Rabbit’s foot: What about the rabbit’s perspective?

Published 9:54 pm Friday, November 13, 2015

On Friday I overheard a fellow telling another fellow to “be careful today.” One was reminding the other that it was Friday the 13th.

“You know I hadn’t even thought about that,” the fellow being warned said. “I’m glad you reminded me.”

Well I hadn’t thought about it either because I don’t put any stock in superstition, fortune telling and other such hokus pokus. I don’t think you can “talk warts” off anyone and as far as I’m concerned, the only time you can tell someone their future by using a deck of cards is when five aces appear in a game of poker.

As a teenager, a fellow farmer tried to convince me that if a full moon shone on a sweet potato it would rot. 

Obviously a lot of this stuff gets handed down, and the less enlightened will help perpetuate such junk beliefs.

I read where many superstitions stem from a human trait that causes some people to believe in ghosts and monsters. If the brain can’t explain something, we make stuff up.

And some people, I think, are prone to embrace thoughts that are purely anecdotal. In other words, science has not proved it but perhaps a lot of coincidence would not allow some people to discount something. And there may actually be some anecdotal stuff that has merit but no one has had the time to take it into a double blind study.  I’ve heard Dr. Oz tell people that if they believe something is working for them and it’s no harm to them, then keep doing it. 

There’s actually some thought that superstitions can sometimes work for the good because believing in something can improve performance on a task.  But that still doesn’t make it truth. One might gain the same results by substituting another superstition if fear of not performing well is actually the driving force.

 When it comes to anecdotal stuff, there’s an assumption of cause and effect, especially if it happens more than once. I prefer more testing.

For instance, I do believe that we are seeing global warming. Parallel to that, I’ve noticed that we have one of the weakest herds of presidential candidates  I’ve ever seen. But I don’t see a connection between the two, except that maybe a couple of them appear to be from out of the ozone.

The other morning I found a black cat asleep on the hood of my car. It didn’t bother me, except for the fact that I had just washed my car and now I had paw prints all over it. As well, I have opened umbrellas indoors, walked under ladders and broke mirrors and I never realized any ill effects except that I cut my finger on the broken mirror. That wasn’t bad luck in my book, it was just carelessness on my part. The same thing could have happened with a quart jar.

I grew up in a staunch conservative Baptist atmosphere, but the sudden appearance of the numerals 6-6-6 doesn’t scare me, despite its connection to the Book of Revelations. Some people might even fear 9-9-9 because if they got turned upside down, you would have 6-6-6. That, I think, would be called superstition on steroids.

There are times when we may confuse superstitions, clairvoyance and phobias. 

Phobias may be good or bad. And most phobias have a name. Some have logic, some don’t. For instance, I don’t think there is any logic for being afraid of clowns. That fear has a name, but I’m not going to look it up. I doubt one would find a member of ISIS using such a costume for cover.  On the other hand, I have a fear of bungi jumping. And there’s a name for that, too. It’s called “common sense.” 

So have you ever wondered about a rabbit’s perspective on someone carrying one of its feet?

(Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)