Superstition is described as a belief of a supernatural causation of actions or events, I was born and raised in the Georgia with superstitious mom and grandparents, I throw salt over my right solder, knock on wood and avoid opening umbrellas inside. In In Cold Blood Perry Smith is descried as being superstitious much like me and my family this got me to thinking why are humans superstitious. Michael Shermer publisher of skeptic magazine explains in his ted talk that human beings are naturally superstitious because of evolution. In the primitive days if you were to hear a sound a little like a snake and you ignored stating it must be the wind and then that sound does turn out to be a snake, you die. Over a gradual period of time this leads to the human race beginning to notice patters in everything, even if there is no pattern there, this is superstition. The human brain was engendered to find patterns and make connections, in Perry's case it might find too many and in the wrong places. His belief in superstition subsequently causes his belief in fate. This belief in fate ultimately leads him to join Dick Hitchcock (a terrible choice in partners) to help him murder the Clutter family. It is stated in the text that the only reason Perry stays with Dick even after the killing is because he created a connection between Dick and safety, if he stayed with Dick he would be safe. The evolutionary development of superstition, meant to help the human race (in part) caused Perry Smith to kill an innocent family of four.
Michael Shermer's ted talk makes me want to reevaluate my own superstitious beliefs and practices. He made me realize some of them are probably based on nothing more than mere coincidences. He made the whole belief seem like a silly game, a game that after hearing Perry's story is not a game I want to play.
Michael Shermer's ted talk makes me want to reevaluate my own superstitious beliefs and practices. He made me realize some of them are probably based on nothing more than mere coincidences. He made the whole belief seem like a silly game, a game that after hearing Perry's story is not a game I want to play.