Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren bog Obam here. Every culture has its
Speaker 1: own superstitions, or magical thinking, as some psychologists call it.
Speaker 1: Superstitious beliefs go back as far as human history, and
Speaker 1: they still exist today, from sports stars who perform certain
Speaker 1: rituals before games to people who won't walk under a
Speaker 1: ladder or who always knock on wood for luck. Many
Speaker 1: of us even do these things without thinking. That's how
Speaker 1: ingrained in our behaviors superstitions are. If superstitions go back
Speaker 1: so far in history and remain so common, is it
Speaker 1: possible that humans evolved to think this way. Some scientists
Speaker 1: and psychologists say yes, we are indeed wired for magical thinking.
Speaker 1: Superstitious thinking is the result of falsely linking a cause
Speaker 1: to an effect. Using the sports example, if a baseball
Speaker 1: player hits a home run during a playoff game and
Speaker 1: happened to not shave that day, he may decide his
Speaker 1: unshaven face brought him luck and refused to shave for
Speaker 1: the rest of the series. In reality, it was his
Speaker 1: skill as a ballplayer and a little bit of chance
Speaker 1: that brought him that home run. But he's not going
Speaker 1: to take any risks, and the comfort of believing that
Speaker 1: he may have some control over his destiny may actually
Speaker 1: improve his performance. But back to evolution. In prehistoric times,
Speaker 1: humans had to be constantly alert for predators. The sound
Speaker 1: of wrestling in the grass, for example, might signify an
Speaker 1: animal or enemy preparing to strike. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: it could just be a breeze. However, for self preservation,
Speaker 1: this human had to decide quickly the cost of being
Speaker 1: right or wrong about the origin of the wrestling Airing
Speaker 1: on the side of caution could save their life, and
Speaker 1: if they were right and it was a dangerous predator,
Speaker 1: chances are that human would flee without weighing the chances
Speaker 1: when they heard wrestling any time after that. Further, if
Speaker 1: multiple signals preceded the arrival of a predator, such as
Speaker 1: a full moon, our prehistoric friend might also make the
Speaker 1: false association that a rustling sound during a full moon
Speaker 1: definitely meant a dangerous animal was in the vicinity from
Speaker 1: a very real threat, a superstition is born. Our brains
Speaker 1: connect the dots in a situation, whether or not it's logical,
Speaker 1: and we adapt our behavior accordingly. Even other animals besides
Speaker 1: humans are superstitious. Evolutionary biologist Kevin Foster uses pigeons as
Speaker 1: an example. You might notice that if you clap your
Speaker 1: hands at a nearby pigeon, it'll quickly fly away, even
Speaker 1: though pigeons are pretty smart. No really, they are smart
Speaker 1: enough anyway to tell the difference between the sound of
Speaker 1: a gunshot, which would mean near certain death, and a
Speaker 1: hand clap, which is harmless. The pigeon will flee the
Speaker 1: scene just in case. The pigeon evolved, just like our ancestors,
Speaker 1: to be better safe than sorry, And if you think
Speaker 1: about it, the theory of natural selection favors these early
Speaker 1: superstitious creatures humans and animals alike. Sometimes, however, superstitions can
Speaker 1: contribute towards eyes. A two thousand three studies showed that
Speaker 1: road fatalities in South Africa were ten times more frequent
Speaker 1: than in the United States. Much of this is blamed
Speaker 1: on a superstitious belief that accidents result from witchcraft or
Speaker 1: that certain medicines can prevent car crashes. The more superstitious
Speaker 1: the driver, the higher the accident rate. This goes to
Speaker 1: show that, like the fight or flight response triggered by stress,
Speaker 1: are ingrained tendencies for superstitious beliefs can be just as
Speaker 1: likely to work to our detriment as to our benefit.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Deborah Ranca and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of
Speaker 1: other evolving topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works
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