IS IT A FACT OR IS IT FICTION?

ft SUPERSTITIONS

By: Andrea Barreto

To begin let me bring you the concept, which this zine works around, Fact vs fiction. Or in other works what we know to be true against what is untrue but somehow at a point of time was believed to be true.

Do you remember the imagination that bloomed when we were younger? The 'facts' that we were told with no doubt ever rising in our minds. Our eyes just filled with wonder about the unknown rule of the world that somehow had just been placed upon us. Now I hope some people are with me, but for those people who are lost, let me guide you a bit further.

'Don't walk under that ladder!'

Now, I know I cannot see you ... or can't I ;), raise your hand or blink twice if you have heard this before.

Ok, lovely

Now let me ask you this. Now that you are older and wiser do you still have the same belief in them as you once did? If told you 'Don't blink four times because that causes your hair to turn grey' would you believe me? Would you take my words as a complete fact or tell me I'm crazy and this is fiction/untrue. Believe it or not this not as easy for us to see all the time. This example that I presented to you was easy for one to realize that there is no reason to this statement and is therefore untrue.

Superstitions are an example of the trickiness in seeing the line that is drawn between fact and fiction. It is not always easy to the relate re occurring event to simple coincidence. Add believe to this and *boom* you have yourself a superstition. If you ask google, superstition is 'a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.' If you ask my grandma, the answer might be very different.

Superstitions have shaped the way we behave all around the word. Some of you may disagree, but sometimes superstitions lay unconsciously in our mind making us behave in a way that follows their advice. As researcher and consumers of our society, it is our job to realize this phenomenon and fact-check if we wish. Superstitions, like many things in life, have grown with the amount of people that choose to believe in them. This gets confusing when determining what is true or fiction if thousands of people are backing up the matter in hand.

Let's use the 'Don't walk under that ladder!' example. This is a superstition that if you ask me, if quite practical. Whether you believe that bad luck will be casted upon your walking under it or not, it does help prevent accidents. Perhaps there is no fact that walking under a latter causes bad luck, but is it fiction that walking under the latter may lead to unfortunate events? No. If one walks under a latter there are lots of unfortunate event that can happen if one does not watch its surroundings. The latter could fall on you, you may distract the person on top of the latter causing him or her harm, you may unbalance the latter causing things to fall on you, ect. Perhaps someone sprinkled in some belief of mad luck to keep people from tempting fate or perhaps I am wrong, and this is truly a fact sent from above. It is in our power to know that we have the resources to make those determination. Research the truth and the connections that led to this statement and then make your choice. It is within your right to believe in whatever you see fit. Just be careful in what wears the hat of fact but is fiction underneath.

FUN FACT

Works cited:

Dagnall Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, N., & Drinkwater Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, K. (2021, August 25). The science of superstition – and why people believe in the unbelievable. The Conversation. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-superstition-and-why-people-believe-in-the-unbelievable-97043#:~:text=Psychologists%20who%20have%20 investigated%20what,protect%20you%20from%20bad%20luck.

Unger Baillie Katherine Unger Baillie, K. (n.d.). How superstitions spread. Penn Today. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/how-superstitions-spread