too much of a good thing

     It's encouraging to know that someone is out there teaching people not to be superstitious--but some of their students take it too far. No one can mention: the moon; King Tut; Henry VIII; a rainbow; farms; magnets; lead,  and perhaps dozens of other things or ideas--without being consigned to the hopelessly superstitious file. No argument, no discussion, no intake of information--just a complete mental block protecting the erstwhile students from the superstitions to which school might expose them. Nothing penetrates this block. King Tut is something fortune tellers dreamed up. There is no such thing as a rainbow--it's just  a myth from the Bible, or something little children like to paint. Food doesn't come from farms--that's ignorant and old-fashioned. Lead protects Superman from kryptonite--so it must be pretend. Only an idiot would believe that pencils have lead in them. These students know that "lodestone" means magnet, so there is probably no such thing, since it is connected to medieval philosophy on some level--in their minds. A demonstration using magnets causes silent consternation, and is then dismissed as a "trick".
     Movies don't teach these students anything--someone got there first, and taught them that everything in the movies is pretend. Every time Hollywood makes a new historical epic, these students think even less of history and history teachers. If a teacher tries to tell them that a historical movie depicts real persons or events, the same blank wall goes up.  If anyone has ever succeeded in moving the minds of these students, I would like to hear about it. I would have students move in the other direction, by refusing to impute superstition to any idea without thinking about it rationally first. We have all been told that ancient and medieval people believed in sea monsters, for instance, and are agreed that this was hopelessly superstitious of them--unless--they were actually talking about whales--in which case we have only ourselves to reproach.

thirteen

     Did you know that there is no thirteenth floor in most buildings in America? Buildings that have thirteen stories or more, that is.They go from the 12th floor to the 14th floor--take a look next time you're in the elevator of a tall building.  It's not really the fault of the builders--people don't want to rent rooms or offices on the thirteenth floor. And even if they did, they might lose a lot of contacts or clients--who might not want to do business with a firm on the thirteenth floor, or associate with someone who lives on the thirteenth floor. A little superstition goes a long way.