Superstition Stuff - Why Do They Keep Believing In It ?

[rubberduck]

What I never understood, Thais choose their lotterynumbers very carefully, wear amulets, have their car and motorbike blessed by monks against having accidents and al sorts of stuff, choose carefully on what lucky date to get married, yet usually they just loose lotteries, get lots of accidents, get cheated by their husbands and divorced. Why they seem to get no clue that superstitiousness doesn't work ?

I know a woman, smart, makes good money with her business and spend 5.000B a month on lottery tickets. Often saw her sitting at her table with her tickets, making calculations, writing down notes etc. One day she looked very exited and said 'finally I understand the system, now I know next month I will win for sure'. The day of that next draw day I went to her restaurant, she did not talk much, did not win anything and looked kind of confused. Not superstitious, just believing in weird stuff.

Why do they keep stubborn believing and don't want to see the truth ? Doesn't have 'mental development' any meaning here, learning from your experiences to gain more succes in the future ?

Anyone who can explain how they think ? The longer I stay here, the less I understand them...

[notmyself]

Poor education so people are taught what to think rather than how to think.

[Thaddeus]

A complete lack of self worth, constantly being told that they are great, and then that is countered by finding out that they are less equal than the more equal.

It creates confusion, that's what the man wants (can't think of a better way of saying that). and then the less equal turn to the scribes, the witch doctors, the bone chuckers..... as a last resort.

[jbrain]

One hundred years ago it was the same in Europe.

The government and the church had an unwritten agreement. If one could keep them stupid then the other would keep them poor.

Edited May 18, 2013 by jbrain

[yoslim]

Maybe they would lose too much face by admitting they were wrong ?

[notmyself]

I bet some of the members here have seen some crackers.

I was told you should never smell a flower if you intend giving it to someone as it will bring them bad luck.

[muythai2013]

dont look between your legs as you will see a ghost.

dont stand in doorways as ghosts will come in.

dont talk at the table ghosts will take your rice.

dont talk to people whilst holding a knife, ghosts will push you.

dont put the baby in front of the mirror her teeth will not grow.

dont tickle her feet she will be scared to walk later.

howling dogs means a ghost is around.

if your leaving the house and a lizard, jing jot makes a noise it means your going to have an accident.

a few of hundreds i have heard.

[notmyself]

Cheers for that, a few new ones there for me.

[richard_smith237]

Do you not walk under a ladder because its bad luck or because something might fall on you?

Do you not name a baby before the birth because its bad luck or because it will add to the trauma if there are tragic complications?

Many superstitions are the legacy of common sense with a cultural spin, many others have long since past cultural understanding while many more are nothing more than hope.

Are we any more correct in choosing random numbers on a scratch card than to select numbers that may fit some pattern we see ?... the outcome at the time of choice remains equally random.

Other superstitions give some a chance at expressing some form of superiority and influence, I suspect this is where many Westerners in Thailand fall foul to the common yet flawed excuse of 'its the culture / Thai way' to explain irrationality (or what we may see as something irrational).

What we all lack is the ability to foresee 'chance' with any level of accuracy.... Chance, hope and superstition rarely tally with logic...

Logic doesn't tally with emotion and I believe thats where the answer to this conundrum lies... It is far easier for many to Imagine, dream and hope than it is to calculate. I would rather live in a world in which Imagination, dreams and hope is more prevalent than characterless calculation but only when there is no forceable detrimental effect.

That said, I won't choose the lottery numbers based on my car number plate, but I won't argue the logic of someone who thinks otherwise as the result is equally improbable.

And again: that said, I won't take chance when I can positively impact an outcome, be it though logic, safe thought or an educated understanding of probable result.

[muythai2013]

I live in Australia right now, looking around i can not say anything negative about thai logic after what I have seen here.

[ricklev]

In America more than half of the people believe that the earth was created a few thousand years ago by an entity they call god.

[notmyself]

In America more than half of the people believe that the earth was created a few thousand years ago by an entity they call god.

The US is certainly way out there on its own...

Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies

http://miriam-english.org/files/religion_ill.html

[Satcommlee]

dont talk to people whilst holding a knife, ghosts will push you.

That must have been an interesting trial! did he get off?

[JusMe]

RubberDuck asks: "Why do they keep stubborn believing and don't want to see the truth ?"

