📋 Why “Magical Thinking” Works for Some People
We all naturally seem to believe in magic and this appears to be a huge obstacle in the way of getting legitimate knowledge of the way things really work. In fact, as this article shows, our spontaneous tendency to believe in magic have some good effects, and tends to cause troubles for us mostly because we take it literally and apply it too broadly. Find out more about the potential positive effects of getting things wrong here.
Why “Magical Thinking” Works for Some People
This makes sense to me. If we beleive that an object will increase our performance on something it makes sense that we perform better. Though like the article says there is no evidence that the lucky objects and superstitious thoughts have any impact on future outcomes.
I thought the article was very well written and got me thinking about why magical thinking works for others but not all, maybe it’s because not everyone believes in magical thinking. But overall the article was very interesting and I liked how it used real world examples of how people use magical thinking in their everyday lives.
This was a very interesting article. I believe that everyone is slightly superstitious in one way or another but obviously having a “lucky charm” isn’t going to change fate. Obviously some “lucky charms,” or superstitions will work in favor of the person but is that a coincidence, more self confidence or do they sometime do truly have magical powers?
This is something I think about a lot, I think that people kind of trick themselves and put themselves into a mind game of believing something, its not magic its just your mind. I think it depends on how you see it.
I’m starting to be opposed to the word “magical” or “magic” after reading the contents for chapter two. Whenever I think of magic, I think spells, wizards, and Alex Russo. It appears to be that”magical thinking” is wishful thinking based on outside knowledge and beliefs. I am opposed for the reason being that superstitions are fundamentally irrational and is all a mindset. Can a belief that an object, action, or circumstance influence the course of events that is, the outcome? Only the one facing that belief can only answer, or in other words determine how the object or circumstance will influence its course of events. Whatever it may be.
I thought that this article was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it. I think that “magical thinking” is a super interesting and the example about stepping on a crack will break your mothers back made a lot of sense to me. People believe some objects or doing certain things will bring them good luck.
I enjoyed reading this article. As a psych major, ideas like these are something that I’ve explored a lot. I personally don’t believe in the power of a “lucky charm” or “manifestation”, but I absolutely believe in the power of positive thinking. Countless studies have shown that having a more positive outlook on life can have incredible benefits on your mental, physical and emotional health. So, in my opinion, when people are taking part in these superstitious routines or carrying around their lucky charm, they are just thinking positively in their own way. They are making an active effort to achieve their goals and in that sense, working and thinking positively which will improve their outcomes.
This article gives off a very intersting topic that I have really never thought about. I feel as though I am someone who is little not superstitious at all but there are many people out there who have many superstitions and I understand why people choose to think that way sometimes. I feel as though the idea of a lucky charm is very far fetched there is no charm in someone I feel as though it’s about who the person is and how you are as a human. It revolves back to the idea of karma but karma is like the bad side of this and having a lucky charm is the good. If your a good person you have a charm of luck, if your bad you get karma and bad things happen to you
It is interesting to understand why people cling to odd rituals and lucky charms. What’s more, is one’s psychological belief in these rituals and lucky charms can actually make them perform better due to the increase of self-efficacy; in spite of the fact that there is no connection between the thoughts/ actions and the expected change whatsoever.
This article was incredibly interesting. I enjoyed the explanation that was given about people tricking themselves into being more confident. It is incredible the way in which the brain works and how people believe in magic when in reality it all has to do with one of the biggest mysteries in humanity: how the human brain works. It all has to do with the power you already have within yourself and knowing that you are capable of doing whatever you are good at without needing any kind of lucky charm or silly ritual. If you have been practicing a task or doing something and you are confident instead of anxious you will perform better.
This article puts many things into perspective. I know that growing up I had a pair of lucky socks I would wear to the sporting events. After reading the article it was interesting to see that there was some legitimacy behind why people do it and of course the reasons behind how it actually boosts performance.
The thought that a single object that someone looks up to can give them good luck honestly makes sense. In the article it’s said that it may not work for everyone but in my personal opinion, good luck can come your way if you just think about it for a little bit. Although that raises the question, is it coincidental that an object can guide you or produce good luck or is it just the truth?
I’d say I am a slightly superstitious person. I can definitely agree with wit Ray Allen about never switching up his pregame routine. Throughout high school before every competition or game, I would eat the same exact breakfast and drink the same drink. Although scientifically this may be considered irrational behavior, in some sort of way it made me feel more comfortable/confident before going into things as weird as it sounds, having the same routine every week just felt right.
I enjoyed this article because I love sports superstitions. A lot of athletes have their own personal routine before every game to help them get more comfortable. It doesn’t necessarily mean these things will lead to better performance but as an athlete, I did routines to keep me level-headed. I feel our superstitions are something we can hold on to even though they may not improve our abilities.
Magical thinking seems to be becoming more of a widespread thing as a lot of people are opening their minds to the power of manifestation recently. If this is real and energy can really attract things into your life, then that would mean the whole “lucky socks” concept (and other types of magical thinking) would work for people why truly believe in it, because they would technically be manifesting it into their lives.
The article really got me thinking why magical thinking works is some peoples favor and not so much for other people. Does it only work for the people who believe it?
This article was overall interesting to read. See that individuals did better on certain tasks when it came to having their “luck charm”. As being a former athlete and using luck charms thinking it will affect my performance. I believe people think this way because it brings them a sense of comfort and allows them to feel more in control when it is an unknown or stressful situation.