Evening star., 1932-03-13

in the dark of the moon and saw a
falling star come down just a black
\ cat crossed your path. And you heard
a dog howl and an own hoot three
times. And then a church bell tolled out the
hour of midnight.
Would you be scared? And would you cross
your fingers and wish for a rabbits foot?
Probably you are not superstitious enough
to think that all these things mean anything
In determining your fate. But great many
persons in the United States do believe in
SuperStitious omenS of good or bad luck-e1ther
these or others like them.
Even educated persons may cling to faith
in omens which they learned in their early
childhood And though their good sense tells
them that superstition is foolish, yet habit
will make them persist in acting as though
such trivial incidents could change the course
of human events.
Just how common magical thinking is, is
shown by the results of a QUESTIONABLE dis
tributed by DR.. A. O. Bowden, president of the
New Mexico State Teachers College among
the parents Of elementary school pupils In GER
tain cities in IA States scattered widely over
the Union from New Hampshire to Georgia
and west to California. These results will soon
be published in book form.
DY magical thinking DR.. Bowden does not
- necessarily mean belief in such age-old say
ings as those listed above but faIlacious reason
relationship where such relation does not
exist
For example one of his questions was as fol-
lows:
do you believe that fish is a better brain
food than bacon?"
The belief that eating fish will improve
school grades is an example of the fallacious
thinking which DR.. Bowden calls magical
thinking. For it is based the fact that the
tissues of the brain are rich in phosphorus, and
that fish also contains phosphorus.
Scientists know that the brain is nourished
is the rest Of the body, by the blood and
that fish has no more value brain food
than any other equally nourishing food.
The belief that it has such special properties
Is akin to that which holds that every part
strengthens its part; that is, that the person
with q liver ailment should eat liver, the
ner confine his diet to pigs feet, and perhaps
that the lover should be served generous por-
tions of roast heart.
nR. BOWDEN found that SO per cent of the
u general public and 80 per cent of teachers
believe that eating fish improves the brain.
He found that IS per cent of the popula-
ton believe that beautiful pictures or fine
music in the home school will make people
moral or vrtuous. And rs per cent of teachers
hold this view.
That most of the Americans represented in
DIR. Bowdens test extremely optimistic re-
gardng their own fate is shown by the answers
to another question.
"If you have good education, good health,
work hard and be morally right, do you think
there is some force power that will inevitably
make things come out right for you in any sit
uation?" it was asked.
"Yes!" answered &c per cent, or two thirds
of the general population.
'Yes!" answered 81 per cent of the teachers.
do you believe that the great majority of
american people, by reason OF their innate
ability to tell right from wrong, will naturally
take the right side of any big public question
in the State or Nation when allowed to vote
on it?'
To this question. "a per cent of the nom