Superstitions

The superstition that I have chosen is the one that I use the most frequently. It is the term called ‘Knock on Wood’ or “Touch Wood’. We put this superstition into affect while one is talking to another about a misfortune that has not yet happened and wants to ward it off.

For example, let us say that I am talking to a friend and I say that I have never been stung by a bee. Because I said this statement aloud, I believe that a bee will actually sting me. To ward this bad luck away, I say, following my statement, ‘Knock on Wood’ and immediately tap on any piece of wood within reach. In my opinion, this is a superstition because simply tapping on a piece of wood will not prevent possible future events in which we fear to come to pass. The reason why people actually use this superstition as often as they do is to take comfort in the fact that tapping the wood will cause the misfortune that they were discussing to not come true.

A critical thinker will try to determine if this superstition is credible or not by conducting experiments. In a natural setting, he can observe people using this superstition and see if the things about which the people were discussing really did come to pass, and if it did not, if it was merely a coincidence.