Superstitions are our attempts at making sense out the unexplained. Many of our superstitions once sought to placate “unseen forces” by simple rituals, and many of these rituals, such as knocking on wood after an optimistic statement or throwing spilled salt over the left shoulder, still persist today.
Watching the Tampa Bay Rays win last night lead me to do some thinking about the differences between behaviors that are rituals and those that are superstitions. Often a coach will encourage a ritual that will allow the player become focused. That is healthy. When it crosses over into the realm of “magical thinking” it becomes superstition. The fans hold many superstitions as well.
Do you have any behaviors that cross over into the realm of superstition? Do they affect you in a positive or negative way?
I don’t think I have any superstitions. I have been known to walk under a ladder just to freak out people.
eleni,
you are the ANTI superstition if ever there was one!
Glad to hear from you, always!
I’m a Red Sox fan.
Sigh!
I’m not a superstitious person as a rule but I cannot shake the feeling that a team’s performance is somehow related to my wathcing )or not) watching them on TV. If my team is is losing, I have to stop watching (or vice versa) — somehow they know!