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Superstitions
Jul. 13th, 2009 02:28 pmI caught part of a "Cool Japan" TV show this morning. This has a panel of foreigners, who are looking at various Japanese trends or news events. In this case, they had interviewers in Tokyo in the streets asking Japanese young women -- teenagers -- how they make wishes come true. They dug in their purses and started showing off... candy wrappers with 10 pictures? Train tickets with matching first and last numbers -- 9549? Or on a cell phone, certain graphics and their colors apparently have mystical interpretations. If you get a red one, you're going to get a new boyfriend?
( meandering )
So much of our lives is really not under our control. National economies, grand disasters, even the fickleness of personal relationships, are not really something that we can simply decide and control. Still, any influence is better than none, right? So there's a temptation to look for things that might improve the odds, things that might let us shake the case.
And I'm not sure that it makes any sense to criticize such superstitions. After all, if someone carries around a lucky ticket, or a lucky rabbit's foot, and it makes them feel more empowered, more in control of their lives, what's the harm?
( meandering )
So much of our lives is really not under our control. National economies, grand disasters, even the fickleness of personal relationships, are not really something that we can simply decide and control. Still, any influence is better than none, right? So there's a temptation to look for things that might improve the odds, things that might let us shake the case.
And I'm not sure that it makes any sense to criticize such superstitions. After all, if someone carries around a lucky ticket, or a lucky rabbit's foot, and it makes them feel more empowered, more in control of their lives, what's the harm?
