Difference between revisions 42448 and 42454 on enwiki

'''Superstition''' is a set of behaviors that may be [[faith]] based, or related to [[magical thinking]], whereby the practitioner believes that the [[future]], or the outcome of certain events, can be influenced by certain of his or her [[behavior]]s.  An example is the belief that it is bad luck to wear gold and silver together.

Critics argue that superstition is not based on [[reason]], but instead springs from [[religion|religious]] [[feeling]]s that are misdirected or [[enlightenment|unenlightened]], which leads in some cases to [[rigor]] in religious opinions or practice, and in other cases to belief in extraordinary events or in [[charm]]s, [[omen]]s, and prognostications. Many superstitions can be prompted by misunderstandings of [[causality]] or [[statistics]]. 

Any of the above can lead to unfounded fears, or excessive [[scrupulosity]] in outward observances.  

[[Fanaticism]], some argue, arises from this same displaced religious feeling, in a state of high-wrought and self-confident excitement.  Such unquestioning loyalty can apply to [[politics]] and [[ideology|ideologies]] as well as religion; indeed, it can even be focused on [[sports]] teams and [[celebrity|celebrities]]. See [[Baseball superstition]] for a series of such examples. 

Whatever the cause, superstition can lead to a disregard of reason under the false assumption of a divine or paranormal form of control over the universe.  
A [[gambler]] might credit a winning streak in [[poker]] to a "lucky rabbit's foot" or to sitting in a certain chair, rather than to skill or to the [[law of averages]].  
An airline passenger might believe that it is a medal of [[St Christopher]] (traditional patron saint of travellers) that keeps him safe in the air, rather than the fact that [[airplane]]s statistically crash very rarely.

Superstition is also used to refer to [[folklore|folkloric]] belief systems,  usually as juxtaposed to another [[religion]]'s idea of the spiritual world, or as juxtaposed to [[science]].

=== Superstition and behavioral psychology ===
The [[behaviorism|behaviorist]] [[psychology|psychologist]] [[B.F. Skinner]] placed a series of hungry [[pigeon]]s in a cage attached to an automatic mechanism that delivered food to the pigeon "at regular intervals with no reference whatsoever to the bird's behavior". 
He discovered that the pigeons associated the delivery of the food with whatever chance actions they had been performing as it was delivered, and that they continued to perform the same actions:

:One bird was conditioned to turn counter-clockwise about the cage, making two or three turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper corners of the cage. A third developed a 'tossing' response, as if placing its head beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum motion of the head and body, in which the head was extended forward and swung from right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return. ("'Superstition' in the Pigeon", B.F. Skinner, ''Journal of Experimental Psychology'' #38, 1947 [http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/])

Skinner suggested that the pigeons believed that they were influencing the automatic mechanism with their "rituals" and that the experiment also shed light on human behavior:

:The experiment might be said to demonstrate a sort of superstition. The bird behaves as if there were a causal relation between its behavior and the presentation of food, although such a relation is lacking. There are many analogies in human behavior. Rituals for changing one's luck at cards are good examples. A few accidental connections between a ritual and favorable consequences suffice to set up and maintain the behavior in spite of many unreinforced instances. The bowler who has released a ball down the alley but continues to behave as if he were controlling it by twisting and turning his arm and shoulder is another case in point. These behaviors have, of course, no real effect upon one's luck or upon a ball half way down an alley, just as in the present case the food would appear as often if the pigeon did nothing -- or, more strictly speaking, did something else. (''Ibid''.)

Like the pigeons, many people associate behavior (head-turning or worship of [[God]](s) ) with an external phenomenon (delivery of food or conquest by a foreign power) that was not necessarily connected in any way with personal behavior. Any misfortune could thus be interpreted as a sign of divine disfavor, whether or not the individuals who suffered bore direct responsibility.

=== Religious views on the subject of superstition ===
The [[Roman Catholic Church]] considers superstition to be [[sin|sinful]] in the sense that it denotes a lack of [[trust (sociology)|trust]] in the [[divine providence]] of [[God]] and, as such, is a violation of the first of the [[Ten Commandments]]. The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' states superstition "in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion" (para. #2110).

The ''Catechism'' even appears to turn a bit of a critical eye on [[Catholic]] [[doctrine]] whenever certain practices become frivolous or scrupulous:

:Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand is to fall into superstition. Cf.  ''Matthew 23:16-22''  (para. #2111)

==See Also==
*[[Conspiracy theory]]
*[[Folk religion]]
*[[Idolatry]]
*[[Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels With Science]]
*[[Mediation (culture)]]
*[[Magic (paranormal)]] and [[Magic (illusion)]]
*[[Obsessive-compulsive disorder]]
*[[Tradition]], [[Custom]], [[Practice]], etc.
*[[Triskaidekaphobia]] (the fear of the number 13)
===Books===
* '''Iona Opie & Moira Tatem''' - ''A Dictionary of Superstitions''
----
Some of this text is from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) -- update as needed.
----
'''''Superstition''''' is also the name of a [[1972]] [[Superstition_(song)|song]] by [[Stevie Wonder]], and a [[1991]] [[Superstition_(album)|album]] by [[Siouxsie & the Banshees]].
[[de:Aberglaube]]
[[eo:Supersticxo]]
[[he:%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%AA%D7%A4%D7%9C%D7%94]]
[[ja:迷信]]
[[sv:Skrock{| align=right cellpadding=3 id=toc style="margin-left: 15px;"
|- 
| align="center" colspan=2 | <small>'''Years:'''</small><br>  [[1060]] [[1061]] [[1062]] - [[1063]] - [[1064]] [[1065]] [[1066]]
|-
| align="center" colspan=2 | <small>'''[[Decades]]:'''</small> <br>  [[1030s]] [[1040s]] [[1050s]] - '''[[1060s]]''' - [[1070s]] [[1080s]] [[1090s]]
|- 
| align="center" | <small>'''[[Centuries]]:'''</small> <br> [[10th century]] - '''[[11th century]]''' - [[12th century]]
|}

'''Events'''
*[[Anselm of Canterbury]] becomes prior at Le Bec
*[[Sancho I of Aragon|Sancho I]] becomes ruler of [[Aragon]]
*Bishopric of [[Olomouc]] is founded

'''Births'''
*

'''Deaths'''
*[[Constantine III Lichoudas]] [[Patriarch of Constantinople]]
*[[Adelaide Havoise]] daughter of [[Robert II of France]]
*[[Tughril Beg]] first leader of the [[Seljuk Turks]]
*[[Song dynasty]] Emperor [[Jiayou]]
*[[Hungary|Hungarian]] ruler [[Bela I of Hungary|Bela I]]
*[[Ramiro I of Aragon]]
*[[Gruffydd ap Llywelyn]], prince of [[Wales]]

[[Category:1063]]
[[af:1063]]
[[bg:1063]]
[[ca:1063]]
[[da:1063]]
[[de:1063]]
[[es:1063]]
[[eo:1063]]
[[eu:1063]]
[[fr:1063]]
[[hr:1063]]
[[it:1063]]
[[lb:1063]]
[[nl:1063]]
[[no:1063]]
[[pl:1063]]
[[ro:1063]]
[[ru:1063]]
[[sl:1063]]
[[fi:1063]]
[[uk:1063]]
[[zh:1063&#24180;]]