HW1: RELIGION VS. SUPERSTITION (Article1)

Religion or Superstition? Why do you think this two are competing with each other? What are their reason behind that? We all know that religion is against to superstition because religion believes that superstition is becoming a people to be ignorant, but religion has no proof to said that but infact it is only their opinion. And as person, we have a right to respect others opinion.

According to the article that I read, not everyone who is religious is also superstitious and not everyone who is superstitious is also religious. A person can faithfully attend church services all their life without giving a second thought to a black cat walking in front of them. On the other hand, a person who completely rejects any religion whatsoever may consciously or unconsciously avoid walking under a ladder — even if there is no one on the ladder who might drop something.This means that religion and superstition is different from each other. 

    Furthermore, there is also the appearance of a desire to provide meaning and coherence to otherwise random and chaotic events. If we get hurt in an accident, it is might be attributed to a black cat, to spilling salt, to failing to pay sufficient honor to our ancestors, to performing the appropriate sacrifices to the sprits, etc. There seems to be a genuine continuum between what we tend to call “superstition” and the ideas in animistic religions. In both cases, people are expected to avoid certain actions and perform other actions in order to ensure that they do not fall victim to the unseen forces at work in our world. In both cases, the very idea that such unseen forces are at work seems to stem (at least in part) both from a desire to explain otherwise random events and from a desire to have some means of affecting those events. 

        Those, these psychological benefits can explain why religion exist and why religion persist. It is all the reason of existence and persistence of superstition. We all know that superstition is not a form of religion. People have their own ways to understand the difference between the two. It can also help us to gain more useful thing because of the two.

"The Magical Thinking"

      How many times a day do you either cross your fingers, knock on wood, or worry that your good luck will turn on you? These are common good luck superstition that people do nowadays. As a writer of this blog, I am also one of that, sometimes I do that especially when needed. It is true that we also readily believe in our own psychic powers. You’re thinking of a friend when all of a sudden your phone beeps to announce a new text from that very person.  Proof positive that your thoughts caused your friend to contact you at that very moment. This are some examples that our magical thinking powers happen.

      Magical Thinking is related to superstition. It is primarily because like superstition, in magical thinking powers we also believe. We consider our self that anything will possible to happen if we want. According to psychology writer Matthew Hutso,there are 7 laws of magical thinking.

  These are the following:

1. Objects carry essences. According to this first rule, we attribute special properties to items that belong or once belonged to someone we love, is famous, or has a particular quality we admire. Perhaps you’ve got a baseball signed by your favorite player or a pen that a rock star used to autograph your concert ticket.  The fact of the matter is that the objects are just those, objects, and despite their connection with special people in our lives, they have no inherent ability to transmit those people’s powers to us.

2. Symbols have power. Humans have a remarkable tendency to impute meaning not only to objects but to abstract entities. We imbue these symbols with the ability to affect actual events in our lives. According to the principle known as the “law of similarity,” we equate a symbol with the thing it stands for.We might also attribute qualities to an object on the basis of the word used to label it or to a person on what that person is named. Hutson points out that the popularity of the name Britney, for example, peaked after the release of her first album and has dropped ever since.

