mantel-place and broke. She did not touch the clock. She believes she has a "magical effect" on certain things because of an aura that surrounds her.
On the other hand, the clock was a wall clock that was precariously balanced on the mantel-place and she weighs about 350 pounds.
Re:Baloney (Score:5, Funny)
...an aura that surrounds her...she weighs about 350 pounds.
Gravity? :-P