Submission + - Magical Thinking Is Good for You 2
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Natalie Wolchover writes that even the most die-hard skeptics among us believe in magic. Humans can't help it: though we try to be logical, irrational beliefs — many of which we aren't even conscious of — are hardwired in our psyches. "The unavoidable habits of mind that make us think luck and supernatural forces are real, that objects and symbols have power, and that humans have souls and destinies are part of what has made our species so evolutionarily successful," writes Wolchover. "Believing in magic is good for us." For example, what do religion, anthropomorphism, mysticism and the widespread notion that each of us has a destiny to fulfill have in common? According to research by Matthew Hutson, underlying all these forms of magical thinking is the innate sense that everything happens for a reason. And that stems from paranoia, which is a safety mechanism that protects us. "We have a bias to see events as intentional, and to see objects as intentionally designed," says Hutson. "If we don't see any biological agent, like a person or animal, then we might assume that there's some sort of invisible agent: God or the universe in general with a mind of its own." According to anthropologists, the reason we have a bias to assume things are intentional is that typically it's safer to spot another agent in your environment than to miss another agent. "It's better to mistake a boulder for a bear than a bear for a boulder," says Stewart Guthrie. In a recent Gallup poll, three in four Americans admitted to believing in at least one paranormal phenomenon--clairvoyance, haunted houses, witches, etc. and in nearly every country around the world, the percentage of self-described atheists is only in the single digits. "But even for those few of us who claim to be complete skeptics, belief quietly sneaks in. Maybe you feel anxious on Friday the 13th. Maybe the idea of a heart transplant from a convicted killer weirds you out. Or maybe you're convinced that if you wear your sweats to Target you'll run into at least three people you know. If so, on some level you believe in magic.""
