Why Superstitions Are Good For You

[Music]. what a ponce de leon alexander the great. and jason jiami all have in common. superstitions what are superstitions why. do we even believe them although there. are a lot of weird superstitions out. there there may be psychological. benefits to believing them let's find. out why. [Music]. about 25 percent of people consider. themselves superstitious but it's. probably more than that do you say bless. you after someone sneezes why well it's.

polite but how did this become a thing. some say this tradition dates back to. the ancient romans who thought that when. you sneezed your soul was ejected from. the body and a blessing was the only way. to protect it from being stolen by the. devil another theory is that pope. gregory who became pope after his. predecessor died from the plague would. say god bless you whenever someone. sneezed as a way of wishing them good. health another theory is that some. believed your heart would stop beating. for a brief moment during a sneeze and a. blessing encouraged the heart to start. beating again.

you good. i didn't get it don't you hate that yeah. it's untight thank you. superstitions are all around us next. time you're in a tall building check out. the elevator eighty percent of high-rise. buildings in the u.s don't have a 13th. floor lufthansa and air france don't. have a 13th row fear of the number 13 is. called triscodecophobia but that's. mostly in the west in much of the east. and southeast asia you'll find. tetraphobia fear of the number four in.

the chinese language and its subgroups. the word for and the word die are. pronounced almost the same. thank you so superstitions are universal. we've all had those days where from the. moment we wake up we're grumpy annoyed. at the whole world and everything seems. against us we call this waking up on the. wrong side of the bed this is another. one that comes from ancient rome romans. like to wake up on the right side of the. bed. literally they believed that all things.

on the left side were evil or sinister. in fact the word sinister comes from the. latin word sinistra so waking up on the. left side of the bed was literally a. sign of sinister things to come and if. you're having a bad day you can always. say tomorrow will be better then you say. knock on wood the superstition to knock. on wood appears to date back to the 19th. century some believe it has beginnings. in religion with the crucifix others say. that trees were seen as harbingers of. good luck and knocking on them chased. demons away yet another claim is that. the expression comes from an old. children's game from the uk called tiggy.

touchwood which is essentially a game. attack. now what touchwood. don't be an infant. [Music]. millions of people practice. superstitions every day and probably. don't know why or where the need to do. so comes from so why do some of us. believe in seemingly irrational. superstitions turns out there's actually. psychology at work here the short answer. is it's a coping mechanism for anxiety.

the world is a crazy unpredictable place. it's only natural that we want to have. as much control of the unpredictable as. possible and for some people these. beliefs could be effective a study. reported by the association for. psychological science showed that people. who cross their fingers for luck had an. increase in manual dexterity and even an. improvement in memory function the study. concluded that crossing one's fingers. increased self-confidence enough so that. some people's golf scores improved hey. maybe crossing your fingers will help us.

with the youtube algorithm. oh i know what we could try what throw a. coin in the fountain right throwing. coins and fountains also goes back to. ancient times when community wells were. built in villages coins were often. thrown in as offerings to the gods. there's a well in north umberland. england where people would pray to the. goddess of wells and springs coventina. sixteen thousand coins from different. eras of the roman empire were found. there. but we don't have a fountain hello i. believe in one.

okay. let's try it. [Music]. anything. i don't think so try again. nothing. again. wait a minute. as you can see. people will easily part with their. hard-earned money if they think a. superstition can benefit them somehow. some televangelist organizations will.

send you spiritually charged holy water. which promises to solve your financial. woes for a small donation. yep. [Music]. tales about water and its ability to. magically heal have been around for. thousands of years alexander the great. believed in a river that cured old age. he was only 32 when he was poisoned to. death so who knows if he was right. legend says ponce de leon accidentally. discovered florida when he was searching. for the fountain of youth now most. historians think that's an exaggeration.

but 500 years later the legend endures. these supernatural myths provide a sense. of hope in the cases of alexander and. ponce leon they cooled the anxiety of. aging psychologically belief in. superstition is like watching stage. magic and illusionists willingly we set. aside rational thought and engage with. the impossible and spectacular we will. believe a person has been cut in half. and put back together or that an. illusionist was able to teleport from. one place to another now we know penn. and teller's bullet catch in the teeth.

is staged but wow is it a great trick. [Music]. you recognize that bullet quest yes i do. seven when you signed yes it was. although they never give the secret to. the trick away they stress there's. nothing supernatural in their stunts. it's just entertainment pen gillette. summed it up by saying we are. professional liars just honest liars but. what happens when less ethical. illusionists use similar stage magic to.

cash in on the grieving through. spiritualism such as seances these. mediums use all sorts of tricks to make. objects appear to hover in the dark and. other phony illusions in an attempt to. give themselves credibility even famous. magician and escape artist houdini. himself made it a mission to expose. these frauds houdini took it so. seriously that he campaigned against. this fake spiritualism in front of. congress this thing they call. spiritualism we're in a medium. intercommunicates with the dead is a.

fraud from start to finish superstition. is found everywhere in society and. there's no place that's more prevalent. than in professional sports baseball is. known for cheering crowds hot dogs and. steroids well yes that too players and. managers are notoriously superstitious. if players are on a streak they don't. wash their caps some wear mismatched. socks in order to break a slump jason. giambi would wear a gold thong i don't. know if he always got a hit but he. always felt sexy.

nobody had more extreme superstitions. than relief pitcher turk wendell he made. sure to never touch the foul lines he. would actually jump over them and each. time he took the mound he had to have. four pieces of black licorice in his. mouth and after each inning he brushed. his teeth sounds like ocd it does but. psychologists don't see them as. connected and people with ocd can't not. do the rituals they do or it causes them. great pain and anxiety that's why it's. called a compulsion superstition on the. other hand as long as it's not taken to. the extreme is not considered a problem.

your mind is a powerful tool and if. crossing your fingers improves your. memory do it if writing a symbol in the. dirt improves your golf game do it. you're probably not channeling a. supernatural force but you are actively. and mindfully forcing yourself to focus. to be present to quell your anxiety and. controlling anxiety is healthy so by all. means throw salt over your shoulder. knock on wood and say bless you when. somebody sneezes you may not be saving. their soul but psychologically speaking.

you might be in some small part. saving your own. [Music]. thank you so much for hanging out with. us today my name is aj that's hecklefish. this has been the y files if you had fun. or learned anything do me a favor. subscribe comment like share all that. stuff really helps the channel and cross. your fingers that we can defeat the. algorithm hey every little bit helps it. really does and special thanks to. patrons jim h daniel mauricio ew grant. stella dalton sal and everyone who makes. this channel possible if you'd like to.

support this channel there's a link to. patreon in the description until next. time be safe be kind and know that you. are appreciated.

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