The Superstitious Weekly Update
The comb over. Really, who does it fool? There are two kinds:
On May 10, 1977, Donald J. Smith and his father, Frank J. Smith were awarded a patent (U.S. Patent 4,022,227) for their variation of the comb over that conceals baldness by combing long hair in three separate directions.
This is a classic example of the difference between feeling like something works over something actually working. Like disinfecting your groceries before you unpack them.
There is lots of evidence that using a billion Lysol wipes before you put the Cheez-Wiz away does not make a difference, yet the habit persists. Clearly people feel safer doing this, but why keep doing something if it doesn’t work?
Billions of people in Canada and across the world are superstitious. A quarter of adults in the U.S. consider themselves to be so, and recent trends reveal that younger people are more superstitious than older adults. In fact, 70% of U.S. students rely on good luck charms for better academic performance.
Sometimes superstitions can have a soothing effect, such as relieving anxiety about the unknown and giving people a sense of control over their lives.
This is more than bird-brained theory… actually, it very much is a bird-brained theory.
Legendary behaviourist B.F. Skinner demonstrated “superstition” in pigeons. The pigeons were set to be fed on a timer, independent of any action a pigeon performed. Just by chance, the pigeon would happen to be doing some behaviour when food was dispensed. Maybe walking across the cage, maybe turning around. The timed feeding reinforced whatever behaviour the pigeon happened to be doing when the food was dispensed, which in turn made the pigeon more likely to do it, which in turn made it more likely that the pigeon would be performing that behaviour at the next timed feeding. Pretty soon pigeons are spinning in circles and Jason needs to be in his lucky chair so the Leafs don’t collapse (again).
The promised freedom from restrictions will not end the threat of COVID. Each person will make their own determination of what protective measures to take. Some will continue to wear masks. Some won’t have people into their homes. Some will hug with abandon and hang out in crowds – yet sanitize their hands relentlessly.
Part of how we deal with our return to freedom will be to develop our own rituals and superstitions to feel like we have some control over the uncontrollable world.
Our unconscious business rituals will change as well. We may no longer start meetings by greeting newcomers with a handshake and old friends with a hug. We may no longer seat 15 people around a table for 10. Packed lunchrooms may be a thing of the past. New rituals will emerge and some could be very constructive. Imagine if everyone in a meeting started to work together to sanitize the room before they left – even the CEO. That would send a powerful message about culture to the organization and its partners.
In an article on very cool website we recently discovered, The Conversation, Cristine Legare writes,
Records of rituals used in medicine date back to ancient Egypt and the Papyrus Ebers, one of the oldest known medical texts. It includes this ritual to treat blindness: Crush, powder and blend the two eyes of a pig, mineral eye salve, red oxide and wild honey in a clay bowl. Inject mixture into patient’s ear and say, “I have brought this thing and put it in its place. The crocodile god Sobek* is weak and powerless.”
As passionate observers of human behaviour, we’re very interested in seeing what new rituals emerge in post-pandemic life. We’re just as interested in propagating rituals that are actually effective, not superstitions that just feel good.
Stay safe, keep the hope and don’t forget that the crocodile god Sobek is weak and powerless.
* Our Word of the Weekly Update (WOWU) is Sobek (okay, it is more properly the Deity of the Weekly Update – DOWU). Sobek was the ancient god of crocodiles. Some believed that Sobek was the creator of the world who arose from the “Dark Water” and created order in the universe. As well as being a force for creation, he was seen as an unpredictable deity who sometimes allied himself with the forces of Chaos. A number of rulers incorporated him in their coronation names, including the first fully attested female pharaoh – Sobekneferu. Sobek might be a very appropriate COVID Deity.
