Most superstitions stem from a combination of
primitive belief systems and coincidence.
If, for instance, you broke a mirror one day and the rest of the day went just as bad, you might believe that you really were suffering from bad luck. Or, as is more likely the case, you're just victim of a coincidence. These sorts of things happen all the time: Someone's wearing a certain pair of socks and wins the lotto, and suddenly, they're the proud owners of a pair of "lucky socks".
Other superstitions have a bit more basis in fact. "Don't walk under a ladder, it's bad luck" - well, someone could be working up on that ladder and drop their tools on your head. That certainly wouldn't be good luck. Some such superstitions are used to educate children about basic safety, because they cannot understand the idea of danger and risk
The primitive belief system comes from the inate tendency that the human mind has to find patterns in the world around us. It's why patterns in wood grain, stucco ceilings or clouds can be said to "look like something" (most typically faces, but that's another matter).
Its something we've had for a large percentage of our evolution because it allows us to learn quickly: fire on meat= good, fire in hair= bad. Sabre tooth tiger= dangerous, house cat= cuddly. We can make quick decisions based on what we've experienced in the past to hopefully allow us to survive into the future. But as culture has gotten more advanced our brains haven't necessarily evolved to keep pace, so even now we're prone to the same sort of impulse-decision making.
Another aspect of our pattern seeking tendancy is a tendancy to "find" relationships. A mirror shows us our reflection, which is "part of me". Therefore the two "must" be related and if anything bad happens to my reflection, it will also happen to me. This is where superstitions about mirrors, animals, veggietables, minerals and the like all come from. A great list of such tendencies/correllaries was compiled by Isaac Bonewits, a popular writer on neo-paganism/druidism.
If, for instance, you broke a mirror one day and the rest of the day went just as bad, you might believe that you really were suffering from bad luck. Or, as is more likely the case, you're just victim of a coincidence. These sorts of things happen all the time: Someone's wearing a certain pair of socks and wins the lotto, and suddenly, they're the proud owners of a pair of "lucky socks".
Other superstitions have a bit more basis in fact. "Don't walk under a ladder, it's bad luck" - well, someone could be working up on that ladder and drop their tools on your head. That certainly wouldn't be good luck. Some such superstitions are used to educate children about basic safety, because they cannot understand the idea of danger and risk
The primitive belief system comes from the inate tendency that the human mind has to find patterns in the world around us. It's why patterns in wood grain, stucco ceilings or clouds can be said to "look like something" (most typically faces, but that's another matter).
Its something we've had for a large percentage of our evolution because it allows us to learn quickly: fire on meat= good, fire in hair= bad. Sabre tooth tiger= dangerous, house cat= cuddly. We can make quick decisions based on what we've experienced in the past to hopefully allow us to survive into the future. But as culture has gotten more advanced our brains haven't necessarily evolved to keep pace, so even now we're prone to the same sort of impulse-decision making.
Another aspect of our pattern seeking tendancy is a tendancy to "find" relationships. A mirror shows us our reflection, which is "part of me". Therefore the two "must" be related and if anything bad happens to my reflection, it will also happen to me. This is where superstitions about mirrors, animals, veggietables, minerals and the like all come from. A great list of such tendencies/correllaries was compiled by Isaac Bonewits, a popular writer on neo-paganism/druidism.
Answer
There are really only
two sorts of knowledge. There is knowledge that you get by experience
(including what you have seen and discovered for yourself, and anything you
have been shown scientific proof of): this is called forensic knowledge. And
then there are the things that you know to be true because people have told
you. Most people get their earliest ideas of what is true from their parents. A little later we learn from teachers, and perhaps priests. If we get as far as high school we might see some actual scientific demonstrations, but even at high school most of what we learn we accept because a teacher told us.
None of us have time to discover everything for ourselves. You have never seen a lion kill a zebra - but you know they do. Most of what we know is what we have been told by people we rely on.
But how can you be sure who is reliable? If you are a Mormon you will believe that your Elders are telling the truth when they give you the story of how the Nephites colonised America; but if you are a Muslim you will consider Mormon Elders plain liars, and believe the story of the Nephites is a load of hooey.
Many people today believe many things which are untrue - because they put their faith in unreliable teachers.
It was the same in the past.
Source: http://wiki.answers.com
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