Thursday, February 27, 2014

Magical Thinking Much?

A    L    O    H    A  !
I Put a Spell on You by Screamin' Jay Hawkins on Grooveshark

" The most beautiful thing 
we can experience 
is the mysterious.
It is the source 
of all true art 
and science. "


Albert Einstein








Tapa Design & Moon Link

" The world of religion 
isn't a logical world; 
that's why children like it. 
It's a world of 
worked-out fantasies, 
very similar to 
children's stories or 
fairy tales. "

Yehuda Amichai








'There is nothing 
either good or bad, 
but thinking 
makes it so.'


William Shakespeare 


]:[


In the light of day, 
in front of other people,
we do not believe in magic.

But science now shows
that we DO believe in
Magical Thinking
and we act on it.

A recent study showed the persistence
of the ancient magical belief
in what researchers called
Contagion.
We do behave and make choices
in accordance with our deep belief
that a person's "essence" can be
transferred, or "rub off on us."

In this study, people were shown
willing to pay more for items
owned and used by celebrities.
Our relatives, the social chimps,
pay lots of attention
to what the Alpha (celebrity) 
chimps do.
"Chimp See 
Chimp Celebrity Do Something - 
Chimp Do."

People especially paid more
for clothing and personal items
that the celebrity touched and used.

If the person was a "bad person"
people were only willing to 
pay less for their items.


 "Contagion is a form of 
magical thinking 
in which people believe 
that a person's immaterial 
qualities or essence 
can be transferred to an object 
through physical contact," researchers write.
 Their findings, they add, 
"suggest that magical thinking 
may still have effects 
in contemporary 
Western societies."  Link


This is one reason
why the lonely
are lonely,
why some of us
hate going into 
hospital
even to visit.

We also "catch"
yawns & smiles.
I hope you catch
more smiles
than yawns
when visiting here!

I love Your visits & comments-
                                       Warmly, cloudia