3. Actions have distant consequences. In our constant search to control the outcomes of events in our seemingly unpredictable lives, we build up our own personal library of favorite superstitious rituals or thoughts. We’re particularly likely to engage in superstitious thinking when the chances of something bad happening are high. It’s possible that this belief in luck causes people to perform better because their inner self-confidence is boosted, even if only for bogus reasons.
4. The mind knows no bounds. The more often this happens, the more likely we are to be convinced of our mind’s special powers. One reason we fall for this mental trap is the illusory correlation, but a second is that we’re poor statisticians. We count the hits but not the misses. Another manifestation of this rule is our tendency to believe that if we think positive thoughts about a person in trouble, our thoughts can truly help that person, even if that person is thousands of miles physically removed from us. 
5. The soul lives on.  On a more serious note, Hutson takes on belief in the afterlife from as much a philosophical as an empirical perspective.  Even if you’re not into Cartesian dualism (the idea that the mind and body are two separate entities), you might find interesting the notion that even by the age of 3, children realize that an imagined cookie can’t be eaten.  Even feeling identification with your favorite brand name product may be a way of protecting yourself from confronting your mortality.
6. The world is alive. Adults are supposed to grow out of the stage that Piaget called “preoperational” thinking- which is basically the logic of the child between the ages of about 4 and 7. However, as Hutson shows, we share the young child’s belief in animism, which is one key feature of preoperational thought. In other words, we attribute human-like qualities to everything from our pets to our iPhones. This is because we over-apply what’s known as the theory of mind, which is the process we use to understand and predict what other people are going to do. 
7.  Everything happens for a reason. The most insidious form of magical thinking is our tendency to believe that there is a purpose or destiny that guides what happens to us. It’s the thoughts that go through your head when you, for example, miss a bus that would have gotten you to a job interview on time but because you missed it, you didn’t get the job, but you did meet a person on the bus who you ended up going out with, who now has become your lifelong partner, and you then moved to a new home, and then had two children who never would existed if you hadn’t missed that bus. To do so gives us a sense of control, even if that sense of control is only illusory.
     These laws that Matthew Hutso given to us is not really to convince us to believe his way of magical thinking. It is always depends on us, if we want to believe it or not. It is our ow decision to decide. As a writer of this blog, I can say that some of this magical thinking is bring us good luck. And no matter happens, It is always our own decision. 

References:http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201205/our-superstitious-minds-the-7-laws-magical-thinking?page=2

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:

A. Background of the Study

       Superstition is an irrational belief or practice resulting from ignorance or fear of the unknown. It characterized by obsessive reverence for omens, charms, etc.  The validity of superstitions is based on belief in the power of magic and witchcraft and in such invisible forces as spirits and demons. A common superstition in the middle ages was that the devil could enter a person during that unguarded moment when that person was sneezing; this could be avoided if anyone present immediately appealed to the name of God. The tradition of saying "God bless you" when someone sneezes still remains today. Superstition is a notion, act or ritual that derives from such belief.(http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Superstitious+belief)

        Some superstition provides as a miracle, revelation, magic or what we called supernatural. It is commonly says that it can bring real-luck or bad-luck. It can also foretell future events by specific unrelated prior events. According to the psychologist Lysann Damisch of the University of Cologne, is that superstitious thought, or “magical thinking,” even as it misrepresents reality, has its advantages. It offers psychological benefits that logic and science can’t always provide: namely, a sense of control and a sense of meaning. He said that We often rely on such rituals when we are anxious or want to perform well, and though they may not directly have their intended magical effects.

The source of different superstition is based on what evolve in this process. It can be cultural based that came from others and pass to one another. The sources which might have been a great source for such superstitions are leaders or governments, elders, cultures, imaginative stories, scholars and myths. Some of the common superstitions are the fear of Friday the 13th. Many people feel that it's a day of bad luck. Also consist of things like, the 7 years bad luck that you receive if you break a mirror, or walking beneath a ladder, will also bring you bad luck. But superstition can also bring you real luck and one of the popular is, picking up a penny that is heads up, will bring you good luck.

In the Philippines there are many superstitions. It quite irrational and are something beyond the ground of Science. It creates beliefs that misfortune will always happen if it will not be followed. It also finds it very conflicting that the largest Christian country in Asia has a lot of beliefs that contradicts to the philosophy of the religion. Some of the superstition in the Philippines are like, When someone sleeps with wet hair, that person may go blind or go crazy; If a person sits on a book, that person will become stupid or dumb; People with large ears have long life. These are some common superstition in our country.

In spite of difficulties, many people still believe in superstition, not only in the people in the Philippines but also in some other country. One of that is the Western country, their culture also believes in superstition that deemed irrational. In the cultures of Greeks and Romans they also believed that natural occurrences were a result of actions of the gods. In a simple way, these superstitious beliefs are really affecting the daily lives of the people. Also it is really connected to the religion. Even people who claim they have no superstitions they are likely to do a few things they cannot explain.  Being superstitious helps those to hide their mistakes by blaming luck, which according to them no one can control except God. A feeling of lack of control over their life, many people desire to impose order and structure on the world.

