The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-14
The Superstitious
!. BY n. ADDTNGrON nnUCR

The belief that superstition is an attri.
butte only of the ignorant finds striking
refutatien in "A recent Lowell Institute I'D.
dress by a Harvard University professor,
Alfred NJ. Tozzer. " !. ,yqs,.
In this address Professor Tozzer gave the
results of inquiries made by him among col.
iege students lin various parts of the, cSun.
try. These being young men and women
with educational advantages above the. aver.
age one would naturally expect the majority
Of them to be quite free from superstition
Professor Tozzer found this far from the
case. - $50
Study, of large groups, in fact, disclosed
that from 20 to 20 per cent. of the students
investigated carried out certain acts for re.
Trained from carrying them ont in the hope
that something would follow or something
evil be prevented" Superstitious practices
were particularly favored on the eve of Vex-
aminations.
Some of the men students, for example
made it rule not to shave on the mornipa
of an examination day. Others wore certain
neckties to help them through the dreaded
tests, while some of the girl students wore
certain dresses which they frankly described
as their good luck dresses. x 7Fa /
Among. the students of both sexes not, q
few were in the habit of sleeping, "for luck, "
with lecture notes under their pillows the
night before an examination. Others ain.
sisted that to do well in examinations they
had to occupy some designated seat in tbs
examination room. More than five per cent
Of all the students carried coins amulets, OF
other lucky pieces" sgs ~
The familiar superstitions Of knocking on
wood, picking up pins, avoiding ladders
ETC., were rife among them. And Professor
Toxzer discovered some. unusual superstii
tiens-such as trying to gain additional skill
| " same sport by wearing belt or necktie
belonging to an4expert player actions which
he rightly described as perfect examples Of
the Contagious magic in which primitive
man universally believed.
Altogether, then, education affords no
sure guarantee against superstition, at least
up to college age. Nor does it afford such
a guarantee to any age. To this can my
self bear witness in the light Of a personal
investigation made some years ago anipng
members of the Harvard University teach.
ing staff. Quoting from my report published
at the time:
II had expected to find perhaps 10, or Ii
per cent. of the men whom questioned-
mostly connected with the departments Of
history, philosophy and psychology -ac'
knowledging some measure of supefstitious
faith. Actually, only. 26.6 per cent, after
earnest introspection, could truthfully pro
fess that, SO far as they. were aware, they
were absolutely free from superstition.
THE remaining 1874 per cent, while In
no case admitting full belief, confessed that
in their daily life they had little habits and
customs indicating that, whether consciously
or subconsciously, they were under super
stition's influence"
Linking these findings with Professor
Toner'S it is evident that even the most
highly educated may still be swayed in some
degree by early mans instructive tendency tC
credit the marvellous and accept fanciful gen
eralizations. Which, after all, is not so sur
prising in view of the fact that education it.
self is comparatively young and that modern
man is not so very far removed in time from
his uneducated ancestors.