Knock Knock: There is Superstition

By Missy Brandt '20

Are you ever sitting in you room when you hear a knock on the door, but no one’s there? It was probably your roommate “knocking on wood” because they want to do well on their test that they didn’t study for. Let’s explore why we have these arbitrary superstitions.

Superstitions and beliefs in magic and chance are ingrained in all of us from a young age. According to Jane Risen, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, “[superstitions are] just part of the way we think about things.” These beliefs come in early childhood and are characterized by imagination and hope. Young kids believe strongly in luck. As they grow, kids become skeptical; however, we all are aware that some superstitions endure through adulthood.

In a 2008 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Risen discovered that participants did not want to tempt fate, even if they did not believe in fate because they thought it was bad luck. As humans, we have two ways of thinking: an intuitive way and a deliberate way. The intuitive way is quick and efficient to reach conclusions. This type of thinking ostensibly offers a rationale for outlandish beliefs—I did not have time to study for my math test, so knocking on wood should suffice. The deliberate style of thinking probably would magnify the flawed reasoning and assert that knocking on a piece of wood has nothing to do with whether I know how to find the limit of a function, but, according to Risen, “detecting an error in your intuitive belief doesn’t necessarily lead you to correcting it. It seems that some intuitions are just very difficult to shake.” So even though I know that knocking on wood won’t ensure that I ace my math test, I do not abandon that reasoning because it gives me power over my emotions. The action of knocking on the wood serves as a crutch for one of my downfalls and might make me less anxious.

Does this sense of hope last forever? It might, but, according to Nadia Brashier, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, older adults (average age 70) are less superstitious than young adults (average age 19). This is because of experience, and I see some of this in my life. For instance, sometimes I’ve knocked on wood walking into a test, and the results were substandard. On the other hand, I have my favorite spot to sit for one of my classes, and, when I did not sit there for a test, the results were also substandard. Older people gain experience and personal evidence that many of these beliefs do not work. To kick a superstition, one has to continually reinforce the knowledge—maybe try not knocking on wood before a test—and see what the results bear. As we grow, our belief systems grow with us, and we could lose the youthful energy that superstitions hold.

Watson, Galadriel. “Why We Feel the Need to Knock on Wood.” Discover Magazine, discovermagazine.com/2018/nov/knock-on-wood.