Superstition.....Shit! Look out for the black cat!

[lenguy]

The other day I was walking down the street with a friend of mine and we saw a black cat cross the street and he was convinced something bad was going to happen to him(he has a lot of experience with bad luck) I tried to tell him that its just a cat and that nothing will happen to him..witnessing a black cat does not in no way summon some kind of predetermined outcome that will somehow end bad for you, I didn't do a very good job at changing his mind.

So I realize that a lot of people believe in superstition whether its bad luck, karma or anything else. So I wondered if any of this was true. So we got back to his place and set up a ladder and I walked under it about five times..the entire day went by and nothing happened to me at all. He wasn't convinced. He assured me that something will happen..might not be today, or tomorrow but something will happen, I remain skeptical to say the least. I'm just not one to believe in this kind of stuff. Superstition is to me just an irrational fear of something you can't explain..so somehow walking under a ladder or seeing a black cat or even breaking a mirror is bad for your well being lol. Whats strange though is I do hold some belief towards Karma..What goes around comes around..I know this all to much. Maybe I just put the blame on karma and not myself, I don't know.

So what are your guys views on superstition and do you believe in superstition?, explain.

 

[#hamler]

Actually, I don't know exactly what you would call it, but I do believe in something like that. Just yesterday, I had a pretty shit day. Seems like every time my day is shit, RAW will be shit. And I knew it before it came on, just because of my little superstition I guess you could say. Also, I usually have to have a necklace in my pocket that I received as a gift from my girlfriend or I'll have a pretty shitty day. Guess what I didn't have in my pocket yesterday and guess who had a pretty shitty day yesterday? Funny isn't it?

I'm not the type to believe in a lot of superstitions (In fact, I'm probably far from it-- my favorite number is 13) or karma. I don't believe you can't walk under a ladder, or break a mirror or let that black cat walk in front of you, just doesn't seem real to me. It seems as if fear sometimes gets in our way of seeing things as they really are, thus creating superstitions and karma.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Over here a black cat crossing your path is actually regarded as good luck. I have to say that I'm not superstitious - I believe we can perceive anything on some good or bad luck superstition. For example, 7 years of bad luck for breaking a mirror - can anyone say they've witnessed this? Karma is not a superstition, it's derived for a religious belief (like reincarnation) and again I'd be largely sceptical.

 

[SalvIsWin]

As with anything pseudo-science or things of that nature, logically, if there is no reason to believe such a thing, why believe it? There's no logical explanation for how walking under a ladder, coming across a black cat, breaking a mirror, etc would affect your life or your 'luck'. Scientifically, these things simply don't exist, and I don't really understand how anyone could see it differently.

 

[Calderownz]

Don't believe in superstitions or karma/dharma.

Superstitions just don't make any sense to me. Both can be explained away way too easily.

You let a black cat cross paths with you. Then your girlfriend dumps you. Oh no! Then, you forget that you guys were fighting all the time.

Same thing with karma to a certain extent.

Let's say a gang member robs you and threatens to kill you then ends up dead. It sounds safe and nice to assume that the wrong-doing you experienced is the reason. Fact is, it's probably due in large to the fact that the gang member is in a gang. Naturally, the chances of him dying are higher. Generally, someone who would rob you and threaten you in general is more likely to be in a position to get hurt/killed.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I don't know about you, but i've met loads of people in the last few years who think it's bad luck to walk across 3 drain covers one after the other........

WTF? How would the cover of a hole be able to mystically affect your life?

Some of these losers are so sold on the idea, that they actually grab people and pull them aside just before they step on the third cover.

Once some douchebag actually pushed me, shouting 'look out, 3 drains!', except the twat actually pushed me in the road! So, that guy nearly killed me to stop me walking across 3 drains.

Strictly i don't believe in superstition either.... yet for some reason whenever i see a group of magpies, i always think of the ryhme '1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl and 4 for a boy etc etc' as if it actually applies to reality.

So no, overall i don't believe in superstitions as a rule.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I used to be a lot more superstitious. I also used to play a lot of baseball. Baseball players are known to be more superstitious than most other sports players.

These days I don't really think about it too often. I guess if I think about it I do try not to walk under ladders or stuff like that. But the whole black cat thing is just funny to me. I lived with someone for 7 months who owned a black cat. I loved that damn thing. Never felt like it brought me any bad luck, that's for sure.

As far as your friend, OP, if he's really that serious about them, in his mind, one day you will have something bad happen to you for going under the ladder. It's really all his own perception. Irrational fears are just that: irrational.

 

[The Brain]

So we got back to his place and set up a ladder and I walked under it about five times..the entire day went by and nothing happened to me at all. He wasn't convinced. He assured me that something will happen..might not be today, or tomorrow but something will happen, I remain skeptical to say the least.

This part is key when it comes to superstitious people validating their superstitious beliefs. Sorry to say, but of course something bad is going to happen eventually. It’s inevitable. It’s life. Three weeks from now you could get into a fender bender and damage your car causing your insurance rates to go up. Your friend could then point back to the ladder incident as the cause for the accident. Of course most of us realize the two incidents are unrelated, but some people just can’t accept that shit happens. It gives people some sort of satisfaction to be able to trace bad luck to a particular occurrence rather than just accept the facts of life. Your fender bender would have happened whether you just walked under a ladder or just found a four leaf clover. If these superstitions could actually be proven to be true we would all be walking around with a rabbit’s foot in our pocket and living the good life.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

This part is key when it comes to superstitious people validating their superstitious beliefs. Sorry to say, but of course something bad is going to happen eventually. It’s inevitable. It’s life. Three weeks from now you could get into a fender bender and damage your car causing your insurance rates to go up. Your friend could then point back to the ladder incident as the cause for the accident. Of course most of us realize the two incidents are unrelated, but some people just can’t accept that shit happens. It gives people some sort of satisfaction to be able to trace bad luck to a particular occurrence rather than just accept the facts of life. Your fender bender would have happened whether you just walked under a ladder or just found a four leaf clover. If these superstitions could actually be proven to be true we would all be walking around with a rabbit’s foot in our pocket and living the good life.

