Prime Time Replay:
Stuart Vyse
on the Psychology of Superstition
MsgId: *brain_storm(1)
Date: Fri May 30 21:59:28 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.102
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Brainstorms. I'm your host, Rob Killheffer, senior editor and producer at Omni, and with me tonight is Stuart Vyse, author of an intriguing new book entitled BELIEVING IN MAGIC: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SUPERSTITION. Welcome, Stuart!
MsgId: *brain_storm(3)
Date: Fri May 30 22:00:59 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
Thank you, Rob. It's great to be here.
MsgId: *brain_storm(4)
Date: Fri May 30 22:03:00 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.102
Glad to have you. Let's leap right in: one of the more interesting assertions in your book is that superstions arise from the same patterns of thought and cognitive traits that underlie all human reasoning and learning. Can you elaborate for our audience?
MsgId: *brain_storm(5)
Date: Fri May 30 22:06:32 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
Yes. We are highly evolved animals, and we are capable of rapid learning. In addition, we are sensitive to a wide range of subtle stimuli. Unfortunately, we may pay attention to the wrong things. For example, the clothes we are wearing when something good happens to us.
MsgId: *brain_storm(8)
Date: Fri May 30 22:12:08 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.102
It's odd, though, to link superstitions with other kinds of learned belief, since we tend to think of superstitions as "irrational," whereas learning cause and effect relationships is eminently rational. How do superstitious beliefs partake of the same structures without giving way to what might seem more sensible conclusions (such as that it wasn't the shirt we were wearing that made the difference, it was the conviction of our sales presentation that won them over)?
MsgId: *brain_storm(9)
Date: Fri May 30 22:17:21 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
The difference between superstitious learning and other kinds is often a matter of how the context affects our use of the information. Superstitions often emerge under circumstances of uncertainty and lack of control. When the stakes are high we become biased in our evaluation of information. Furthermore our need for control in those situations helps us grasp at any feature of our context that may be related to the desired outcome. "It seems silly, but maybe this shirt is lucky."
MsgId: *brain_storm(10)
Date: Fri May 30 22:20:34 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.102
That makes sense. It does seem that most common superstitions arise around situations that don't have neat cause and effect explanations. When faced with the random fluctuations of a roulette wheel, the mind seeks connections even when it "knows," on another level, that such beliefs don't make much sense. Is that some (or all?) of the reason why superstitions persist, even among well educated and devoted rational people?
MsgId: *brain_storm(11)
Date: Fri May 30 22:25:06 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
That is part of the reason why superstitions emerge and persist, but your gambling example leads to another. We have great difficulty with random processes. We fail to realize that, for example, a flipping coin will often produce unusual strings: HHHHHHH. If we are betting on heads we tend to give special significance to our winnning streak. Poor understanding of probability is another reason superstitions emerge.
MsgId: *brain_storm(13)
Date: Fri May 30 22:42:36 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.90
That reminds me of a point that Stephen Jay Gould likes to make, about how many of our interpretations of, say, sporting events (his favorite examples) run contrary to demonstrable reality we're amazed when someone sinks ten three-point shots in a row, but when one studies the probabilities involved it becomes clear that not only is it not amazing, it's practically inevitable that *some* player, *some* time, will do that. And yet we can't help but be amazed.You draw on examples from the sporting world, too, from Wade Boggs and his chicken meals to Bill Parcells' coffee shops. I wondered if athletes might be an example of an indirect effectiveness of superstitions -- maybe the chicken Boggs eats doesn't directly affect his batting average, but if he *believes* it does, then it calms his anxieties and lets him concentrate on hitting. To what extent do such indirect results bolster superstitions?
MsgId: *brain_storm(16)
Date: Fri May 30 22:49:09 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
Without question, the superstitions of athletes help calm them and prepare them for the event. Another aspect of superstition is its tendency to emerge when there is time to kill. Coaches often recommend that players establish a regular routine. It can help the athlete concentrate and calm nerves. But when the player gives his ritual magical significance (as in the Wade Boggs chicken example), I would call it a superstition. Nonetheless, these superstitions can make the player feel better.
MsgId: *brain_storm(17)
Date: Fri May 30 22:50:30 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.90
I also wondered about the connection between superstitious beliefs and behaviors and the anxiety-relieving rituals that obsessive-compulsive disorders can produce. Is the latter a kind of exaggerated form of the former, or is the resemblance merely coincidental?
MsgId: *brain_storm(18)
Date: Fri May 30 22:55:28 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
The rituals of the person with obsessive-compulsive disorder do have an anxiety relieving aspect to them, but most experts say the disorder and the common superstitions most people have are not related. The man with obsessive compulsive disorder that I interviewed for the book said, "Other people don't experience their supersititions as suffering."
MsgId: *brain_storm(19)
Date: Fri May 30 22:57:51 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.90
That's true. And yet I'm reminded of another point you made in the book, about how hard it can be to study people's superstitions because they often won't admit to them, ashamed of their irrational practices. That's at least a slight indication that the beliefs have a kind of suffering attached to them, if very minor. So how did you go about your research, if people's own reports of their superstitions aren't very reliable?
MsgId: *brain_storm(20)
Date: Fri May 30 23:04:03 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
The lack of reliability is primarily associated with the simple question, "Are you (or are you not) superstitious?" There is a social stigma associated with the word superstition. It connotes ignorance and gullibility. Thus I tend to believe that the polls underestimate how prevalent superstition is. But much of the research for my book is based on laboratory studies of learning, cognition, and personality. The basic processes that lead to superstition do reveal themselves in the lab. What is less clear is how widespread superstition is outside the lab.
MsgId: *brain_storm(21)
Date: Fri May 30 23:05:28 EDT 1997
From: Rob_Killheffer At: 205.198.117.90
It's a difficult question to answer, that's for sure (he says as he knocks wood, hoping his computer won't seize up again). I think we're just about out of time. Sorry for the mid-chat glitches that slowed things down. Thanks for appearing here on Brainstorms, Stuart. To our viewers, I'd recommend my guest's book, BELIEVING IN MAGIC, most highly as an astute and surprising look at the sources of some of our most common but least understood psychological tendencies. For now, this is Rob Killheffer, wishing you all a good night. See you next week, when my guest will be Barbara Ehrenreich, whose new book BLOOD RITES offers a controversial interpretation of the human impulse toward war. Auf wiedersehen!
MsgId: *brain_storm(22)
Date: Fri May 30 23:08:34 EDT 1997
From: Stuart_Vyse At: 136.244.1.80
Good night, Rob. Thank you for having me.
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