Breaking a Mirror Means What?

I think that these superstitions come from word of mouth via folk tales and urban legends. I think that people sometimes always need to just believe something, so they hold onto superstitions and then through time these superstitions get passed on.

I think this is a really interesting discussion! I totally see what you're saying, how operant conditioning can reinforce superstitious beliefs. An example of this: Someone prays every night to get a raise. After a month they get the raise. They say "Hallelujah my praying got me a raise," and are more inclined to pray in the future for things they want. Or it you look at other religions that perform sacrifices to get something like rain. It is eventually going to rain. After they keep offering sacrifices, one of those times will coincide with rain. Just like the little girl pushing the elevator button, eventually it will open.

I think this is a really interesting discussion! I totally see what you're saying, how operant conditioning can reinforce superstitious beliefs. An example of this: Someone prays every night to get a raise. After a month they get the raise. They say "Hallelujah my praying got me a raise," and are more inclined to pray in the future for things they want. Or it you look at other religions that perform sacrifices to get something like rain. It is eventually going to rain. After they keep offering sacrifices, one of those times will coincide with rain. Just like the little girl pushing the elevator button, eventually it will open.

I think many superstitious beliefs are spread by word of mouth from generation to generation. The true fact behind it will be something scientific. For example, an apple a day keeps the doctor away is said so that you eat apple everyday and stay healthy. Fruits are good for your health. I am from India and we have numerous superstitious beliefs for even simple things like twitching of the eye, itching of the palm, the white spot in your nail, etc.. The above said examples could mean good or bad depending on left vs right. All this were devised by our ancestors for their convenience. It was interesting as a kid but as we grew up it was only funny when people strictly adhered to it. In reality they are actually related to muscle fatigue or vitamin deficiency!

I think that it could be a combination of both. The idea of these superstitions are passed down from generation to generation, but they are believed because of experiences people have had with the superstition. People will use confirmation bias or apophenia. They will notice that they did something unlucky, such as walking under a ladder, and they will search for bad things that happened and will attribute them to walking under a ladder. They won't notice the good things that may happen in the time shortly after the superstitious act. The bad things will stand out. This is where confirmation bias comes in.

I don't know if the superstitions are followed because of where they originated from, not to general public at least. Generally, I feel that unless a person is from the culture the superstition originates from, then they don't actually know where it comes from. The person believing, or abiding by the superstition probably heard it from people they looked up to or respected and that is how it continues and becomes a thought that, no matter how silly it seems, is followed whether it be subconsciously or consciously. Another reason superstitions are followed, I believe, is because people like to have things to believe in. This way, things are more left up to fate and if things go awry, we can blame it on "bad luck." I know that personally, when competing sports, I would take off my clothes the same way every time and in track, I would drink one bottle of water. Once that water bottle ran out, I would miss the next height. The water did not apply to my running or long/triple jumps. No matter how many times I told myself the water had nothing to do with it, I think subconsciously I would make it happen because about 90% of the time I would miss the next height once my water came out.

I would bet that most people are superstitious to some degree. The world is so complicated and many things seem hard to understand, that having a small superstition like knocking on wood for good luck can provide us with a sense of control when outcomes are uncertain. This can make us feel better, less worried and perhaps even provide some meaning to what we believe will happen in the future.

Many superstitions probably had some truth to them or were common sense reminders. Walking under a ladder is probably not a good idea anyway because a wrong step could lead to an accident.

I am curious about the connection to operant conditioning and wanted to look at the video but the link is no longer active. It makes sense that superstitions could be a form of operant conditioning in the sense that we are rewarded or punished for certain behaviors that we believe are associated with outcomes that were likely out of our control, like your favorite team winning the Super Bowl because you wore your lucky hat- or lost the Bowl because you washed your lucky hat.

Superstitions can only gain widespread appeal by word of mouth. We might be more inclined to believe in something if others believe it too. Superstitions can often seem like insider information, and that is why they spread best by word of mouth.