I think Brain has hit the nail on the head here. If you use the argument after walking under a ladder that something bad will happen "maybe not today, but sometime", then whenever something does happen to you which is bad, and it WILL, then you will just try to claim it was the ladder walking-under that caused it. Bullshit. It happened due to bad luck, just a fact of life

I dont go in for all this superstition stuff, it just seems to hold people back as they believe they cannot achieve their goals or do their best without wearing a pair of underpants they do not wash while their team is on a winning run, or without carrying a lucky penny. They need to realise that their team lost, not because a fan wasnt wearing his old underpants, but that they werent good enough to win, simple as.

 

[UltimateHitman]

This part is key when it comes to superstitious people validating their superstitious beliefs. Sorry to say, but of course something bad is going to happen eventually. It’s inevitable. It’s life. Three weeks from now you could get into a fender bender and damage your car causing your insurance rates to go up. Your friend could then point back to the ladder incident as the cause for the accident. Of course most of us realize the two incidents are unrelated, but some people just can’t accept that shit happens. It gives people some sort of satisfaction to be able to trace bad luck to a particular occurrence rather than just accept the facts of life. Your fender bender would have happened whether you just walked under a ladder or just found a four leaf clover. If these superstitions could actually be proven to be true we would all be walking around with a rabbit’s foot in our pocket and living the good life.

Dammit! I was reading through the posts thinking, "Hey, nobody has mentioned the point I was going to make yet!" Then, wouldn't you know it, the guy w/the name The Brain hits it out of the park. Sigh. Was looking forward to that green rep, too...

That was exactly what I was thinking when I read it. Of course something is going to happen sooner or later. It has nothing to do w/the ladder, it has to do w/eventuality, the law of averages. It almost sounded like your friend has such an unhealthy obsession with the superstition that he is waiting for something to happen to justify his belief in it. Saying maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually something will happen is stating the obvious. Just wait until something happens to you, no matter how trivial or how unassociated it is. He'll jump on the chance to refer back to the ladder.

As far as superstitions, that's something I agree with as being silly and pointless. Some people just like to have re-assurance, and I think that the "good luck" is simply a matter of a person having a higher amount of confidence in themselves if they have a "good luck charm". They're not thinking about not having the object, they're not nervous, they're at ease IN THEIR MIND (that part being the key) which of course allows them to do better because they're more focused and comfortable. This is what makes the association between "luck" and the object.

One last bit of irony I want to point out. I find it funny that people will laugh or joke or chastise Christians for believing in a "made up man in the sky" and then turn around and freak out because an umbrella opens up in the house or you step on a crack in the sidewalk.

 

[ABMorales787]

Insecurity and inacceptance drives people to the dumbest things. Exactly how does shattering a mirror cause 7 years of bad luck? Does it mess with your karma? Does it misalign your chakra? Does it piss off your guardian angel? Superstitions people are the same kind of people that you could convince that jumping off a cliff with a Glad bag for a parachute is a good idea. Phobia's, I understand. They are psychological developments that are mostly outside of our control. But come on. Horse shoes? 4 leaf clovers? The only thing I see in that is that it gives the person more confidence. Yeah, that's a positive even if it's ridiculous. And the bad luck stuff? Does it lower confidence and causes you to crash or screw something up? Get over it. It happens regardless. There's no outer force that's gonna help you win games of chance and there's no outer force that's just suddenly gonna make you a bad driver. That "force" would be you and your belief in something that isn't real. You let yourself be dictated by your bad superstition, making you careless. You do it to yourself with your self doubt the same way a good luck charm gives you confidence.

 

[Post]

I get superstitions. Really, I think it mostly comes to down to a variation of obsessive compulsive disorder.

For whatever reason, people get something into their head and it is stuck there. They believe that their actions can shape the events of thier lives.

I am guilty of this sometimes when I pay too much attention. I sometimes look at the ground when I walk and try to avoid stepping on cracks in the ground. My wife is superstitious about "splitting posts/poles" when walking w/someone else. For example, if 2 people are walking together and they come to a street light pole, they need to both walk on the same side of it. When I first figured this out about her I'd have fun and walk on the opposite side of her just to piss her off.

Really when it comes down to it, superstitions are nothing to take seriously. If they can help you get through your day, then fine...have at it.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Superstition for the most part is stupid and I disagree with it. In fact, just to joke with people, I will make it a point to argue with a superstitious person that friday the 13th and black cats are in fact good luck not bad luck. I haven't walked under too many ladders or stepped on too many cracks, but I don't do it out of avoiding bad luck. I just do it to avoid having a ladder fall apart on top of me in the case of the ladder, and when it comes to cracks on the sidewalk I tend to take long steps so I often end up avoiding stepping on them by default. Superstition is silly because anything can become a superstition, whether good or bad luck, if enough people start believing it. Such as if I said that getting over 1,000 posts on here is good luck, and enough people believed it, suddenly that thing has become lucky/unlucky.