Indeed of dealing with the definition and importance of the superstition as well as the examples, this paper focus on the effects of superstition on the daily lives of Filipino.

B. Statement of the Problem

          This study aims to answer this question:

1.) What effects those superstition have on the daily lives of the Filipino?

C. Significance of the Study

College students. This research can help college student it simply because me as a college students right know. I have many things that I’ve learned. In some point college students wants to believe in this superstition.

Filipinos.  This research paper would be able to help human beings because it is one of the beliefs that can bring good luck for them. But somehow it can also bring bad lucks; it depends on what they believe.

Sports men or people who are very sporty. It is very helpful to the person who is very sporty especially when that person believes in real luck. He or she can help her or his team to win because of this superstition. And he or she takes this superstition as opportunities to gain with flying colour.

Fortune-tellers. This is one who will benefit my research paper because when people are more closely to believe to superstition, we can say that people can  more likely to go to a fortune-teller so that they will know what will happen for them in the future, and because of superstition they will believe to the fortune-teller.

D. Scope and Limitation

    This study focuses on the effects of superstition on the daily lives of the Filipino. So all of the articles that are related to the effects of superstition will be all considered.

      This study will no longer to discuss the cause of superstition, the definition, the importance, as well as the example but rather it focuses in the effects in the daily lives of the Filipino. This study also give emphasize only to our country Philippines. In simple way, all the superstition is all about to the Filipinos.

E. Materials and Methods

     This research employs a descriptive method since the researchers aim to describe and to discuss the effects of the superstition on the daily lives of Filipinos. This method as define as “the daughter of Ignorance and Fear. And based on it, it is the power of magic and witchcraft. Bearing this in mind, the descriptive method deemed appropriate for the study.

          Information gathered from different references such as books, journals and articles that are related to the effects of superstition. In addition some of the articles are from online sources to find strength information of this study.

F. Definition of terms

Superstition. An irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superstition)

Ignorance.  The state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignorance)

Witchcraft. Communication with the devil or with a familiar, the use of sorcery or magic and an irresistible influence or fascination. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/witchcraft)

Miracle. An extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miracle)

Philosophy. All learning exclusive of technical precepts and practical arts. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philosophy)

Psychological. Directed toward the will or toward the mind specifically in its co native function. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychological)

SUPERSTITION-ANY BENEFIT?

      Do you thing that superstition have benefits for us ?? Maybe for some people they agree but some are not because for some people, they know that superstition is not good for us. It can harm us.  But did you know that in superstition we can gained confidence? Yes! And it will proved of this article.

     Superstition is typically a pejorative term. Belief in things like magic and miracles is thought to be irrational and scientifically retrograde. But as studies have repeatedly shown, some level of belief in the supernatural — often a subtle and unconscious belief — appears to be unavoidable, even among skeptics. One study found that a group of seemingly rational Princeton students nonetheless believed that they had influenced the Super Bowl just by watching it on TV. We are all mystics, to a degree.
       Consider one “law of magic” that people tend to put stock in: the idea that “luck is in your hands,” that you can affect your fate via superstitious rituals like knocking on wood or carrying a lucky charm. We often rely on such rituals when we are anxious or want to perform well, and though they may not directly have their intended magical effects, these rituals produce an illusion of control and enhance self-confidence, which in turn can improve our performance and thus indirectly affect our fate.

       But the point is no matter how people believes in his kind of belief , we must d not forget to believe in out Jesus Christ because without him, we are not here. We know that believing in superstition is like not to believe to God. But it is not true because you yourself can say if you want to believe to  God or not. 

DIFFERENT MEANING OF SUPERSTITION!

