Do people, Generally Speaking, Want to Believe In Magic? Any Idea as to Why?

Question

Ronin, Often it is a Substitute for Reality.

Wayne, I Revisited my Motivation for Asking Such a Question, people In a Position of Power, Are Many Times, Basing There Judgements On Magic and Not Reality, So, Therefore, Real Consequences. To me, Magic and Omnipotents Gods Violate Basic Laws of Nature, Particularly, the Law of the Conservation of Energy, and By Logical Extension, the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Thanks K, I didn't Think it was Magic.

Answer 1

I think our tendency to believe in magic or to think magically is very common. Yes, people believe in magic.

You have already received some awesome answers. Maybe I can add a few things, but please excuse me if I unknowingly or indirectly reiterate what some of the others have said....

Magical thinking is actual a phase very common among toddlers up until about age 4 (?). Kids will link the outside world with one's own inner thoughts and feelings. So, at this age, you might hear kids say, "oh look, teddy is crying because I'm sad".

Before the age of 7, it's also common for kids to attribute life-like qualities to inanimate objects (animism), they will be unable to put themselves in another persons place (perspective taking), or will believe that naturally occuring events are caused by people (artificialism).

"Magical thinking" is also seen in adulthood. A tendency, I would think, to link two things and attribute some causality, but fail to distinguish between what is actually correlation and what is causal. For example, "everytime there is a full moon, I am irritable, therefore, the full moon has something to do with my irritability". In this case, I would be inclined to say that "magical thinking" might be attributed to ignorance, misinformation (?), and a failure to scrutinize thinking, even at the level of logic.

People may also be inclined to believe in magic as an attempt to escape emotional recognition and psychological responsibility for their behaviour. If one claims to always be irritable when there is a full moon, then, one does not have to recognize real causal relationships between their mood and anything else, they do not have to address why they are irritable, nor do they have to change anything about how they think or behave to avoid the negative feeling.

I can also see a person using magic to scaffold behaviour. Almost a form of cognitive-behavioural therapy, in hopes of helping oneself be the person they know they can be or wish to be, but which might also be considered hypocritical. If one wishes to keep life simple, but is in fact living a stressed out, crazy life, they may tell others they always try to keep life simple. Not true, but *may* be true in the future. So, the magic is that, if I say I live simply, I will live simply. A hope that saying, trying, and believing it, will translate into greater behavioural consistency.

Research has also revealed links between magical thinking on psychometric measures and mental illness. From what I remember, specifically, psychosis and OCD. In OCD, compulsions can be justified by magical thinking. In psychosis, using magical thinking to support belief in paranormal phenomena might be an example.

EDIT: In my experience with people in positions of power, judgements are based on ignorant self-righteousness, not reality. Any negative consequences that result from these erroneous judgements do not affect them, but other people.

Answer 2

The short answer to this is yes. The exact reasons why, could easily be the topic of a long dissertation paper.

By magic I assume you're speaking generally of "magical thinking," which could include anything of a fantastical nature such as luck, superstitions, pseudoscience, religious mythologies, horoscopes, psychic powers, and other unsupported or unprovable human notions.

What it boils down to is that humans believe because they WANT to believe. We are still controlled by our emotions and instincts much more than many of us care to realize, and rational thinking is still the exception rather than the rule.

There are some entertainers out there--The Amazing Randi, and Penn & Teller come to mind--who perform magic tricks and psychic "readings," but are also straightforward with their audiences that yes, what they're doing is a trick and no, no real magic or psychic powers are involved. Their talent and audience amazement are boosted by the fact that they are as good or better than most other magicians/psychics who DO claim to use real magic/psychic abilities.

Answer 3

Magical thinking, if I remember right, is one of the developmental stages in Psychology, especially I think of 2-4 years old (you will have to more than skim through Binet or the other classical psychologists especially developmental psychologists).
There is a carry over of it into adult hood in which case it becomes a kind of retardation by itself.
Other 'non-developmental' conditions along these lines are homosexuality though I would not put peevishness and childish behaviour in this category though they do constitute some kind of immature behaviour.
Magical rationality is a kind of mind set that believes that happy co-incidences will some how repeat themselves - typically in 'falling in love' experiences, etc. which go together with happy experiences so much so the individual wearing the same set of clothing, underwear, etc. will happily precipitate the same thing happening again.
But do you see the halo effect? They are all juvenile.

Answer 4

I know I do, but . . . I can't. I think that everything has a natural explanation that can be discovered by science. I have witnessed a lot of wishful thinking and even praying to a supernatural being to make something happen. That should qualify as a belief in magic.

Answer 5

Good Morning Greg,

Rather simplistically the answer to your first question is YES. But the term Magic really should be more interpreted as believing in or about something beyond which they themselves are capable of doing or able to perform. For instance -- flying.

Man can not fly by his own independent means. He sees the birds, insects and other flying animals fly. To ancient man it was a magical thing. But man's imagination placed the act of flying within man's grasp by what ever means so man put a challenge before himself. We want to fly!!! Icarus comes to mind, and the Leonardo DaVinci. Of course these were early attempts to achieve the dream of the magic of flight. Today man looks to the stars and dreams of the “magic” of interstellar flight at speeds of such that a man could return in a single period of time and sees the same people he left behind before his trip. Even going so far as dreaming of the "magic" of instantaneous travel.

