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Further, I assumed that in the early stages of history magical/religious
influences on people for the purpose of healing or bringing harm were based
on suggestion. With the onset of scientific ideology, overt magical rituals were
discarded, yet suggestion remains the most effective way to manipulate mass
consciousness in such areas as religion, politics, commerce, and psychotherapy.
This brought me to the notion that ordinary suggestion today
may be based on the same psychological mechanism as was magical suggestion
in the times before science. I conducted a series of experiments that, I
believe, showed that this common mechanism does exist. This finding has
important implications for understanding the psychological-historical continuity
of the techniques used to influence and control people’s minds.
In the common view today, political power is based on rationally controlled
electoral processes, and not on magical beliefs. Contrary to this view, if
magical and ordinary types of suggestion are based on the same psychological
mechanism, then suggestive persuasion techniques used in political rhetoric
and commercial advertising may be viewed as historically evolving from
magical practices. Psychologically, these techniques rely on the individuals’
tendency to involuntarily accept messages that they might find unacceptable
from a rational standpoint, and in many cases, these persuasion techniques
work. For example, influenced by clever advertising, people sometimes buy
products that they know they do not need—they just cannot resist. In other
words, suggestion is literally the magic of today.
In order to protect themselves from magical manipulation, people develop
sophisticated defense mechanisms. Yet throughout their lifespan people
remain curious about magical events, and, though subconsciously, many
appear to believe in magic. Through experimental research, I have tried to
find new evidence that will help us to better understand some old theoretical
issues, such as the relationship between magic and science, and magic and
religion. Doing research on the development of magical thinking has also
helped me to find a common psychological factor that underlies developmental
changes in cognitive domains: theory of mind, distinguishing appearance
from reality, children’s drawings, reality monitoring, and more.
As a result, the development of the human mind can be presented as the
growing differentiation and diversification of two main domains of reality: the
domain of ordinary reality, in which rational and logical science reigns, andthe domain of magical reality, where magic and religion hold sway. In the life
of a modern person, magical thinking and magical beliefs, together with
religious beliefs, perform many important functions, such as reducing anxiety,
boosting creativity, and providing meaning of life. They complement the
development of rational and scientific thinking and are a fascinating topic
for psychological research.
I began these studies in Moscow in 1982, and continued them in Germany,
England, and Mexico. Most of my results have been published in journals such as
Developmental Psychology, Developmental Review, British Journal of
Developmental Psychology, British Journal of Psychology, and Psychologist,
and some were presented at international conferences. Yet by and large, my
studies have remained scattered and fragmented. This book is an attempt to put
them together and to place them within the context of other studies on magical
thinking. Inevitably, certain material from the book has been adapted from
material published in the aforementioned journals. I am grateful to my students
who helped me to conduct some of the experiments reviewed in this book.
A special thanks to my colleagues Karl Rosengren, Paul Harris, Carl Johnson,
Jacqueline Woolley, and Carol Nemeroff for their friendly feedback and support
of my work. And of course, my gratitude goes to the editor of this book, Sarah
Harrington, for her belief in this project, imaginative and efficient editing, and
valuable suggestions.
I dedicate this book to all scientists who can sense the mystery that lay
hidden behind the known physical and nonphysical worlds. |
| 語言: |
英文 |
| 格式: |
pdf |
| 作者: |
Eugene Subbotsky |
| 目錄: |
Chapter 1 Magical Reality 3
Magical Causation: Mind Over Matter and Mind Over
Mind 5
Magical Thinking, Magical Beliefs, Magical Behavior,
and Other Constructs 7
The Science of Magic and the Magic of Science 8
Magic and Religion: Institutionalized and
Noninstitutionalized Magical Beliefs 12
The State of the Problem 13
Hypotheses and Predictions 14
Chapter 2 Children and Magic 18
Children’s Magical Behavior: A Belief or
a Misunderstanding? 20
When Magic Meets Science: Can
Children Believe Both? 21
Chapter 3 Verbal Magical Beliefs and Children’s Everyday
Experience 24
Magic as an Anomalous Experience 24
The Belief in Question: Testing the Entrenchment
of Magical Beliefs 27
Chapter 4 Magical Thinking and Children’s Cognitive
Development 34
Does Magic Play a Role? 34
Magical Thinking and Creativity: The Study 37
Chapter 5 Beyond Childhood 45
Magic Without Magic: Adults’ Reactions to
Counterintuitive Physical Events 46
The Spectrum of Magical Phenomena: Evidence From
Anthropology, Psychology, and Psychopathology 48
Bringing Magical Beliefs to the Surface:
The Role of Cost 51
Chapter 6 Culture and Magical Thinking 54
Preaching Science and Practicing Magic:
A Sandwich of Beliefs 55
Belief in Science: How Deep Under the Skin? 56
A Magical Bridge Across the Atlantic:
From Mexico to Britain 57
Uses and Misuses of Magical Beliefs 60
Chapter 7 Magic and Exploratory Behavior 63
Weird but Interesting: Curiosity Toward the
Supernatural 64
Magical Versus Counterintuitive Physical:
The M/CP Effect 65
Chapter 8 Magical Thinking and Imagination 79
Are Mental Objects Permanent? 80
Physical Versus Fictional: Domains of
Imaginary Reality 81
Can Magical Suggestion Change Imagination?
Mind-Over-Mind Magic 82
Turning a Rabbit Into a Fish: The Mind-Over-Mind
Magic Experiment 84
Cursing One’s Future: Magic and Personal Destiny 91
Chapter 9 Magic and Human Communication 96
Magical and Ordinary Suggestion: Are They
Close Relatives? 97
The Mechanism of Magical Influence: Participation 98
Communicative Magic: The Study 99
The Magic of Today: Communicative Magic and
Indirect Persuasion Techniques 110
Chapter 10 Magical Beliefs and Psychological Defense 115
Alliance Against Magic: Science and Religion 116
Now It’s There, Now It Isn’t: Cognitive Defense
Against Magical Intervention 118
Seeing Bad Dreams: Magical Influence and
Emotional Defense 121
Chapter 11 Magical Thinking and the Mind 132
Two Realities: The Structure of the Mind 134
Functions of Magical Reality 136
Ordinary Reality: The Realm of Science 140
Magical Reality: The Realm of Magic and Religion 144
Existentialization as the Work of the Mind 147
Separating the Magical From the Ordinary:
The Developmental Perspective 150
Existentialization and Developmental Research 154
Chapter 12 Magical Thinking and Beliefs Across the Lifespan:
A Summary 163
Childhood: The Dawn of Magic 163
Adulthood: Magic in Power and Magic in Exile 165
Epilogue: Plunging Into a Utopia 170
Notes 176
Bibliography 181
Index 198 |
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