"Why they seem to get no clue that superstitiousness doesn't work ?"

Answer: for the same reasons that so many athletes don't change their underwear between important games, don't shave, touch specific items, enter the field of play in a never-changing order, cross themselves, drop to their knees and thank something for a goal.

Of course, as both teams perform similar rituals, we know they all must work, eh?

[Forethat]

So,......I just have to share this.

I was never a fan of the superstitions and ghost stories. The only exception to this rule has been the ghost that lives by the trees on the 16th green at Bangkok Golf Club (I once hit a 100 yard slice that disappeared into the jungle towards the 17th tee, and the ball was on the green as we approached. It was the ghost who brought the ball back to the green, according to the caddies. I never play that hole without bringing an offering). To put it simple, I laughed at peoples ghost stories.

A couple of years ago I had this weird thing when I ran in to the same series of numbers over and over again during two weeks. Phone numbers, addresses, visa applications, license plates; the same numbers kept appearing everywhere. Accidentally, I told my wife who told me "you must play the lottery". I have never played the lottery or gambled in my entire life. Next weekend we made a huge move to our new house and were forced to eat out for practical reasons. As we are about to finish our meal, a lottery sales guy passes by without catching my initial attention. As he walks away I glance at his lottery tickets and THERE'S THE FREAKING NUMBER AGAIN! It was a bunch of 10 tickets. I bought the bunch.

A week later my wife asked me if I checked the numbers. I looked it up on the Internet and felt chills down my back as I looked at the results. THERE WAS THE FREAKING NUMBER! I won 10X40.000THB (400.000)

I have never played the lottery again. And I dare not play the 16th at Bangkok without bringing a proper offering.

PS.

Every Thai person I know harassed me for 6 months in an attempt to get some numbers from me. They went through my phonebook, check book, cook book. And my license plates on my vehicles was the most sought after numbers within a radius of 3 miles. My weight, length, age, birthday - you name it. No one ever won.

DS.

[notmyself]

We are pattern seeking primates who see patterns where none exist. Ever see the outline of a sheep in a cloud?

[krisb]

Western culture has just as many superstitions

[LuukKoeyKorat]

So,......I just have to share this.

I was never a fan of the superstitions and ghost stories. The only exception to this rule has been the ghost that lives by the trees on the 16th green at Bangkok Golf Club (I once hit a 100 yard slice that disappeared into the jungle towards the 17th tee, and the ball was on the green as we approached. It was the ghost who brought the ball back to the green, according to the caddies. I never play that hole without bringing an offering). To put it simple, I laughed at peoples ghost stories.

A couple of years ago I had this weird thing when I ran in to the same series of numbers over and over again during two weeks. Phone numbers, addresses, visa applications, license plates; the same numbers kept appearing everywhere. Accidentally, I told my wife who told me "you must play the lottery". I have never played the lottery or gambled in my entire life. Next weekend we made a huge move to our new house and were forced to eat out for practical reasons. As we are about to finish our meal, a lottery sales guy passes by without catching my initial attention. As he walks away I glance at his lottery tickets and THERE'S THE FREAKING NUMBER AGAIN! It was a bunch of 10 tickets. I bought the bunch.

A week later my wife asked me if I checked the numbers. I looked it up on the Internet and felt chills down my back as I looked at the results. THERE WAS THE FREAKING NUMBER! I won 10X40.000THB (400.000)

I have never played the lottery again. And I dare not play the 16th at Bangkok without bringing a proper offering.

PS.

Every Thai person I know harassed me for 6 months in an attempt to get some numbers from me. They went through my phonebook, check book, cook book. And my license plates on my vehicles was the most sought after numbers within a radius of 3 miles. My weight, length, age, birthday - you name it. No one ever won.

DS.

1909 comments on TV..those will be my lottery numbers next week, thanks! :-)

[notmyself]

Western culture has just as many superstitions

Read the link in post 12 and exchange religious to superstitious, it works both ways.

[krisb]

Western culture has just as many superstitions

Read the link in post 12 and exchange religious to superstitious, it works both ways.

Remember the guy who bungy jumped off the hotel but mis calculated the chord length due to hotels not having the 13th floor. Superstition cost him big time.

