Superstitions: The Counter of Reality       

  Carla Hamieh (9B)

      “Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.” This quotes asserts and alludes that superstitions have always ruled over intellect and brainpower, altered history with human tragedies as witch hunts and more, and manipulated the week’s minds —those who underestimate their capabilities in science and create with their emotions a border preventing science to invade and reduce enthusiasm, hold one’s emotions at bay, and banish superstitions with logic. Humans have always been emotional and enthusiastic creatures which allows the flow of superstitions along with these feelings and the only medicine to this contagious disease is through sanity and rationality. One can’t lose sight of the negative drawbacks of superstitions. After all, the shelter to all fragile minds, superstitions, encapsulates a myriad of byproducts on the social, psychological and medical fields.

     Initially, superstitions affect a person’s social life by shifting one’s responsibilities and giving him or her the illusion of control in an uncertain world. To begin with, believing in superstitions are like wanting to believe in bad luck to find refuge and escape life’s burdens and instead blame it on a black cat, a broken mirror, or Friday the 13^th because they bring bad luck. For example, Statista Research Department conducted a survey across the United States in 2014 that reveals that people who believe in Friday the 13^th are 14% as to the 33% of people who believe that finding and picking up a penny is a sign for good luck. Moreover, superstitions give one an illusion of control, for it allows people to live in the fantasy of dominating in an unknown and mysterious universe and permits them to reach hypothetical solutions that don’t really exist. For instance, a family in India petitioned the forces of nature in the form of ceremonies as the danced, made offerings and performed sacrifices to appease the mysterious forces that control the weather. When the rain came following a ceremony, the family considered that they have persuaded the gods to intervene believing that they have the ability to rule the weather.

        Furthermore, superstitions play a role in affecting one’s psychological life negatively, for it creates the fear of the unknown and escalates the percentage of ignorance within people. To start with, superstitious people are always paranoid about what is hidden in the shadows of the future especially if they weren’t able to complete a superstitious act to protect themselves of the harm that may befall them, for they believe superstitions are the way of seeking protection and comfort. As such, Paul Foxman, an anxiety expert in Burlington has experienced patients with Obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD) that believe that if they don’t worry about something, then the possibility of it happening will rise. In addition to that, lack of knowledge and intelligence is the main factor of believing in superstitions; it is due to living in a community surrounded by superstitions which leads to the ignorance of scientific facts that is clear to happen. To illustrate, an ancient belief was spread among people who believed that the earth was flat based on an ignorance of scientific facts and observation. Some people, to this day, still believe that the earth is flat since according to a YouGov poll conducted in February 2018, 2 percent of the 8,215 respondents actually believe that the earth is flat.

 

        Adding to that, superstitions have a detrimental impact on one’s medical life since it leads to postponing health-care services and leading to cannibalism. Superstitious people who believe in bad luck because of a specific day or a particular action are most likely to avoid medical care or necessities in order to proceed along with their day locking themselves at home, waiting for the day to pass. In Taiwanese culture, the seventh lunar month is Ghost Month. According to legend, during this month, the gates of the afterlife are opened, and ghosts roam the living world and it is believed that these ghosts increase the risks of accidents and deaths. So, believers of this legend try to avoid a number of activities including health services such as surgeries and births that may jeopardize their health. Superstitions have also led to people eating other people’s brains because of some kind of ritual or belief . Especially the Papua New Guinea tribe, known as the Fore people,  used to conduct a funeral ritual that involved consuming the human brain which led to the development of the kuru disease, a neurological disorder caused by infectious prions which are unfolded proteins that cause other proteins to unfold. The Fore people, which at its peak in the 1950s, killed up to 2% of the tribe each year.   

         To wrap up, people who still perform superstitious acts are damaging their social, psychological and medical lives. Entering a new decade, It is upsetting and frightening to realize that people still look up at superstitions as gods. It’s almost shocking that these false beliefs have replaced what scientists and professionals have been trying to achieve for decades only to wipe them away with sorcery and fallacies. As one’s society thrives and develops, it’s crystal clear that other countries have been stuck in ancient years where ignorance and superstitions were the sovereigns taking control over their minds. Superstitious people, with their creations and illusions, are adding fuel to the already lit fire and are obliviously creating destruction to their world.