Superstitions: Comforting Lies

       “Astrology is a disease, not a science. It’s a tree under the shadow of which all superstitions thrive. Only fools and charlatans tend to value it.” This quote asserts and alludes that superstitions are a worldwide phenomenon. People in every nation have their own reasons behind believing in superstitions. Becoming superstitious is due to the cultural heritage, fear of taking responsibilities and lack of scientific reasoning.

       To start with, people believe in superstitions because of cultural heritage as they are part of their culture. People tend to believe in those ideas even if they were superstitious, just because they are part of their traditions. For instance, a mother tells her daughter that opening an umbrella inside the house causes the death of someone, the daughter believes it and then tells it to her daughter, like that this superstition is kept alive and passed from one generation to another although it might seem irrational. Another example is when a mother gives her daughter a four-leaf clover and tells her that it brings good luck, and when this daughter gets a child, she would give her son/daughter a four-leaf clover and would tell him/her that her mother once told her that it is a good omen.

        Another reason for believing in superstitions is the fact that humans fear of taking responsibilities. For most people, superstitions are their way of escaping from failure or wrong choices in life. For illustration, after failing in an exam, a student won’t put the blame on his/her lack of studying instead they would throw the blame on a black cat they saw on the exam’s morning. Another proof, is when someone makes a wrong choice as he/she would choose a new job but it doesn’t go as expected, they would guilt the broken mirror in their rooms as a substitute of the fact that they didn’t put much effort into their work.

        In addition to that, people used to believe in superstitions because of lack of scientific reasoning. Superstitions are the answers for most mysteries that weren’t deciphered. In ancient civilizations, when there wasn’t any knowledge, people would use superstitions as replies and answers to their confusing questions. As an example, people long ago weren’t aware of weather changes, so when the weather changed into a cold and it started raining people would claim that the comet they saw a day before is the reason behind the so-called falling water.

        Superstitions still rule the lives of the backward classes and previous people who are hard-wired to their traditions, the fact of being afraid of commitment to one’s duty and most important of all; the illusion of control in an uncertain world. A definite cure of superstitions is education. If people are properly educated to develop scientific and rational thinking there is no doubt that superstitions will die a natural death.

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