[notmyself]

Western culture has just as many superstitions

Read the link in post 12 and exchange religious to superstitious, it works both ways.

Remember the guy who bungy jumped off the hotel but mis calculated the chord length due to hotels not having the 13th floor. Superstition cost him big time.

I'm not saying it does not exist everywhere but that it is less so in some countries (cultures) and more so in others.

[Songhua]

dont look between your legs as you will see a ghost.

dont stand in doorways as ghosts will come in.

dont talk at the table ghosts will take your rice.

dont talk to people whilst holding a knife, ghosts will push you.

dont put the baby in front of the mirror her teeth will not grow.

dont tickle her feet she will be scared to walk later.

howling dogs means a ghost is around.

if your leaving the house and a lizard, jing jot makes a noise it means your going to have an accident.

a few of hundreds i have heard.

To prevent your new shoes hurting your feet, bite them.

[Yooyung]

A lot of people in the West, including some members of my family actually believe that around 2000 years ago a woman became pregnant after having some bizarre liaison with a ghost, the little tyke turned out to be none other than the son of the guy apparently responsible for constructing the universe and reality itself....He was able to turn water into wine and all kinds of cool stuff and then, when the guy was about 35 he died and came back to life again......

That's one hell of a superstition in my opinion.

[poanoi]

It can also work for you if you have the wits,

i usually tell the girls i'm the 2nd coming of Drukpa Kunley

and that they need protein & vitamin supplement

[kurnell]

So,......I just have to share this.

I was never a fan of the superstitions and ghost stories. The only exception to this rule has been the ghost that lives by the trees on the 16th green at Bangkok Golf Club (I once hit a 100 yard slice that disappeared into the jungle towards the 17th tee, and the ball was on the green as we approached. It was the ghost who brought the ball back to the green, according to the caddies. I never play that hole without bringing an offering). To put it simple, I laughed at peoples ghost stories.

A couple of years ago I had this weird thing when I ran in to the same series of numbers over and over again during two weeks. Phone numbers, addresses, visa applications, license plates; the same numbers kept appearing everywhere. Accidentally, I told my wife who told me "you must play the lottery". I have never played the lottery or gambled in my entire life. Next weekend we made a huge move to our new house and were forced to eat out for practical reasons. As we are about to finish our meal, a lottery sales guy passes by without catching my initial attention. As he walks away I glance at his lottery tickets and THERE'S THE FREAKING NUMBER AGAIN! It was a bunch of 10 tickets. I bought the bunch.

A week later my wife asked me if I checked the numbers. I looked it up on the Internet and felt chills down my back as I looked at the results. THERE WAS THE FREAKING NUMBER! I won 10X40.000THB (400.000)

I have never played the lottery again. And I dare not play the 16th at Bangkok without bringing a proper offering.

PS.

Every Thai person I know harassed me for 6 months in an attempt to get some numbers from me. They went through my phonebook, check book, cook book. And my license plates on my vehicles was the most sought after numbers within a radius of 3 miles. My weight, length, age, birthday - you name it. No one ever won.

DS.

400k. That is a life changing amount. Wouldn't it have been better to use your magic numbers to win a foreign lottery where you can win real money?

Edited May 19, 2013 by kurnell

[CharlieH]

Nearly all the homes in and around my village have a shirt or scarecrow like figure at the entrance to stop ghosts or spirits taking the man apparsntly, anyone else have this ?

[apetley]

Nearly all the homes in and around my village have a shirt or scarecrow like figure at the entrance to stop ghosts or spirits taking the man apparsntly, anyone else have this ?

Only during the day. Wifey is allowed back in the house at night:-)

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[chrisinth]

A lot of people in the West, including some members of my family actually believe that around 2000 years ago a woman became pregnant after having some bizarre liaison with a ghost, the little tyke turned out to be none other than the son of the guy apparently responsible for constructing the universe and reality itself....He was able to turn water into wine and all kinds of cool stuff and then, when the guy was about 35 he died and came back to life again......

That's one hell of a superstition in my opinion.

To me, that's more of a fairy tale than superstition.

But on that point, what are fairies in the context of that statement??.............................

[rene123]

Using the same train of thought... why do supposedly sane people of any nationality purchase lottery tickets by the handful?

[Yooyung]

Fairies in the context of any statement are still a crock of horse manure.