All of this is achieved by man's mind. His ability to perceive beyond his immediate abilities and create the reality of a "thing of magic" no matter how great or small.

As another example man's perceived abilities of seeing into another’s mind or their future or the possibility of seeing future events -- for lack of a better description "the what if or what could be". Is there real documented evidence of a person’s ability to perform such things? I really don’t know. Man's perceptive abilities are so immense that we have yet to assess the full potential of man’s mind. We get a “feeling” about someone or something and we cannot explain it beyond the fact that the “feeling” is real. When a person has developed unconscientiously abilities beyond what of what others consider “normal” then the person is revered as a “special” person. Man has assigned many names to the different abilities that we are capable of accomplishing with the simple training of our minds to “see” something beyond what others can “see”. Is it “magic” NO.

The question would then be raised is there something beyond the perceivable? -- An ability to interface with something other than what is in our own physical universe? I am not certain. I can only speak to personal experiences. There are things that have happened to me that I cannot explain. Yet they revolve around our own physical universe. Can a link be formed between two people that defies all “normal” forms of communications that could be treated as “supernatural” or “psychic”? I personally believe it can happen because things have happened to me that I cannot explain in any rational sense to be “normal” or explainable in as a part of our physical universe.

As to the WHY? Man's never ending thirst for knowledge and the raw hunger to go beyond his own physical and mental limitations. The untapped abilities of the mind are beyond what we can presently properly quantify or in other ways identify.

A good question to you would be “Why did you ask this question?” I would think it would to be to justify your own beliefs in something beyond yourself.

Have a good day Greg.

Answer 6

All things "general" are general in relation to the epistemology of the civilization. There is a lot of mysticism in ours, both freely adopted and some that is never questioned. Magic is a form of mysticism, but when confronted with the denotation of "mysticism" vs. that of "reason," most people would deny any large belief in mysticism, but would go on believing those things they never question. "Generally speaking," no people don't want to. "Generally speaking," they believe, anyway.

Answer 7

I think generally speaking, yes, for all the reasons already stated.

However in Magic they want to know how they did it, since very few magicians claim supernatural powers.

Answer 8

generally yes, it might be a way out of the drudgery that is mundane existence. We hear all kinds of fables as kids, flying, turning bad people into frogs, having a castle.... why not want to believe in magic?

Answer 9

I'm afraid your evaluation of the ideals of technological know-how vs. faith are totally misguided. For something, evolution is NOT side of technological know-how. It is an earthly faith and is truthfully disproved by way of REAL technological know-how (chemistry, physics, biology, arithmetic, and so forth.). I could endorse that Occam's Razor truthfully helps production, now not evoluton. As a long way as evolution being "logical", allow's take a seem on the common sense. You could feel that this pc in entrance of you is intelligently designed (although you had not ever met its writer), however you feel that the human frame, that is thousands of occasions extra difficult than this pc, simply occurred to come back approximately by way of random risk or by way of trial-and-blunders? That is not even logical, and I proposal atheists worshipped on the altar of common sense. If by way of trial-and-blunders, in which are the entire "mistakes"? What DO we all know approximately the descent of animals? We realize that, similar to the Bible says, animals ONLY convey forth after their possess "style". That is ALL that's EVER discovered. Variation inside a "style" is NOT evolution. Evolution is "difference among types", that is bodily unattainable. For illustration, the "puppy" style can produce the puppy, the wolf, coyote, and so forth. however they're all nonetheless DOGS. They will not ever be a whale, or a cat, or a mushroom. There is a "black field" round each and every of those "types" external of which difference is unattainable. This is a legislation of nature. Change inside types (lack of knowledge) does NOT end up difference among types (reap of knowledge). Even with mutations, no new knowledge is ever further, it is simply repetition or omission of ancient knowledge. A 5-legged cow continues to be a cow; a 2-headed turtle continues to be a turtle. It can not ever increase into a brand new "style", hence evolution is unattainable. Secondly, God didn't use "magic" to create the universe. He is God; He is external of and now not managed by way of His production. He can do something He needs. Did you ever quit to consider that perhaps God is the "fact" and we don't seem to be, considering the fact that the whole lot we all know won't final, however God will? Also, the Big Bang Theory has not ever been established. In reality, ,many scientists at present are leaving behind it, as a result of inherent issues with it. There are many clinical methods to disprove it. I feel what the Bible says approximately what occurs after we die (now not "wellknown Christianity) - that we input a state of unconsciousness throughout which we don't have any concentration or competencies of the passing of time, and we stay in that state till Christ returns to resurrect His fans. We don't drift round as "ghosts". We are to are living our lives in keeping with our Creator's desires; He created us for fellowship with Him. He cherished us adequate to die for us, to take the punishment for our sins. He used to be handled as we deserve in order that we is also handled as He merits. It turns out to me that you're with no trouble spouting the humanist rhetoric that you have been spoon-fed for the duration of tuition. It's unlucky, and I do not particularly blame you, I blame your lecturers and the tuition approach that failed you, turning you right into a "well little soldier" for the New World Order. Your uninformed evaluation of global historical past is totally mistaken and bigoted. Please come down off your top horse, and ask your Creator to forgive your pleasure and sins, cleanse your center and make you a brand new individual in Christ.

Answer 10

Yes. I believe it is closely tied to the need for instant gratification as well as the need for hope.