Magical thinking is a type of thinking in which associations between elements or the cause-and-effect relationships of a phenomenon have no scientific basis; that is, they cannot be verified or accepted as valid. For example: The superstition that if a person crosses paths with a black cat, they will have bad luck.
This line of thinking arises from the need to explain how the world works, but it can lead to a false interpretation of reality because it includes supernatural elements, beliefs, and speculation—ideas that have no empirical basis.
From a psychological perspective, magical thinking is associated with various disorders, such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, since people who suffer from them have a distorted perception of reality and the rules of causality.
However, the fact that a person engages in magical thinking associations does not imply that they suffer from one of these disorders. Furthermore, from an anthropological perspective, it is argued that the emergence of magical thinking contributed to the evolution and complexity of societies, as an orderly understanding of the cosmos developed.
- It may be useful to you: Convergent and divergent thinking
Magical thinking and logical thinking
Magical thinking differs from logical thinking because the former is subjective and emotional, as it is based on beliefs that can vary from person to person and that generate a sense of security in the face of the desires and fears that individuals experience.
Logical thinking, on the other hand, is objective because it does not depend on beliefs, but is used in science to produce demonstrable, replicable, and verifiable knowledge about reality.
Relationships of magical thinking
In magical thinking, different types of connections or relationships are established between elements:
- Similarity relationships. These are associations of two elements through analogy or because they have similar characteristics. For example: Two people have similar personalities because they have the same sign.
- Relationships of influence in the world. These are beliefs that people can bring about a change in reality by having a thought or performing a specific action. For example: A ritual can summon rain.
Examples of magical thinking
- Superstitions. These are beliefs that are generally passed down from generation to generation and that establish cause-and-effect relationships between two elements or phenomena that are not naturally connected. For example, the belief that the number thirteen is unlucky.
- Astrology. This is the belief that a person’s characteristics and events are determined or influenced by the position of the planets.
- Magic. It is a set of beliefs and practices practiced by magicians that supposedly have the power to alter events or produce supernatural phenomena.
- Witchcraft. It is a set of beliefs and practices practiced by witches, who claim to be able to cast spells or curses.
- Numerologyis the belief that there is a relationship between numbers and events that occur in the world.
- Paranormal activity. This is the belief in the existence of paranormal beings, such as ghosts.
- Rituals. These are practices that are generally associated with different religions, which have specific steps and can supposedly alter the course of events.
- Myths. These are orally transmitted stories that include supernatural events and narrate the creation and end of the world, as well as the origin of cities, societies, customs, and various beings, among others.
- Divination. This is the practice performed by people who supposedly have the ability to know what will happen in the future.
- Esotericism. It is a body of knowledge that explains the causes of everything that exists, but which is hidden from most people, as only those with certain characteristics can access it.
- Palmistryis the practice in which a person, by looking at the lines on their hands, can determine the characteristics and future of an individual.
- Geomancy. This is the divinatory practice that assumes that one can know everything that will happen in the future by observing the figures that appear on the ground.
- Premonition. This is the ability of certain people to know what will happen in the future based on visions or signs that appear in the world.
- Occultism. It is a body of knowledge and practices that allow us to discover all the secrets of the world.
- Graphology. This pseudoscience assumes it’s possible to determine a person’s characteristics by analyzing their handwriting.
