A black cat has just crossed your path...

Virgo said:

yo the only thing I believe is wearing your pajamas inside out the night before a snow storm and you will have school off the next day

idk if this works for work

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maccrash said:

holy shit I am trying this for real how have I never heard this before.

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daigonite said:

I'm not superstitious but I tend to add symbolism to almost everything in my life. I don't know if that actually counts.


Normally I would brush aside such a silly comment since I know you're trying to be funny and all, but superstitious people, while the basis behind their beliefs may be false, may use superstition (especially in the form of astrology or religion) to provide a sense of comfort in their lives. I do the same thing with the heavily symbolic way I view my entire life - I wouldn't call it "superstitious" but sometimes people do seemingly illogical things because there is a value that helps benefit their lives in some way.

The history of superstition is interesting, actually. Animals can be superstitious too and oftentimes it is caused by random negative reinforcement. In the cases of many common superstitions, such as walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror causing bad luck, it's very likely that either of those things could hurt you or people nearby, so it's kind of logical why people would be superstitious about it. It may not necessarily cause bad luck but it does prevent someone from doing something potentially dangerous.

Other superstitions evolved from symbols, such as the black cat being associated with witchcraft and forbidden magic.

Today, while most superstitions may not be literally valuable, they can help people emotionally and even spiritually. Some are invalid and may indeed harm people but most superstitions are completely physically harmless. So it can appear pretty bigoted when you claim that individuals who are superstitious are comparable to children. It's also pretty condescending to compare religious folk to children as well, but that's another issue for another time.

I guess what can be taken here is that you probably shouldn't make sweeping condescending statements about people that you only have an understanding of the most fringe of individuals in the group, because even if it's a joke, it won't always be seen that way.

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Sodom said:

I actually wasn't joking that time. I also don't think my opinion makes me bigoted, since "superstitious people" isn't really a class of people against which you could align a legitimate prejudice.

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Superstition is for children and religious people.

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If you can point to one part of my statement that is untrue - and not just an objection to an inference you drew from it - then we'll talk.

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daigonite said:

"Legitimate prejudice"? So because a group of people don't hold your own personal standards of what you think "prejudice" can afflict that this somehow makes you immune to being called out on bigoted thinking? Wow, no wonder you can feel proud of yourself after saying such a stupid statement. You can basically just say whatever the hell you want and claim that "well, it's not who I personally feel is aligned with a legitimate prejudice". I can also say that too. A lot of people do, when they're busy being homophobic or whatever. What makes you any different? Your target?

Here's a little thought experiment you can try out some time. If you can replace your words with another, and it makes you feel a little pissed off because of the connentations, then maybe the original statement will piss off people too. Let's try it out.


We can assume that this means that superstition is something that only children and religious people believe. We can also claim that this is comparing religious people to children.

We can switch "religious" with "atheist", or "homosexual", or "women". I think most people would get offended if you said that "Superstition is for children and women", because you're drawing the same lines

It's called "bigoted thinking" and the rules apply to whatever noun you put in there. If I can reverse or change a few nouns and sound like a racist, sexist or homophobic asshole, then maybe the statement itself is what makes someone an asshole, and not just the nouns you use in there.


We can talk about the fact that there are people who are not religious nor children that are superstitious, which is the exact opposite of your statement, thus making your entire statement in a literal sense false. We can also talk about how you essentially claim that religious people are superstitious, which can be true, but is most often false (which is often a misunderstanding of what religion truly is). We can also talk about how you compared religious people to children, which is not only false, but also offensive.

I'm not really sure what you're not seeing here, but if you can selectively choose based on your own personal perception of the world who you think deserves to receive bigotry and who doesn't, this sort of response is expected. Selectively blinding yourself tends to do that.

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daigonite said:

I feel bad for black cats though. They're always treated so badly because of superstitions. I guess the best I can say is that I don't follow any conventional superstitions, I suppose.

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Virgo said:

yo the only thing I believe is wearing your pajamas inside out the night before a snow storm and you will have school off the next day

idk if this works for work

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Adventure said:

what if you sleep naked

In general, I'm really not superstitious. I think I left that thinking behind when I got into sciences at uni level. Just as I left my religious beliefs behind. It's a pity I turned out that way; I quite enjoyed believing in something. Hmm.

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Adventure said:

what if you sleep naked

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