Magic and the Mind: Mechanisms, Functions, and Development of Magical Thinking and Behavior

217 Pages·2010·1.27 MB·English

by  Eugene Subbotsky

Magic and the Mind
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Magic and the Mind
Mechanisms, Functions, and
Development of Magical Thinking
and Behavior
Eugene Subbotsky
1
2010
1
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Copyright(cid:1)2010byOxfordUniversityPress
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Subbotskii,E.V.(EvgeniiVasil’evich)
Magicandthemind:mechanisms,functions,anddevelopmentofmagicalthinking
andbehavior/EugeneSubbotsky.
p. cm.
ISBN978-0-19-539387-3
1. Magicalthinking. I. Title.
BF1621.S832010
153.402—dc22
2009031083
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
Contents
Preface ix
Chapter1 MagicalReality 3
MagicalCausation:MindOverMatterandMindOver
Mind 5
MagicalThinking,MagicalBeliefs,MagicalBehavior,
andOtherConstructs 7
TheScienceofMagicandtheMagicofScience 8
MagicandReligion:Institutionalizedand
NoninstitutionalizedMagicalBeliefs 12
TheStateoftheProblem 13
HypothesesandPredictions 14
Chapter2 ChildrenandMagic 18
Children’sMagicalBehavior:ABeliefor
aMisunderstanding? 20
WhenMagicMeetsScience:Can
ChildrenBelieveBoth? 21
Chapter3 VerbalMagicalBeliefsandChildren’sEveryday
Experience 24
MagicasanAnomalousExperience 24
TheBeliefinQuestion:TestingtheEntrenchment
ofMagicalBeliefs 27
Chapter4 MagicalThinkingandChildren’sCognitive
Development 34
DoesMagicPlayaRole? 34
MagicalThinkingandCreativity:TheStudy 37
v
vi CONTENTS
Chapter5 BeyondChildhood 45
MagicWithoutMagic:Adults’Reactionsto
CounterintuitivePhysicalEvents 46
TheSpectrumofMagicalPhenomena:EvidenceFrom
Anthropology,Psychology,andPsychopathology 48
BringingMagicalBeliefstotheSurface:
TheRoleofCost 51
Chapter6 CultureandMagicalThinking 54
PreachingScienceandPracticingMagic:
ASandwichofBeliefs 55
BeliefinScience:HowDeepUndertheSkin? 56
AMagicalBridgeAcrosstheAtlantic:
FromMexicotoBritain 57
UsesandMisusesofMagicalBeliefs 60
Chapter7 MagicandExploratoryBehavior 63
WeirdbutInteresting:CuriosityTowardthe
Supernatural 64
MagicalVersusCounterintuitivePhysical:
TheM/CPEffect 65
Chapter8 MagicalThinkingandImagination 79
AreMentalObjectsPermanent? 80
PhysicalVersusFictional:Domainsof
ImaginaryReality 81
CanMagicalSuggestionChangeImagination?
Mind-Over-MindMagic 82
TurningaRabbitIntoaFish:TheMind-Over-Mind
MagicExperiment 84
CursingOne’sFuture:MagicandPersonalDestiny 91
Chapter9 MagicandHumanCommunication 96
MagicalandOrdinarySuggestion:AreThey
CloseRelatives? 97
TheMechanismofMagicalInfluence:Participation 98
CommunicativeMagic:TheStudy 99
TheMagicofToday:CommunicativeMagicand
IndirectPersuasionTechniques 110
Contents vii
Chapter10 MagicalBeliefsandPsychologicalDefense 115
AllianceAgainstMagic:ScienceandReligion 116
NowIt’sThere,NowItIsn’t:CognitiveDefense
AgainstMagicalIntervention 118
SeeingBadDreams:MagicalInfluenceand
EmotionalDefense 121
Chapter11 MagicalThinkingandtheMind 132
TwoRealities:TheStructureoftheMind 134
FunctionsofMagicalReality 136
OrdinaryReality:TheRealmofScience 140
MagicalReality:TheRealmofMagicandReligion 144
ExistentializationastheWorkoftheMind 147
SeparatingtheMagicalFromtheOrdinary:
TheDevelopmentalPerspective 150
ExistentializationandDevelopmentalResearch 154
Chapter12 MagicalThinkingandBeliefsAcrosstheLifespan:
ASummary 163
Childhood:TheDawnofMagic 163
Adulthood:MagicinPowerandMagicinExile 165
Epilogue:PlungingInto aUtopia 170
Notes 176
Bibliography 181
Index 198
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Preface
About30yearsago,whileplayingwithmyyoungson,Iwassurprisedtosee
howeasyitwasforhimtosolvethemostdifficultimaginaryproblemsandto
findwaysoutofallthetrapsthatIwastryingtosetupforhim.Agianttigeris
attacking him in the forest—no problem, he draws his sword and kills the
tiger.Agreatmountainimpedeshiswaytothetreasure—heacceleratesand
jumpsoverit.Whatimpressedmemostinmyson’sattitudewasnotthathe
wasstronglyoverestimatinghisabilitiesandgenerallyignorantofthelimita-
tions of reality; rather, it was his absolute confidence in the idea that nature
wouldbekindtohim;thattheelements(water,air,gravity)wereawareofhis
presence in the universe, accepting his divine right to be there; and that
culturalfolkcharacterssuchasSantaClausknewhismostsecretwishesand
wereworkingtomakethosewishescometrue.
Of course,this illusionofchildhoodisnotto last.Infact,outsideofplay,
mostchildrenareperfectlyawareoftheirphysicalandmentallimitations.But
is this awareness not one of the very reasons that make-believe play is so
attractivetoachild?Doesachildnotneed,atleastsometimes,thiswonderful
feelingofhisorherultimatepowerorbeauty?Aschildrengrow,thelimita-
tions of reality gradually co-opt their dreams and play, and they become
increasinglyawarethatinthe“real”worldevenasmallachievementrequires
determination and hard work. Eventually, children learn that nature and the
elements are not helping or caring, and that the universe is in the best case
indifferent, and sometimes even hostile to their aims. In developmental
psychologythisprocessisknownas“decentration,”butinfactitalsorepre-
sentsagrowingisolationfromthenaturalworld.
This alienation of children from their originally cozy little universe, with
some reservations, mimics what has happened to humanity as a whole over
time. For millennia, people believed that the universe around them was not
onlyalivebutalsoaware—thatthestarsandelementswerewatchingthemand
couldrespondtotheirpleasinpositiveornegativeways.Sophisticatedmyths
and magic were developed to explain the links between a person and the
ix