What is this thing called superstition?

Konrad Talmont-Kaminski KLI & UMCS

A sample of superstitions
What do these have in common? Tarot card reading Triskaidekaphobia Whistling for wind Bad luck from breaking a mirror First footing Water dowsing

That these possibly do not? Believing in fairies or UFOs Using Vitamin C against colds Saying Mass Wishing people good luck Newtonian physics

Jahoda definition
Gustav Jahoda, 1956
the kind of belief and action a reasonable man in present-day Western society would regard as being superstitious

A subterfuge A place-holder Relying on intuitions Awaiting a proper definition

Definition and explanation

Phenomenological definition
Seemingly easier to obtain May be misleading

Definition in terms of underlying processes

Requires that superstition be understood More valuable

Neither has been agreed upon But numerous suggestions

Uncertainty
Superstitions form under conditions of uncertainty
Malinowski (1925) on Trobriand islanders Empirical support
Vyse (1991) matrix-task study Keinan (1994) on Israelis under SCUD attacks Padgett, Jorgenson (1982) on economic threat in Germany

Reason for the link is not well understood

Anthropological explanations
Motivational - Anxiety reduction (Malinowski 1925)
Main thesis in anthropology

Alternative explanations
Cognitive - Primitive attempts to understand the world (Frazer 1922) Social - Communicating willingness to cooperate (Palmer 1989)

Psychological explanations
Originate with Skinners 1948 pigeon study (Skinner 1948) Operant conditioning is not just for rats and pigeons (Vyse 1997)

Pattern seeking
Psychologists focus on pattern seeking Pattern seeking explanations:
Emotional need to find a pattern Vyse (1997) seems to accept this at times Finding non-existent patterns sometimes less costly - Killeen (1997, 1981) on just in case justifications Evolutionary biasing - McKay (2007) applying Haseltons error management theory

Nave inductivism
Danger of a nave inductivist view of pattern seeking
Beck, Forstmeier (2005) on adaptive learning strategies

Position is philosophically unacceptable

Hume (1748) Goodman (1955)

Selective associations are the norm

Cook, Mineka (1990) on monkeys learning to fear snakes

General idea of relating superstition to pattern seeking not reliant on nave views of learning

Superstition as false belief

Superstition as:
a wrong idea about external reality! (Beck, Forstmeier 2005) ascription of false causal connection (Maller, Lundeen 1933)

Problem
What about non-superstitious false beliefs? A profound difference

Supernatural beliefs
Superstitions as involving supernatural beliefs
Seemingly attractive approach But highly problematic

Problem 1 - distinguishing supernatural beliefs

Vague concept Not used by certain societies which distinguish superstition (Martin 2004) or magic (Durkheim 1921)

Religion
Problem 2 - difference between religion and superstition
Superstition as false religion (Aquinas 1265) Religion as true superstition? Institutionalisation/function of beliefs/practices (Durkheim 1912, Wilson 2002) Difference in espoused aims?

Pseudoscience
Problem 3 - Pseudoscientific superstitions
Saher, Lindeman (2005) on alternative medicine and supernatural beliefs Other evidence for post hoc explanations People may opt for supernatural/pseudoscientific explanations of patterns due to unavailability of natural explanations

Thus far
Superstition linked to uncertainty May be due to just in case pattern seeking Not to be identified with false beliefs May not necessarily involve supernatural claims Need to consider the cognitive processes which lead to superstition

Cognitive processes
Cognitive explanations
Logical versus pre-logical thinking (Durkheim 1912, Lvy-Bruhl 1910) Childhood versus adult modes of thought (Piaget 1929)

Reify superstitious/rational distinction in terms of different modes of thought Problem - Not all pre-logical or childhood thinking results in superstitious beliefs
Identification of superstition still problematic

Recent cognitive approaches

Dual-aspect reasoning
(Epstein, Pacini, Denes Raj, Heier 1996) on intuitive versus analytical thinking

Developmental psychology
(Hood, Bloom 2007, Lindeman, Aarnio 2006) on essentialist accounts of childhood intuitive reasoning

Weaknesses
Can not identify superstition with a mode of reasoning
But provide a richer picture of limited human abilities

The modes of reasoning not competing but mutually supportive

Modes of reasoning not superseded Later modes reliant upon earlier modes

Ecological rationality
Reasoning needs to fit the specific problems it is applied to (Simon 1956) Superstitions may be the result of a mismatch between the reasoning and the situation it is applied to

Thank you
konrad@talmont.com http://deisidaimon.wordpress.com