Very superstitious? UB professor explains why

An article and video on Business Insider about common superstitions, such as why people knock on wood or avoid stepping on cracks to prevent something bad from happening, interviews Phillips Stevens Jr., associate professor of anthropology, who said that while seemingly crazy, most superstitions derive from three universal principles across all cultures. “They represent... cognitive features of humanity, somehow rooted in our evolutionary biology,” he said. “A mystical, supernatural power, that is found in all things.” The video interview with Stevens was shot in the University Communications broadcast studio at the request of Business Insider.

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http://www.businessinsider.com/why-we-knock-on-wood-origins-of-7-other-common-superstitions-psychology-magical-thinking-2018-2