Interview granted to Adam Anderson
1. Do you believe that superstitions have affected American culture? And
if so, how?
A. In its treatment of nature, Western
culture is based on realism and rationalism and purports to be devoid of
superstitions. Granted, many Westerners - perhaps the majority - are
still into esoteric practices, such as Astrology. But the official
culture and its bearers - scientists, for instance - disavow such
throwbacks to a darker past.
Today, superstitions are
less concerned with the physical Universe and more with human affairs.
Political falsities - such as anti-Semitism - supplanted magic and
alchemy. Fantastic beliefs permeate the fields of economics, sociology,
and psychology, for instance. The effects of progressive taxation, the
usefulness of social welfare, the role of the media, the objectivity of
science, the mechanism of democracy, and the function of psychotherapy -
are six examples of such groundless fables.
Indeed, one
oft-neglected aspect of superstitions is their pernicious economic
cost. Irrational action carries a price tag. It is impossible to
optimize one's economic activity by making the right decisions and then
acting on them in a society or culture permeated by the occult.
Esotericism skews the proper allocation of scarce resources.
2.
Are there any superstitions that exist today that you believe could
become facts tomorrow, or that you believe have more fact than fiction
hidden in them?
A. Superstitions stem from one of these
four premises:
That there is nothing that can be thought of that
is impossible (in all possible Universes);
That there is nothing
impossible (in all possible Universes) that can be thought of;
That
everything that can be thought of – is, therefore, possible (somewhere
in these Universes);
That everything that is possible exists
(somewhere in these Universes).
As long as our knowledge is
imperfect (asymptotic to the truth), everything is possible. As Arthur
Clark, the British scientist and renowned author of science fiction,
said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic".
Still, regardless of how "magical" it becomes,
positive science is increasingly challenged by the esoteric. The
emergence of pseudo-science is the sad outcome of the blurring of
contemporary distinctions between physics and metaphysics. Modern
science borders on speculation and attempts, to its disadvantage, to
tackle questions that once were the exclusive preserve of religion or
philosophy. The scientific method is ill-built to cope with such quests
and is inferior to the tools developed over centuries by philosophers,
theologians, and mystics.
Moreover, scientists often
confuse language of representation with meaning and knowledge
represented. That a discipline of knowledge uses quantitative methods
and the symbol system of mathematics does not make it a science. The
phrase "social sciences" is an oxymoron - and it misleads the layman
into thinking that science is not that different to literature,
religion, astrology, numerology, or other esoteric "systems".
The
emergence of "relative", New Age, and politically correct philosophies
rendered science merely one option among many. Knowledge, people
believe, can be gleaned either directly (mysticism and spirituality) or
indirectly (scientific practice). Both paths are equivalent and
equipotent. Who is to say that science is superior to other "bodies of
wisdom"? Self-interested scientific chauvinism is out - indiscriminate
"pluralism" is in.
3. I have found one definition of the
word "superstition" that states that it is "a belief or practice
resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance,
or a false conception of causation." What is your opinion about said
definition?
A. It describes what motivates people to
adopt superstitions - ignorance and fear of the unknown. Superstitions
are, indeed, a "false conception of causation" which inevitably leads to
"trust in magic". the only part I disagree with is the trust in chance.
Superstitions are organizing principles. They serve as alternatives to
other worldviews, such as religion or science. Superstitions seek to
replace chance with an "explanation" replete with the power to predict
future events and establish chains of causes and effects.
4.
Many people believe that superstitions were created to simply teach a
lesson, like the old superstition that "the girl that takes the last
cookie will be an old maid" was made to teach little girls manners. Do
you think that all superstitions derive from some lesson trying to be
taught that today's society has simply forgotten or cannot connect to
anymore?
A. Jose Ortega y Gasset said (in an unrelated
exchange) that all ideas stem from pre-rational beliefs. William James
concurred by saying that accepting a truth often requires an act of will
which goes beyond facts and into the realm of feelings. Superstitions
permeate our world. Some superstitions are intended to convey useful
lessons, others form a part of the process of socialization, yet others
are abused by various elites to control the masses. But most of them are
there to comfort us by proffering "instant" causal explanations and by
rendering our Universe more meaningful.
5. Do you
believe that superstitions change with the changes in culture?
A.
The content of superstitions and the metaphors we use change from
culture to culture - but not the underlying shock and awe that yielded
them in the first place. Man feels dwarfed in a Cosmos beyond his
comprehension. He seeks meaning, direction, safety, and guidance.
Superstitions purport to provide all these the easy way. To be
superstitious one does not to study or to toil. Superstitions are
readily accessible and unequivocal. In troubled times, they are an
irresistible proposition.
