In A World Where Magic Exists...

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is one I hadn't heard, so I googled it out of curiosity. Wow.

Yeah, truth is obnoxiously stranger than fiction.

 

[Umbran]

A superstition is "a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge." So, the thing that counters superstition isn't the existence of technology in the world, but knowledge of how the Universe works in the mind. It doesn't matter whether the Universe uses magic or science.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In a world where magic is as everyday as electricity and TV is in the modern age, can there truly be such a thing as superstition?

I certainly hope so!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE&feature=youtube_gdata_player]YouTube - Stevie Wonder ~ Superstition[/ame]

In all seriousness, some RW superstitions could still survive in a world of magic. For example, some might believe that a certain hand gesture would ward off evil or break a curse. If they're wrong, that's a superstition.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Superstition is a plague on society. Fortunately, it is easy to get rid of; just toss a pinch of salt over your left shoulder and it will vanish.

 

[kitsune9]

In a world with science, there are plenty of people who think that douching with Coca-Cola can prevent pregnancy.

So, yes.

Ewwww....

 

[Heathen72]

I used to be superstitious 'til I found out how unlucky it is.

 

[triqui]

In a world where magic is as everyday as electricity and TV is in the modern age, can there truly be such a thing as superstition?

In real world, where electricity and TV is everywhere, and science is supposed to be pervassive there IS people that believe in Homeopathy. Go figure.

 

[Diamond Cross]

In real world, where electricity and TV is everywhere, and science is supposed to be pervassive there IS people that believe in Homeopathy. Go figure.

Well, penicillin comes from plants, does it not?

Homeopathy is medicine that comes from plants. Long before science came about there were people who did use plants to help with medical problems. They were often called white witches. During the middle ages they were burned at the stake. And now it seems there's bias against them in the modern age as well simply because they don't fit in to people's preconceived notions to how things are supposed to work.

In North America, the Native Americans call these people Shamans and often went to them for help.

And science also recognizes placebos as well.

But in regards to the original topic, denial is a powerful thing, and people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of how much evidence there is to show them otherwise, so yeah, I'd say there is room for superstition.

 

[triqui]

Well, penicillin comes from plants, does it not?

Yes it does. Well, from fungus.

Homeopathy is medicine that comes from plants.

No, it doesn't

Long before science came about there were people who did use plants to help with medical problems. They were often called white witches. During the middle ages they were burned at the stake. And now it seems there's bias against them in the modern age as well simply because they don't fit in to people's preconceived notions to how things are supposed to work.

But Homeopathy has ABSOLUTELLY NOTHING to do with medicinal plants, herbalism tradition, or "wise women" healing people with salves in Middle Ages.

Homeopathy is an alternative medicine method invented by a German in 1796 (so no middle age, tradition, or herbalism about it), and is bassed on two flawed principles:
"the like heals the like" (which means if you are poisoned with lead, you should take more lead to heal)

and

"diliution empower"

It's method consist on taking a supposed toxin, and through a serial diluting process, "potenciate" it. The more you dilute it, the "higher" is the process. So if you take 1 galloon of a product, and you dilute it into 10 galloons of water, you get a "1d" potenciated dilution. If you then take 1 galloon of that, and dilute into 10 galloons of water, you get a "2d" dilution. (which means 1/100 is the product, the rest is water). You have a "10d" dilution if you have 1/10000000000 of the original product) Hanehmann (the german who invented this) thought matter was infinitelly divisible. Chemistry has shown this is not true: matter is not a continuum, it's made of molecules and atoms. So you can't dilute things permanently.

For example, let's say you have 10 molecules of the origiinal product, and you make 1d solution. You get 10 vials, each one have 1 molecule of the original product (the toxin that supposedly "heal the like"), and the rest if water. If you take one of those vials, and dilute it further, you get 1 vial with one molecule, and 9 vials of pure and simple water, not 10 vials with 1/10th of molecule each. Hanehmann wasn't aware of this, becouse "mole" wasn't discovered until 100 years later.

Some homeopatic products sell "100c", where c means (1/100) potenciated "medicine". This mean you got 1 molecule of product for each 100^100 molecules of water. You know the tale about the guy that asked for doubling grains in each square in a chess board, and how huge that number is? That's 2^64. 100^100 is BILIIONS of times greater than that. To drink ONE SINGLE molecule of real product in a "100c" vial, you need to drink a vial with a radius similar to the SOLAR SYSTEM.

Not surprisingly, the chemical analysis of those supposed "medicines" have brought results that show they are simply water.

So any comparisson between homeopathy and shamanishm, herbalism, traditional apothecary and/or medicinal plants is completelly flawed, becouse they are NOT the same thing (not even close), and they work on completelly different assumptions.

However, pseudoscience like homeopathy have good things too. It make for hilarious parodies [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulrHZFnOnnY]hiralious parodies[/ame]

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

In a world where magic is as everyday as electricity and TV is in the modern age, can there truly be such a thing as superstition?

In a world of magic superstition is often just another word for a proven truth. A peasant tossing a pinch of salt over his left shoulder may not do a thing for anyone, but a wizard tossing a pinch of salt over his left shoulder as the somatic and material components of a spell actually CAN achieve something. Does that make the peasant superstitious or just hopeful/desperate - or a wizard-in-training?