The lead story in today's Science section of the New York Times isn't really about science at all, but its opposite: superstition. The notion that we're hard-wired to believe in a god has received a lot of attention of late, but now we're told that we also might be genetically programmed to believe in magic, luck and superstition. Great.
The brain seems to have networks that are specialized to produce an explicit, magical explanation in some circumstances, said Pascal Boyer, a professor of psychology and anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. In an e-mail message, he said such thinking was "only one domain where a relevant interpretation that connects all the dots, so to speak, is preferred to a rational one."
This is another take on the idea that the brain is, essentially, nothing more than a pattern-recognition machine, and if some kind of cosmic, non-rational connection offers a good explanatory pattern for what we experience, then we're likely to embrace the idea, even if it make little real sense.
Magical thinking is most evident precisely when people feel most helpless. Giora Keinan, a professor at Tel Aviv University, sent questionnaires to 174 Israelis after the Iraqi Scud missile attacks of the 1991 gulf war. Those who reported the highest level of stress were also the most likely to endorse magical beliefs, like "I have the feeling that the chances of being hit during a missile attack are greater if a person whose house was attacked is present in the sealed room," or "To be on the safe side, it is best to step into the sealed room right foot first."
"It is of interest to note," Dr. Keinan concluded, "that persons who hold magical beliefs or engage in magical rituals are often aware that their thoughts, actions or both are unreasonable and irrational. Despite this awareness, they are unable to rid themselves of such behavior."
But the good news is only a few obsessive-compulsives let this sort of thing dominate their lives to the point of doing actual harm,
For me, it's like any pyschological problem. The first step is recognizing the problem exists. Now that science is shining some light on the situation, perhaps we can begin to get over this particular evolutionary hangover or, as Stephen Jay Gould would have called it, spandrel.
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But then, you repeat yourself.
there was a study some time ago about politics and choice. The long and the short of it was that people made judgements based on their past affiliation and beliefs and NOT based on facts, even when the facts were overwhelming.
In some ways, I wonder if this is similar. Pattern-recognition, where people from one ideological bent find comfort in that type of "pattern" or ideological position, while people from the other side of the political spectrum find comfort in THAT type of pattern.
I think that V.S. Ramachandran touched on this topic at the recent Beyond Belief ( beyondbelief2006.org ) conference at the Salk institute. I'll take a look at the videos of his two talks and see if I find something interesting.
I prefer to think of magical thinking and superstitious reasoning as a normal extension of our faculty for causal reasoning. The idea being that as our desparation to understand the causes behind something, so that we might influence or control it, the more elaborate or tenuous our causal attributions will be.
Sure. But AFAIK it has also been shown that peoples snap judgment is better than judging facts.
At least when it comes to choices between buying products. If you immediately feel it is a nice television set, buy it. Chances are if you think too long you will often end up choosing a set which is inferior or otherwise doesn't suit you.
It sounds like magic, but apparently it works. ;-)
"At least when it comes to choices between buying products. If you immediately feel it is a nice television set, buy it. Chances are if you think too long you will often end up choosing a set which is inferior or otherwise doesn't suit you."
Which is why I always try something like that out before buying it. Especially musical instruments.
GE
I call BS on this.
Good post. The larger issue for me: does 'magical thinking' impart a survival advantage? Of course this is not to say that 'logical thinking' is not superior. But as the article suggests, there are times, such as highly stressful situations, where magical thinking might help. This would fly in the face of those who think religion and spirituality a waste of time, and only for the bad.