Tag Archives: Matthew Hutson

Dec 30 – A Little Magical Thinking Is Good for Us

6 Replies

Magical Thinking by Matthew Hutson – Why a little magic is good for you, Psychology Today Magazine

“We look for patterns because we hate surprises and because we love being in control. Emotional stress and events of personal significance push us strongly toward magical meaning-making.”

Matthew Hutson, science journalist and former news editor for Psychology Today Magazine, continues in his delightful and informative article (referenced above), “Often we don’t even register our wacky beliefs. Seeing causality in coincidence can happen even before we have a chance to think about it; the misfiring is sometimes perceptual rather than rational.”

Hutson identifies 7 key principles of magical thinking:

  1. Anything can be sacred
  2. Anything can be cursed
  3. Mind rules over matter
  4. Rituals bring good luck
  5. To name is to rule
  6. Karma’s a bitch
  7. The world is alive

Finally, Hutson’s article offers a couple of provocative quotes:

“You can be a believer in astrology and still be a good astronomer.” Eugene V. Subbotsky

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke

Inanimate objects will become more responsive, interactive, and intentional, TechGnosis author Erik Davis says, “so it will make sense to have a degree of magical thinking just to be able to deal with these devices.”

—————————————————————————————————————————–

I’ve really enjoyed Matthew Hutson’s work; especially this article. For more information about Matthew and his work check out these links:

https://www.science.org/content/author/matthew-hutson

Matthew Hutson New Yorker, Bio, Wiki, Age, Height, Wife, Salary, and Net Worth

https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/matthew-hutson

Matthew Huston @ science.org

Dec 28 – Magical Thinking & Setting 2023 Goals

Leave a reply

If you’re setting goals for 2023 it’s important to identify meaningful and achievable targets. Beware of magical thinking (e.g., 10x results over last year) AND beware of win/lose dualistic thinking (e.g., I will only be successful if I outperform the previous year).

Quick tangent: Dualism is the concept of two opposed or contrasted aspects. For example, to say something is tall there must be something that is short. To say something is up, there must be something that is down. Either/or, better/worse, win/lose. Another of the most common dualistic thoughts is the mind/body separation (e.g., promising more than you can deliver).

Matthew Hutson, a New York City science journalist and former news editor of Psychology Today, tells us that “Several studies show that people who think more intuitively are also more susceptible to magical thinking. One intuition that’s been proposed as a foundation for religious thought is Cartesian mind-body dualism, the idea that a mind can exist independently of a body.”

Hutson continues, “Dualism (is) the strongest predictor of the three types of supernatural belief. It’s the foundation for belief in God, a disembodied mind. It’s also necessary for belief in spirits, part of the paranormal package. And it may encourage belief in life’s purpose because people see disembodied intentionality acting everywhere, or because belief in the afterlife enhances life’s meaning.”

Take another look at the diagram above. It’s worth noting that at the entrance of that maze of boxes and lines haunted with ghosts and witches and talking trees is one simple item: mentalizing. Which means that if you’re a fully developed human, with an understanding that minds exist, then through one path or another you’re probably going to end up in magic-land.” http://www.magicalthinkingbook.com/2013/09/all-paths-lead-to-magical-thinking/

Today’s senryu: Beware Mind/Body Separation

consult the Divine,

stars, life coaches, blog stats … just

don’t forget to walk