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A review by thehappybooker
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer
5.0
Thank you, Michael Shermer, for saying what I've been observing for a long, long time. Even intelligent people can have great gaps of inexplicable superstition.
Like this superstition: my wife used to believe that famous people died in groups of three. I convinced her that wasn't true by betting that if we didn't count 2 more deaths within a month of the first, she would take my turn at emptying the dishwasher. I've only lost the bet once in a year. She might still believe it, but she won't take the bet any more. That's close enough to call it a victory.
Like this superstition: my wife used to believe that famous people died in groups of three. I convinced her that wasn't true by betting that if we didn't count 2 more deaths within a month of the first, she would take my turn at emptying the dishwasher. I've only lost the bet once in a year. She might still believe it, but she won't take the bet any more. That's close enough to call it a victory.