Is anybody else troubled by how superstitious people seem to be? Searching for "Hubble telescope" on Google returns 4 million results, while there are 28 million for "horoscope". I think it really says something when in the second decade of the 21st cenutry this is still so much more interest in the practicalities of astrology than in astronomy.
Nobody could argue that this is because the splendour of the stars cannot compete with the inane ramblings of fraudulent fortune-tellers or swindling astrologists. No, the problem is us. Our under-evolved mammalian brains have left us ill-prepared to cope with the infancy of our species.
We're afraid of the dark, we're afraid of each other and we're afraid to die. So we're superstitious. And to keep ourselves from descending in to helpless hysteria we make up anything and everything we can to tell ourselves that things will be all right, even if it means engaging in wishful thinking.
What else could you call the idea that Pluto is looking out for you? Or that there's no need to be afraid because you have Capricorn rising? Or that you are absolved of personal responsibility because your actions are governed by celestial bodies orbiting about the Sun? These kinds of thoughts are the reasons religions arise. The only ingredient missing is the suggestion that you could prevent famine or tsunamis by sacrificing a child to the almighty power of Neptune.
I can't believe that parents want their children to grow up to believe in magic or to engage in wishful thinking. I think people would want their children to think critically, to be sceptical and to challenge conventional wisdom. The sooner more people can do this—and shirk these silly traditions—the better we'll all be.
