Superstitions Copyright 2020 Shane Rogers Entertainment Midnight Facts for Insomniacs Podcast Transcript (Note: transcript consists of episode outline) where they come from, and why we Suggested by two listeners almost simultaneously, Aylan and lexchester on Instagram. you guys are on the same wavelength. Let’s first talk about the psychology behind superstitions: how and why they developed, why certain people are more superstitious than others, etc. (The answer seems obvious: some people are dumb. JK) Let’s first talk about it from a scientific standpoint. Superstition arises when a reinforcer or punisher occurs in close proximity to an independent event. Sounds like something from comic books. I’ll explain. In layman‘s terms: something random happens, and then another random thing happens, and we associate those two events. So a black cat runs across your path, two seconds later you trip and fall on your face. Couldn’t just be that you’re a clumsy ass. sooo...blame the cat. The next time a black cat runs across your path, now you’re looking out for something negative. An hour later you get diagnosed with chlamydia, it’s that damn cat again. Even though we consider ourselves a civilized, logical society, superstitious beliefs manifest in some very tangible ways. Specifically the number 13. Over 80% of hotels don’t have a 13th floor. Many don’t have a room number 13. Ditto hospitals. Airlines often skip a 13th aisle. It’s good to know that professional institutions are governed by magical thinking. Makes me feel pretty comfortable flying with Delta Airlines knowing that they make decisions based on irrational whims. “Sorry, the pilot isn’t ready to take off, he doesn’t have his lucky rabbits foot .” Many people have a lucky number. A lucky rabbit’s foot, a lucky hat. And weirdly many of these people are human adults. Presumably they don’t believe in Santa Claus, but they’ll slaughter a rabbit to ward off the ghosts. This is how I know we haven’t advanced very far as a species. Humans have a unique ability to hold two beliefs simultaneously. Knowing that superstition is silly on one hand, yet refusing to step on a crack or walk under a ladder. There’s a mental process called acquiescence in which a person recognizes there’s no real benefit to a certain activity, but performs it anyway. But the most important element may be control. We all rationally understand that we can’t stop bad things from happening, but if you’re holding your lucky charm, or if your bed is facing the right way, or if you pinch your left nipple at midnight during a full moon, some part of you believes you’re making a difference. You’re somehow Influencing fate and asserting control. These superstitious beliefs and superstitious behaviors may help us relieve anxiety. And similar to a placebo effect, superstitions may actually kind of....work. they can have real life effects. We’ve talked about dumbo’s magic feather. If you believe that you can’t lose a football game as long as you’ve never washed your lucky jockstrap, you’re going to take the field with confidence. And stinky junk. That belief can actually translate into tangible results. You’re going to play with confidence, every action will be imbued with purpose because you are convinced that the outcome is in your favor. and if you lose, your brain will find excuses and rationalizations. Of course you didn’t win the game, there was a wind from the southeast. Your lucky jockstrap was overpowered by bad juju. You can become tangled up in a web of superstitions, and this is the real danger of this type of thinking, especially for people who have OCD tendencies, it can become really confining. You have to touch the wall next to the door five times before you leave the house or something terrible will happen, you can’t drive your car on Thursdays in a month that ends in the letter R. An interesting psychological principle: Cheap superstitions are more compelling than costly ones. Typically that’s not referring to money. In other words, we are more susceptible to superstitions that don’t require a lot of effort. So for instance, chain letters are common manifestations of superstition. “Forward this letter and you’ll receive riches, don’t forward this letter and a terrible tragedy will befall you.“ You realize logically it’s probably nonsense, but it doesn’t take any real effort to hit the forward button. It’s a cheap superstition. And the downside seems much worse than the potential upside. Low cost, or in this case no cost, low effort, high potential reward. And I was pretty excited about this idea, because I’ve always wondered where superstitions come from. Why is it bad luck to break a mirror, but only for seven years? And then I started doing some research, and let me tell you, the sheer volume of superstitions is overwhelming. and so many of them are contradictory. in Japan, black cats are a symbol of good luck, in most of Western Europe, they’re considered evil shape shifters, or witches in disguise. Many Germans believe that if a black cat crosses your path from right to left, that’s bad luck, but left to right is good luck. In Scotland, if a black cat shows up on your doorstep, they bring success and fortune. It’s dizzying. So this turned out to be a tougher subject for me, because I tend to like to find absolutes. The facts behind the myth or legend. But a lot of superstition is all really nebulous. So we’re going to do some digging and try to find the origins behind some really popular superstitions. And as much as possible, let’s ground this in fact. Let’s start with some positive superstitions. Good luck: Four leaf clover: Only one in 10,000 clovers has four leaves, so If you find one, you have found something with absolutely no practical value. Like just because something is rare doesn’t mean it’s valuable. Many horrible diseases are rare. Congratulations, you’ve won the lupus lottery! incidentally, a clover is actually a type of pea. Midnight fact. Completely irrelevant, but there you go. Horseshoes In Western Europe, iron was viewed as magical and able to ward off evil spirits. many people would hang a horseshoe above the door for this purpose. I have a feeling it resulted in more concussions then good luck, but whatever. Have you ever heard, “find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck”? This one seems kind of silly nowadays, but there was a time when pennies actually had value. So why the hell wouldn’t you pick up a penny? It’s like...why wouldn’t you pick up money? Find A $50 bill, pick it up, all day long you’ll be able to buy cool shit. Now on to the most common superstitions Number 13 Judas, the shadiest of disciples, the man who would notoriously betrayed JC, was the 13th guest and the 13th to take his seat at the last supper. People who are late to dinner are the worst. I’m not saying they will betray you to the point of murder, but they are betrayers of punctuality. Basically the same thing. As we mentioned in our apocalypse episode, the Mayans believed that the 13th Bak Tun (which was a specific period of time) would bring the end of the world. Some ancient societies associated the number 13 with femininity, and specifically with menstrual cycles, which were considered unlucky. Women probably also consider menstrual cycled unlucky or at the very least inconvenient. There are approximately 13 menstrual cycles in an average year. There’s even a name for the phobia regarding the Friday the 13th: Triskaidekaphobia. In our secret societies episode we talked about Friday the 13th of October, 1307, the date on which King Philip the fourth of France rounded up, tortured, and executed French Knights Templar. He owed them money, so he used some trumped up charges as an excuse to erase his debt. Knock on wood The Celts and various pagan tribes believed that fairies and spirits lived in trees, and knocking on a tree was a method of arousing, awakening or invoking a spirit.Although it just seems like that would kind of piss them off. People always knocking on my tree while I’m trying to sleep. I’d be more likely to curse you then give you good luck, but that’s me. There’s another theory that knocking on wood may come from a game called tiggy touchwood, similar to a game of tag in which touching a piece of wood would make you safe. I recommend you don’t suggest a game of tiggy touchwood to anyone. Touching wood in public it’s not a good idea. It certainly doesn’t make you safe. Breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck The reflection in a mirror was long thought to not only represent a reflection of the body, but also the soul. So damage a mirror, and you damage the soul of anyone who looked into it. Have you ever broken a mirror? So why seven years…well, supposedly the Romans believe that your life and health renewed every seven years—every seven years was a new beginning—so breaking a mirror was the same as destroying one cycle of life.