The Psychology of Superstition

Although this book was written about 35 years ago, I would never have imagined it when I read it. Superstition, fear, servility, doubt all blend together. So it would seem like an impossible task for anyone to sort or flesh it all out. How the author best accomplishes this is by examining the subject through the lenses of cause and effect. Superstition, by its varied and very nature abhors any examintion other than to be taken at face value, and would prefer to assume no cause than that which would infer any doubt about it. In other words, the duty of superstition, like dogma, is to preserve doubt at all costs. Sadly, many persons are superstitious and so this book would render little if any appeal except to cast further blame by labeling the content as blasphemous and heretical. Yet this author is meticulous in his discovery and his relation of cause to effect. In fact it might be one of the best books available in understanding cultural anthropological causation that appears to be built on a philosophical model. In other words, as an approach it is easier to understand, and brings home the importance of, and the damage of, assumptions of varying degrees of veracity as they relate to the human mind. A brilliant book. If you have an interest in superstition, the unraveling of fears, and the discovery of their causes being embedded in doubt, you will not be disappointed.