Superstitions

Many of you know that I have never, nor will ever touch an open umbrella indoors. This is a superstition. By definition, a superstition is an irrational belief that events are consequential of certain actions without a causal relationship.

As a logically-inclined, and scientific person, it may seem paradoxical that I would believe in superstitions. Some other superstitions I believe in:

I would not live or work on the 13th floor of a building (which is generally not a problem since most buildings don't even have a 13th floor).
I would never break a mirror.
I would never walk under a ladder.
I would never give a knife as a gift.

Superstitions. Fate. Destiny. Luck. These are all illogical and irrational concepts, thus no logical or rational explanations are possible. Many have tried to rationalize superstitions, but there are faults in the logic behind such attempts.

Take "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" as an example. It means, in Latin, "after this, therefore because of this" or "if after, then therefore, because." Events follow a temporal sequence, that is to say, the effects can never occur before the cause. This logical sequence, however, is false in that a temporal sequence does not necessarily imply that the effect is the result of the initial action. So if you walk under a ladder and then get hit by a car, it is false to assume that the action of walking beneath a ladder is the cause. There isn't a direct causal relationship, thus associating one with the other is incorrect. Luck is also considered a belief in the Post hoc logical fallacy.

What we cannot yet measure is oftentimes referred to as the supernatural. Rationalists believe this to be hocus pocus, non-sense, or plain old ignorance. They believe that the Universe can always be measured or observed based through the scientific method. Whatever is still immeasurable is simply beyond our level of technology. For example, it was once believed that bad weather was caused by angry gods. With time, we have devised methods of predicting the weather and measuring it by careful and precise observations. We now know that weather is not controlled by the gods, but rather by other environmental factors.

As a scientist, I believe in proof, hard evidence of things like gods and deities. We have yet to receive that proof, as theists are asked to blindly place their faith in a higher power. However, science does not rule my life. It does not maintain an iron grip on my perception of reality. And so I indulge in wishful thinking. That perhaps there might still be some mystery in the world. I believe that not everything can be measured. That even with time and technology, we cannot and will not be able to measure everything the Universe has to offer. Chaos, is one of those things. Chaos cannot be measured. It cannot be quantified. We can define it, give it a description, but we cannot measure it. Like many things, chaos is simply beyond our control.

If the Universe is infinite, and it takes us time to understand concepts such as infinity, then isn't it possible that we will spend an infinite amount of time attempting to understand an infinite number of concepts, ideas, and phenomena? And with that in mind, isn't it even remotely possible that there are things out there that we cannot explain? I choose to believe in that possibility. That no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to fully and truly quantify the Universe.

Superstitions are not just deviations from science and logical thinking. They are a tolerance for the unknown. They allow us to imagine; a qualtiy some people consider a defining quality of mankind. So rather than stuff the Universe and the world around us into a box, I choose to let it run free. Just let yourself go, and see what happens...