You’ve seen these, right? Lots of people have them: ‘Lucky
Cat’.
I am not actually aware of any evidence that they make you
more lucky – but they sell ok. They run on two AA batteries, so they’re
not terribly expensive and if there is a chance they might make you more lucky…
well, why not? There might even be some kind of placebo effect. Imagine if you
did some research and found that statistically ‘lucky cat’ owners reported
feeling more lucky? They probably do.
Plus they look good and you saw one in your friend’s house.
One day you noticed that his lucky cat had stopped working and jokingly asked
if he’d felt especially unlucky recently. He just laughed and replaced the
batteries.
It is odd that conventions, superstitions – all manner of
irrational behaviours play out at a global scale much as they do the personal:
trillions of dollars, billions of hours invested in ‘lucky cats’ –
superstitious artefacts from an age where we had no idea what we were doing,
which have since become part of our culture.
And today we have the electronic lucky cat. ‘Not as good as
the real thing’ some say. But cheaper.
It is funny what things "stick', perhaps just because of familiarity?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think so Audrey. It is rather like the Five Monkeys experiment: http://johnstepper.com/2013/10/26/the-five-monkeys-experiment-with-a-new-lesson/
ReplyDelete- we continue with behaviors long after anyone who knew the actual reason for those behaviors is gone.
Made me think of this old anecdote:
ReplyDelete"A friend was visiting in the home of Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr, the famous atom scientist.
As they were talking, the friend kept glancing at a horseshoe hanging over the door. Finally, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he demanded:
“Niels, it can’t possibly be that you, a brilliant scientist, believe that foolish horseshoe superstition! ? !”
“Of course not,” replied the scientist. “But I understand it’s lucky whether you believe in it or not.” "