Michael Jordan likes to wear his “lucky” college gym shorts underneath his Bulls uniform. Tiger Woods always wears a red T-shirt when competing on Sunday. Most of us have our own superstitions even when we know rationally that they cannot work. No matter how silly and meaningless these superstitions may appear, they have massive impact on our lives and according to US researchers, it may have a part to play in current economic crisis.

Actual extents to which superstitions affect our lives depend on the details. If someone is superstitious about his/her profession then the damage can be significant. For example, if a doctor starts treating his patients based on his irrational superstitions then he/she may take the lives of many innocent people. In most developing countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, people lose their lives because of fake treatments offered by practitioners who have no knowledge of their field and treat patients based on their superstitions. However, thanks to scientific progress, number of such cases is reducing with the increase in awareness.

Nowadays, most people have superstitions that are unrelated to their professions. Therefore, such superstitions are not that harmful. For example, if Tiger Woods wear a red T-shirt, then it affects neither his game nor someone else’s.

However, whatever the extent of belief in superstitions, they certainly have certain adverse effects on our lives. Most importantly, they make us prone to irrational thinking and induce unnecessary submissiveness. Someone who believes that passing across his/her car caused a particular failure would not analyze his mistakes objectively.

Superstitious beliefs can also induce defeatist mindset. One who believes in superstitions may accept defeat, just because he believes that something wrong is going to happen, even before something wrong has actually taken place. According to the Karl Peltzer of University of North in Sovenga, superstitious beliefs can be a cause of high incidence of fatal road accidents in South Africa. South African drivers share deep-rooted beliefs in the supernatural, thinking accidents result from witchcraft, for instance, or that medicines can prevent them, says Karl Peltzer.

Superstitions might also have played a role in economic crisis. Study in journal Science found that superstitious feelings adversely affected the investment decisions of volunteers. US researchers say mind naturally creates illusions and superstitions in the times of stress. Researchers found that volunteers whose feelings of control had been undermined formed illusory correlations and made their investment decisions on the back of it. Therefore, in present times of stress, superstitions may add to current global financial crisis.

However, superstitions are not always bad. Superstitions can actually help through placebo effect- If you think something will help you it may just do that. Belief that you can do well, because you have some magical powers, can actually boost your performance and hence the chances of success.

However, despite all the pros and cons, people have superstitious beliefs because they make us comfortable by lifting the burden of responsibility from our shoulders and heap it on a black cat or broken mirror or some “magical” numeral.

Sources:

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7649970.stm

2. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17823942.600-death-by-superstition.html

3. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46749