Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Anti-superstition Begins at Home
It's ubiquitous. Superstition has worked its way into every day living. Here are some examples:
"Cross you fingers."
"Knock on wood."
"God bless you." (For sneezing)
The list goes on. What's an anti-superstitious person to do?
If you really are not superstitious why use these phrases at all. Instead, start using phrases that suggest your direct involvement or an expression that conveys randomness. So you must catch yourself before you you say these things then decide to not say them.
Here is an example:
Recently I was discussing the start-up of a new business and the sale of my old business. The start up of the new business depends on the sale of the old business (need the money). The sale is not quite complete so I said, "cross your fingers." Oops. Instead I should have said, "Should the buyer follow through on his commitments..." or "If I'm dealt the right cards," "with the luck of the draw" You get the idea.
Instead of crediting some unseen power, tie success either to the parties involved (when they can be identified) or pure chance.
Pure chance is one of those subjects that theists have a hard time with. But I think of pure chance as our inability to know all the variables (and their values) in a system. Not knowing these variables prevents us from making accurate predictions. "Pure chance" is really an "excuse" for not knowing everything. Theists, on the other hand, put their gods in the role of pure chance.
There are cognitive reasons for this. Perhaps you have heard of the phenomenon sometimes known as "random reinforcement." (I belive this is formally known as operant conditioning)If you have ever played a slot machine, you know what it looks like.
You drop your quarters into the slot. You win randomly. This random winning drives you to continue to drop quarters into the slots. Turns out that random reinforced behaviors are the hardest to break (Read about BF Skinner's pigeons - If you want to see what random reinforcement can do to a person, watch Nomar Garciaparra, a former Red Sox Short Stop, at bat).
Saying a prayer to your god, and having the outcome of the prayer occur is exactly the same as winning at the slot machine. Once in a while (randomly), your god answers your prayer.
The non-statistically trained mind equates success and prayer and mistakenly concludes that his or her god listened. Then they pray some more. Unfortunately, the non-statistical mind does not stop and count the successes vs the failures. They cannont tell you how many of their prayers were answered vs how many prayers they actually made; They cannot tell you their batting average. Slot machine users on the other hand, usually know how much money they have lost.
Perhaps there were evolutionary advantages associated with random reinforcement and there may still be. However, there are down sides and it requires a rational and statistical mind to appreciate those down sides.
ARB
P.S.
Random reinforcement can be used positvely too. I've seen elementary school teachers randomly reward students when the students exhibited positive behavior (like raising their hand to answer a question).
A favorite quote by Louis Pasteur, "Chance ONLY favors the prepared mind."
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Let me be the first to say,
Let me be the first to say, "May Cthulhu eat you last."
Acts of God
I'm often involved in setting up Master Service Agreements here at work and something that has always bothered me is the clause that is always in the document about exemption from liability due to "natural disaster, flood, fire, or acts of God". Right there, legally binding! We are not liable for not holding up our end of the deal if we were hampered by an act of god. I would LOVE to use this sometime in the context of "Oh, sorry we didn't get your report to you on time. God gave us more work than we could handle and it says here in our contract..."
I somehow doubt that the big corporate lawyers would find that as funny as I do. But hey, if they want to write superstition into legal contracts, I think they're asking for it.
Mandy U
Yes scary isn't it
The other term for "acts of god", which I prefer is Force Majeure. (the j is soft like the french Jour (day))
ARB
Those who ask the most questions, have the most answers. - ARB (1991)
So many of our expressions
So many of our expressions have their origin in religion that if would be difficult to root them all out even if we wanted to. As a devout atheist I would regret giving up "goddamnit!" Fortunately most have lost their religious connotation. I doubt if very many people are thinking of gawd when they say "Bless you". "Gazooontite" is certainly better, or my personal favorite, "Damn, you blew that out. Honey, look. He blew snot on the window from clear accross the room."
