Superstition...

[seebs]

So, I started this thread because P&M had 666 threads.

Superstition is silly. It's not rational. It doesn't mean anything.

Is it harmful? If I habitually avoid the cracks in the sidewalk, am I doing any harm? Is there a reason to try to get over superstitious habits, or are they just a charming reminder of how random we can be?

 

[Avatar]

So long as superstition doesn't take over your life, its harmless, IMO. When you start planning your day based on your daily horoscope you're headed for trouble.

 

[draper]

Heh...I can be superstitious when it comes to sports..I always enter and exit the same end of the dugout if I'm playing well...you know, silly stuff like that. It doesn't do me any harm...I dunno, in a weird way I find it soothes me, I'm not sure why.

Heh..oh yeah..during the hockey playoffs, the Leafs won 3 straight games at one point, so I put my clothes I was wearing during the first win away in my closet, and put the exact same clothes back on when the next game started...I did the for 3 games they won in a row, lol. Can't risk annoying the hockey Gods, especially during the playoffs!

 

[Salvashen]

I believe that superstition removes a person's reliance on God, if we worry that stepping on a crack shall somehow bring down wrath - from who? what? - then there exists a god which enjoys tormenting a person, such as Pan in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Would God do this? No. Do we bring it upon ourselves? Only if you enjoy in tormenting yourself, victimizing, or believing that some force in this world delights in doing so. Seems pointless to me.

 

[Avatar]

if we worry that stepping on a crack shall somehow bring down wrath - from who? what? - then there exists a god which enjoys tormenting a person, such as Pan in a Midsummer Night's Dream. Would God do this? No.

Have you read the Book of Job?

 

[transientlife]

I have to agree with Avatar on this one. It's one thing to be 'influenced' by silly things such as stepping on cracks- and realizing it's a silly thing but doing it anyway, but it's another when it takes on a serious meaning and takes over your life.

 

[hyperborean]

So, I started this thread because P&M had 666 threads.

Superstition is silly. It's not rational. It doesn't mean anything.

Is it harmful? If I habitually avoid the cracks in the sidewalk, am I doing any harm? Is there a reason to try to get over superstitious habits, or are they just a charming reminder of how random we can be?

yes superstition is silly yet entertaining. I am grateful for our errors in actuality. I like dreaming.

 

[Salvashen]

Have you read the Book of Job?

Yes, I have. But it is silly to claim that walking under a ladder can invoke some evil essence. You give that object power over you.

And the whole point of the book of Job was to show his obedience through suffering, not that evil somehow plays around with us as we walk on cracks or throw salt over the shoulder.

 

[TrueQ]

Yeah, Job could've done pretty much nothing to avoid all that.

I like superstitions. I've always believed that people just make up all the rules they live by, morals, laws, etiquette, and so on were just made up at one time without meaning anything. So it seems only natural that new rules are constantly being tested in the form of superstitions.

It's easy to see how some rich fellow, centuries ago, thought it was bad luck to eat his shrimp with the same fork as the rest of his meal so, centuries of diffusion later, there is such a thing as a shrimp fork.

 

[GMRELIC]

I guess i am superstitious, but I put no faith in it at all, if I am going to have 7 years bad luck for every mirror I have broken, I might as well give up, I wont have good luck till I'm 97. I think i just do it to occupy my mind, I avoid stepping on cracks, on going under ladders, but I have owned a black cat or 2 in my life and I am sure they crossed my path many times, so I guess it's just kinf of a mind game to me. but not taken serious at all. but I do hate the number 666

 

[Salvashen]

Yeah, Job could've done pretty much nothing to avoid all that.

I like superstitions. I've always believed that people just make up all the rules they live by, morals, laws, etiquette, and so on were just made up at one time without meaning anything. So it seems only natural that new rules are constantly being tested in the form of superstitions.

It's easy to see how some rich fellow, centuries ago, thought it was bad luck to eat his shrimp with the same fork as the rest of his meal so, centuries of diffusion later, there is such a thing as a shrimp fork.

there is new stuff for every generation.

 

[Megalomaniac]

I think superstition is the result of insecurity and paranoia.

 

[jingwei]

The true lord condemns omens and superstitions.

 

[SFBay]

Although I find superstition a bit silly, I don't think it would be considered sinful unless you let it control your life.

As for Friday the 13th, that date will never be considered unlucky for me. My fiance and I started dating on Friday, December 13, 2002, and have been together ever since.

 

[Routerider]

So, I started this thread because P&M had 666 threads.

Superstition is silly. It's not rational. It doesn't mean anything.

Is it harmful? If I habitually avoid the cracks in the sidewalk, am I doing any harm? Is there a reason to try to get over superstitious habits, or are they just a charming reminder of how random we can be?

I think superstition is something to avoid. It can be pretty harmless but it can also cause you to make silly decisions.