     Every people have their own meaning of superstition and maybe they have also different believes about this. As an individual we have the rights to give a different meaning for superstition.We also have a rights to express our feelings and emotion as regards to this.  In the different meaning of superstition it can be a means of real luck or a bad luck, but it is depends to a people in which he/she believes. According on what I've read, this are some meanings of superstition based on the different person:

   Based on Burke, He said that "Superstition is belief that has no basis in reason. It is the daughter of Ignorance and Fear. The word means, literally, standing over—standing still at a thing in fear." Another one is Pascal, he said that "superstition is founded on fear or ignorance, and leads men to form false ideas of duty, to dread chimeras, and to lean on a broken reed."Belief in omens and oracles; servile attachment to ritual, usage, form of words; and see­ing the supernatural in every incident of life—all these come under Superstition." 

   The point of Burke and Pascal, is that the superstition is a fear and is form of ignorance for the people. In a simple way they say that superstition is not good for the people. It can cause harm or something that can cause to death. So ,these two person want us to avoid some superstition so that we can prevent harm.

   Another meaning for superstition is based on religion, it says that "superstition means irrational fear of the mys­terious, and reverence for objects that are no proper objects of worship" and also "superstition is a thing of darkness; it cannot stand the light. It is a child of ignorance; it hates and flees from the face of knowledge.". 

  The point of the religion is that superstition comes because of the evil. We have superstition because we forget to believe in our savior Jesus Christ. But I think, it is not the reason. We have superstition because of the culturally based. It can be adopt from our family or someone who is very superstitious. There is something wrong if we believe in this kind of superstition. We must respect the opinions of other as regard to it.

NARROW DOWN TOPIC:
 
- Superstitious belief
- Superstitious belief, are they true? 
- Cause and effect of superstition
- Effect of superstitious belief to Filipino lives

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
 
  - What effects those superstition have on the daily lives of Filipino?

TENTATIVE OUTLINE: 
   
  I- Definition of Superstition and Beliefs (Superstitious beliefs) 
  II- Effects to the Filipino lives
     
      A. Advantages:
          *Examples of Real-luck superstition
          *Way of thinking
     
      B. Dis-Advantages:
          *Examples of Bad-luck superstition
          *Psychological

  III- Survey
      A: Percent how many Filipino believes in superstition
      B: Percent how many people does not believe in superstition
    
   
 
 

  

SUPERSTITION - CAN CAUSE DEATH!

        Do you think that superstition can cause death? Why does people believe on it? What are their reasons behind that? This are some questions that bother us about superstitious belief. In my self opinion, I will say that sometimes I believe in this kind of superstition, like what we call Friday the 13th. I know many people also believe on this and I am one of that. They believe in Friday the 13th because it says that it brings bud luck and it is not a lucky day. But this superstition is only my opinion and it depends on other people if they want to believe on it or not. 

     When I was browsing the net, I red an article entitled "Death on Superstition" by Stephanie Lechniak-Cumerlato. When I first red the title I become curious about this so I chose it to become my article. On her article "there was a fatal road accident happened at South Africa, where ten times as many as death in US". She said that this is because of drivers supernatural beliefs that result from witchcraft. She also said in her articles that more superstition the driver, the more accidents he had.   

                                                                  Fatal Road Accident

                                                                   Witchcraft Symbol

      In my own opinion, this kind of superstition is not really good for us. I know it exist in our country because of culturally based, and maybe it have been passed down to you from your family. But we have no choice but to overcome with it. We all know that other people believes on it, and because of their believing it can cause their to risk. We have many things to be done to prevent this superstition like we must have faith in God.We must always believe in him so that he always there for us what ever happens.

      As a conclusion, the only thing that we can do is to pray and also to believe not to superstition but to our savior Jesus Chris. Because when we continue believing in this kind of superstition especially bad superstition, we don't know what will happen to us. There's nothing wrong if we believe on superstition or not. And for me it is good to believe in Real luck superstition rather than bad superstition.

       After I red my article, these are the following questions that comes in to my mind:
1. Why people believe in superstition?
2. Why people died in superstition?
3. What are other example of superstition that can cause death?
4. What  people can be done to prevent this bad superstition?

  For me this is not easy to answer unless I can find more articles about superstition. I can use other websites that are related to superstition so that I can see to find out all the answers to that questions.