People Are Still Behaving Badly

1994:

We set up an attitude along the lines of “what we sow, we reap”. We create our own reality, bringing down upon our heads either disaster or bliss or variations of each. We want to come down on the ‘bliss’ side but we ignore the warning signs and land up in a mess. I like to think superstition moderates our behaviour more than good sense. And on this matter of taking advantage, if we’re careless of the ethics of what we do, we risk things unnecessarily. Superstition sees the pitfalls and lets us respond in the best way, keeping us honest. If we’re careless about an idea which might make us a profit but which doesn’t feel right, then superstition taps us on the shoulder. Perhaps superstition is merely instinct with a warning bell fitted to it. A nasty attitude brings bad luck. Superstitiously ‘good luck’ flows towards people who are trying to clean up their act. Sense doesn’t necessarily come into it - superstition helps us to feel badly about behaving badly.