The finger crossing thing...well, regardless of origin, it is now just a jesture expressing hope. Of course, if you cross your fingers behind your back while telling a lie, the lie don't count against you. I used that a lot when I was a kid. Oh, what the hell, I used it yesteday.
Anyway, you have made a good and very serious point. In formal discourse I try to avoid invoking any supernatural, fictitious entity except Superman. He's real, you know.
It's funny
How everyone has picked up on the "finger crossing" etc but few have discussed the random reinforcement aspect of this post.
In my mind (strange as it is) I find the idea of random reinforcement facinating for its potential for use and abuse. If you examine the concept you will see it in all kinds of "applications"
The slot machine and lottery tickets (the "stupid tax") are obious applications. Prayer is a bit less obvious.
Even less obvious is the company that produces new products and has a "hit" product - they attribute success to the organizational processes when in fact it was more "chance." The one success leads them to do everything the way the successful product program was run.
See if you can find other examples of behavior changes based on random reinforcement... (postive or negative behavior changes)
ARB
Those who ask the most questions, have the most answers. - ARB (1991)
Holding your thumbs
When wishing for luck, the superstitious Swede will not cross their fingers, but "hold their thumbs", with the gesture of cradling the the thumbs within the fingers. I have no idea where this comes from, but it would at least not seem to have any connection with the cross.
Knocking on Wood
Most in England say "Touch Wood" which is a reference to the cross. I think "knock on wood" is rooted in the same values.
Many Miles, Many Shoes
BoNo
You may be right, but the
You may be right, but the explanation I heard was that people used to think that evil spirits lived in wood, and if you expressed some hope for the future and they heard you, they would act to frustrate your wishes. So before speaking, you would knock on wood to drive them out of earshot.
- No More Mr. Nice Guy!
Crossed Fingers
Fingers crossed is also a way of invoking the cross as a protective talisman just as using a cross to protect you against vampires.
Many Miles, Many Shoes
BoNo
why not...
...just say what we mean? "hopefully" or "i hope" this'll work out... even the invocation of being dealt the right cards can be seen as asking for something to interfere in your favor with the dealing of those cards. if i can train myself to say what i mean -- that i hope this works out for me -- that eliminates all appeals elsewhere, and locates the wish where it belongs: in my interpretation of my self-interest and desires.
rie (long-time reader first-time commenter!)
Welcome!
ANd you are right. Just say what you mean...
Those who ask the most questions, have the most answers. - ARB (1991)
AAACHOOO!
So what can I say when someone sneezes?
..and please don't say "you're soooo good looking"
Mandy U
In Russian, we say "Be
In Russian, we say "Be healthy! (???? ??????!)" My German grandmother said, "Gesundheit!" which means roughly the same thing.
I'd not thought of it
Do you know where the 'cross your fingers' expression and action come from? Or 'knock on wood' for that matter?
I've never heard their origins explained. Especially with the crossing your fingers bit, I'd always thought that it was just a kind of, 'here's hoping it works' deal that recognized that what you're doing is relying on chance (luck).
I think that knocking on
I think that knocking on wood was meant as a sharp sound to chase away evil spirits or demons. I don't know about crossing fingers, but it sounds like an invocation of the crucifixion to me.
Boy
Those are some pretty wimpy demons.
Faitheism
One dictionary definition of "religion" which susrprised me some years back was "a strongly held personal belief." The possibility of a higher power cannot be empirically proven or disproven and therefore is not within the realm of hard science. To juxtapose science against, for example, Creationism, does not disprove the possibility of a higher power, either, it engages Creationism, which should not be mistaken for the only possibility other than atheism. Fundamentalists and corrupt hypocritical televangelists and lying politicians are all, often, confused with the real ultimate question of a higher power, and atheism is an unprovable "strongly held personal belief," a religion, which I no longer ascribe to anymore than I ascribe to Biblical Creationism or televangelists or politicians who invoke God to justify things like war.
people
I agree with it.