Magical Thinking Explained! | The Psychology of Magical Belief and Superstition

In this video, I discuss magical thinking and the belief in magic and superstition from a cognitive science/psychological perspective in order to understand why we believe the things that we do, and why rational people sometimes behave in irrational ways.

As a skeptical witch, I fully understand that magic is a placebo. Logically, while it can cause profound changes within my external reality, I know it can't have any real effect on my external reality. And yet, in my witchcraft practice, I nonetheless allow myself to look past this rational knowledge now and then, and fully embrace the reality of magic (impossible as it may be). In these instances, you could say that I simultaneously believe and don't believe in magic. This may seem counter-intuitive, but in fact, our minds are actually wired for these kinds of conflicting perceptions and judgements, as we are incredibly complex beings capable of some pretty complex thinking!

If you're interested in this topic, check out my blog post on magical thinking for more about the cognitive science of belief: http://www.obscureclouds.com/the-scie...

Articles Discussed:
Risen, Jane L. 2016. “Believing What We Do Not Believe: Acquiescence to Superstitious Beliefs and Other Powerful Intuitions.” Psychological Review 123, no. 2: 182-207.
Request Access: https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

Subbotsky, Eugene. 2014. “The Belief in Magic in the Age of Science.” SAGE Open January-March: 1-17.
Access: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full...

Follow me on Instagram:   / skeptical.witch  

Music in this video is Blossom by Lakey Inspired:    • LAKEY INSPIRED - Blossom  

#magicalthinking #witchcraft #cognitivescience