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Hub AI
Superstition AI simulator
(@Superstition_simulator)
Hub AI
Superstition AI simulator
(@Superstition_simulator)
Superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, fate, magic, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, spirits, and certain paranormal entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
The word superstition is also used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions or to all religions by the antireligious.
Definitions of the term vary, but superstitions are commonly described as irrational beliefs at odds with scientific knowledge of the world. Stuart Vyse proposes that a superstition's "presumed mechanism of action is inconsistent with our understanding of the physical world", with Jane Risen adding that these beliefs are not merely scientifically wrong but impossible. Similarly, Lysann Damisch defines superstition as "irrational beliefs that an object, action, or circumstance that is not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome." Dale Martin says that superstitions "presuppose an erroneous understanding about cause and effect, that have been rejected by modern science." The Oxford English Dictionary describes them as "irrational, unfounded", Merriam-Webster as "a false conception about causation or belief or practice", and the Cambridge Dictionary as "sans grounding in human reason or scientific knowledge". This notion of superstitious practices is not causally related to the outcomes.
Both Vyse and Martin argue that what is considered superstitious varies across cultures and time. For Vyse, "if a culture has not yet adopted science as its standard, then what we consider magic or superstition is more accurately the local science or religion." Dale points out that superstitions are often considered out of place in modern times and are influenced by modern science and its notions of what is rational or irrational, surviving as remnants of older popular beliefs and practices.
Vyse proposes that in addition to being irrational and culturally dependent, superstitions have to be instrumental; an actual effect is expected by the person holding a belief, such as increased odds of winning a prize. This distinction excludes practices where participants merely expect to be entertained.
Religious practices that differ from commonly accepted religions in a given culture are sometimes called superstitious; similarly, new practices brought into an established religious community can also be labeled as superstitious in an attempt to exclude them. Also, an excessive display of devoutness has often been labelled as superstitious behavior.[need quotation to verify][need quotation to verify]
In antiquity, the Latin term superstitio, like its equivalent Greek deisidaimonia, became associated with exaggerated ritual and a credulous attitude towards prophecies. Greek and Roman polytheists, who modeled their relations with the gods on political and social terms, scorned the man who constantly trembled with fear at the thought of the gods, as a slave feared a cruel and capricious master. Such fear of the gods was what the Romans meant by "superstition" (Veyne 1987, p. 211). Cicero (106–43 BCE) contrasted superstitio with the mainstream religion of his day, stating: Nec vero superstitione tollenda religio tollitur – "One does not destroy religion by destroying superstition". Diderot's 18th-century Encyclopédie defines superstition as "any excess of religion in general", and links it specifically with paganism.
In his 1520 Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther, who called the papacy "that fountain and source of all superstitions", accuses the popes of superstition:
Superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, fate, magic, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, spirits, and certain paranormal entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
The word superstition is also used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions or to all religions by the antireligious.
Definitions of the term vary, but superstitions are commonly described as irrational beliefs at odds with scientific knowledge of the world. Stuart Vyse proposes that a superstition's "presumed mechanism of action is inconsistent with our understanding of the physical world", with Jane Risen adding that these beliefs are not merely scientifically wrong but impossible. Similarly, Lysann Damisch defines superstition as "irrational beliefs that an object, action, or circumstance that is not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome." Dale Martin says that superstitions "presuppose an erroneous understanding about cause and effect, that have been rejected by modern science." The Oxford English Dictionary describes them as "irrational, unfounded", Merriam-Webster as "a false conception about causation or belief or practice", and the Cambridge Dictionary as "sans grounding in human reason or scientific knowledge". This notion of superstitious practices is not causally related to the outcomes.
Both Vyse and Martin argue that what is considered superstitious varies across cultures and time. For Vyse, "if a culture has not yet adopted science as its standard, then what we consider magic or superstition is more accurately the local science or religion." Dale points out that superstitions are often considered out of place in modern times and are influenced by modern science and its notions of what is rational or irrational, surviving as remnants of older popular beliefs and practices.
Vyse proposes that in addition to being irrational and culturally dependent, superstitions have to be instrumental; an actual effect is expected by the person holding a belief, such as increased odds of winning a prize. This distinction excludes practices where participants merely expect to be entertained.
Religious practices that differ from commonly accepted religions in a given culture are sometimes called superstitious; similarly, new practices brought into an established religious community can also be labeled as superstitious in an attempt to exclude them. Also, an excessive display of devoutness has often been labelled as superstitious behavior.[need quotation to verify][need quotation to verify]
In antiquity, the Latin term superstitio, like its equivalent Greek deisidaimonia, became associated with exaggerated ritual and a credulous attitude towards prophecies. Greek and Roman polytheists, who modeled their relations with the gods on political and social terms, scorned the man who constantly trembled with fear at the thought of the gods, as a slave feared a cruel and capricious master. Such fear of the gods was what the Romans meant by "superstition" (Veyne 1987, p. 211). Cicero (106–43 BCE) contrasted superstitio with the mainstream religion of his day, stating: Nec vero superstitione tollenda religio tollitur – "One does not destroy religion by destroying superstition". Diderot's 18th-century Encyclopédie defines superstition as "any excess of religion in general", and links it specifically with paganism.
In his 1520 Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther, who called the papacy "that fountain and source of all superstitions", accuses the popes of superstition: