Hal - Deliberately Basic

OCD vs Superstition

Do you get just a bit of a chill when the number 13 comes up somewhere? Even today, most hotels, inns, apartment buildings avoid the number on the 13th floor. Of course you know better, but what can it hurt to avoid that number, stay on the 12th floor?

Most of us simply laugh when a black cat crosses our path, or we spill the salt. We are far too sophisticated for such nonsense in these high-tech times. Even our parents knew that superstition was just so much hogwash, although they may have been not quite so progressive as you and me. And your grandparents actually believed much of this drivel. Or is it drivel?

The further back we go, the more superstition we encounter. In his famous novels “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” Mark Twain gives a good account of superstition in the 19th century, at least along the Mississippi river. But what about the things we do today, the holdovers from years gone by, and simple acts of compulsion?

Asymmetry drives some people to the brink of madness. A picture hanging crooked on the wall, getting out of bed at exactly the same time every morning, or not rising until the minute is an even number, is not so uncommon. Constant hand washing, clock-watching, anything we do exactly the same way every time without reason is a compulsion. So, back to the black cat. Compulsion or superstition?

Pavlov’s dogs became conditioned to salivate when he rang a bell. It stands to reason that we have the ability to condition ourselves, or become conditioned by other people. If you react to a black cat every time you see one, then this will ultimately become a natural, unthinking compulsion.

A good bit of superstition is based in legend, or is simply common sense. Don’t walk under a ladder, else you risk something falling on your head. With this line of thinking, there must be certain good compulsions. Constant looking at your rear view mirror while driving is an one example of a good conditioned reflex.

Most of us carry some superstitious baggage, a black cat or the number 13 being good examples. And most of this is harmless, unless we let it control us to the point of affecting our lives in a negative manner.

What OCD/superstitious behavior do you think you would be better off not doing? Personally, I simply have to stop playing with … no, that is way too personal.

NOTE: There will be no new posting tomorrow. Ideas will be saved until the day after tomorrow for security reasons.

Hal Brown

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