I remember as a kid being told all sorts of nonsense. It made no sense then and less now. I could never see why it was unlucky to walk under a ladder or to see a black cat; and what was lucky about a rabbit's foot or a four leaved clover? The former would have been better still attached to the rabbit and the latter could easily be found if you looked hard enough. Many sportsmen have "lucky" shirts or boots and often have routines that they must follow before competing. Of course their opponents probably have the same which I am sure must act as a neutraliser.
Are we naturally superstitious or is it a characteristic that is foisted upon us as children? I suspect the latter; along with father christmas, the tooth fairy and religion, our superstitions are programmed into us at an early age. Parents eventually admit the lies about santa and the tooth fairy, usually when demands from the children reach beyond the means of the bank balance, but other superstitions are deemed non threatening and are allowed to ferment.
I don't think I am superstitious in any way. I don't cross my fingers, or anything else; I walk under ladders unless it is not safe to do so and black cats are just black cats. When things go wrong, I don't think "Why me?", bad things happen to everyone sooner or later, so why not me? Why someone else?
I do not pray to an invisible presence, yet I have heard that there are no atheists in trenches. What a load of rubbish. Just imagine those poor men in 1916; both sides praying for themselves and those around them, and to what end? I am sure that there were plenty there who could think for themselves and realised that if there were a deity he could not support both sides.
The same it true of football matches; where fans on both sides in an important game will employ all of their superstitions, including prayer, to ensure their teams' success. The outcome is not influenced by anything other than the quality of play, and perhaps an element of chance. Everything is pretty random.
Are we naturally superstitious or is it a characteristic that is foisted upon us as children? I suspect the latter; along with father christmas, the tooth fairy and religion, our superstitions are programmed into us at an early age. Parents eventually admit the lies about santa and the tooth fairy, usually when demands from the children reach beyond the means of the bank balance, but other superstitions are deemed non threatening and are allowed to ferment.
I don't think I am superstitious in any way. I don't cross my fingers, or anything else; I walk under ladders unless it is not safe to do so and black cats are just black cats. When things go wrong, I don't think "Why me?", bad things happen to everyone sooner or later, so why not me? Why someone else?
I do not pray to an invisible presence, yet I have heard that there are no atheists in trenches. What a load of rubbish. Just imagine those poor men in 1916; both sides praying for themselves and those around them, and to what end? I am sure that there were plenty there who could think for themselves and realised that if there were a deity he could not support both sides.
The same it true of football matches; where fans on both sides in an important game will employ all of their superstitions, including prayer, to ensure their teams' success. The outcome is not influenced by anything other than the quality of play, and perhaps an element of chance. Everything is pretty random.
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