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Getting to Know You -- Sept 2019


Inarah
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9 minutes ago, Glitterwolf said:

Bad stuff happens a lot, we just pay more attention when it happens today!

 

Yup. The logical fallacy is "confirmation bias". Once you establish the pattern that the phase of the moon or the date of the month has an effect on "luck", anything that would confirm that pattern becomes evidence for the pattern when the same thing happening on another day is just a thing. A classic example is the persistent belief among emergency service personnel that full moons are especially hectic. Actual studies of activity show no measurable changes.

 

Further, finding patterns was a survival trait for early humans. Is there a face in those leaves? Guess wrong when there is a big predator hidden there and you stop reproducing. Which left us with a bias toward finding patterns whether they exist or not.

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1 hour ago, Inarah said:

Question for Sept. 13:  Friday the 13th, lucky, unlucky, or superstitious nonsense? 

 

I'm not superstitious.... slightlystitious, but not superstitious....                                                         And I'd never, ever, walk under a black cat.

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1 hour ago, Inarah said:

Question for Sept. 13:  Friday the 13th, lucky, unlucky, or superstitious nonsense? 

Nonsense.  
Considering I'm driving 3 hours this afternoon, signing a counter offer to sell our house (offer came in last night, was pretty good, so just some minor adjustments...we hope), driving another hour, picking up mom's 20+ year old camper, driving another hour, setting it up at the race track (full moon will come in handy) and then hanging out with both drunk car racers AND drunk bike racers until the clock says its tomorrow....what could possibly go wrong....:upside:

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There's a persistent belief in the theater community that Shakespeare's "Macbeth" is cursed, to the extent that simply saying the name of the play while inside a theater (or, heavens forbid, speaking lines from the play) will set off all kinds of superstitious klaxons amongst nearby actors.

 

There is an exemption to the ban on Macbeth-related utterance when actually rehearsing or performing the show, but everyone knows the production is almost certainly going to meet with disaster.

 

I have never seen a (metaphorical or literal) sandbag fall on the head of an actor who uttered, "Macbeth." I HAVE seen an actor, on hearing another say the dread word, begin to flee, horrified at whatever imagined punishment Dionysus might deem to mete, only to trip in his haste and break his nose against his own knee.

 

This (and multiple similar incidents in my personal and anecdotal experience) confirms to me that the curse is nonsense, but people's belief in the curse is not; therefore I respect the superstition and refer to "The Scottish Play" when in an enclosed theater space.

 

Which says nothing about my feelings on Friday the Thirteenth, but I'll let interested parties make inferences based on the above.

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2 hours ago, Inarah said:

Question for Sept. 13:  Friday the 13th, lucky, unlucky, or superstitious nonsense? 

 

Psychology.

 

I don't work the phones but those who do report really dumb calls on days like today. Calls about how FBI aliens are stealing electricity to drive up power bills. Calls about UFOs parked at Arby's. Calls about how gnomes totally stole that refund we never sent them because they owe back taxes.

 

Only one of those calls remotely falls under our jurisdiction and I don't mean gnome removal. Bait your own gnomes::P:

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2 hours ago, Inarah said:

Question for Sept. 13:  Friday the 13th, lucky, unlucky, or superstitious nonsense? 

Friday the 13th is lucky for me, because that's what I decided long ago.

 

And you can blame the Romans for why Fridays and the number 13 are unlucky.

 

2 hours ago, Disciple of Sakura said:

Superstitious nonsense, unless you're anywhere near Camp Crystal Lake.

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3 hours ago, Inarah said:

Question for Sept. 13:  Friday the 13th, lucky, unlucky, or superstitious nonsense? 

 

Superstitious self-fulfilling prophecy. :ph34r:

12 minutes ago, Pezler the Polychromatic said:

And you can blame the Romans for why Fridays and the number 13 are unlucky.

 

*** Looks up Romans ***

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1 hour ago, paintybeard said:

 

I'm not superstitious.... slightlystitious, but not superstitious....                                                         And I'd never, ever, walk under a black cat.

 

I thought all sailors were supposed to be supposed to be superstitious! You mean you aren't making sacrifices to the sea gods? You're totally ruining all my my preconceptions about sea life. Next you're going to tell me you aren't all drunk on rum 90% of the time. ::P:

 

My best friend was born on Friday the 13th so it's his lucky day. For me it's nothing. I've got enough minor bad luck on normal days. I do know the moon's phases have an effect on me. I tend to be more energetic and restless before the full moon and sleep better after it's peak. No extra hair as far as I can tell though.

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I'm not superstitious, but I love reading about people's interactions and intentionally spooking myself their superstitious stuff! :lol:

 

It can also be fun to watch - people at sporting events do crazy things because they believe in their teams.

I enjoy reading about how some superstitions develop, too. The world can be a fascinating place.

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