SUPERSTITIONS
A superstition is a belief that particular events bring good
or bad luck. It cannot be be explained by reason or science. In his essay on “An
Outline Of Intellectual Rubbish” the British philosopher, logician and
mathematician Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
says superstitions about lucky and unlucky days are almost universal.
Each country has its own unlucky days. It may be Tuesday, Friday
or Saturday. No.13 is unlucky in almost all the countries. There are some other
superstitions like sneezing, crossing the way by a cat, knocking on wood,
breaking a mirror, walking under a
ladder, quarrel with somebody before starting a journey, itching in the palm,
etc.
Man is undoubtedly a credulous
animal, and must believe something;
in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
There are several causes of superstitions.
The most important is the lack of modern education . The spread of scientific
temperament is the best way to lessen, if not, to abolish superstitions.
The English writer Henry Fielding (1707
-1754) said: “Superstition renders a man
fool, and scepticism makes him mad.”
According to the German writer and
philosopher Johan Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) : “ Superstition is the
poetry of life. It is inherent in man’s nature; and when we think it is wholly
eradicated, it takes refuge in the strangest holes and corners, whence it peeps
out all at once, as soon as it can do it with safety.”
Finally
an anonymous superstition quote: “A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly,
science into superstition, and art into pedantry.
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G.R.Kanwal
1st September 2024
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