It’s Friday the 13th, the unofficial holiday for blaming everything on bad luck. And even if you don’t THINK you’re superstitious, this day can still mess with your head.
There’s even a term for it in psychology: illusory correlation. That’s our tendency to make connections between unrelated things or events.
So spilling coffee on yourself on your way to work gets blamed on it being an “unlucky day,” and not on the pothole that’s been on your street for weeks.
Psychologists say that when life feels bad or chaotic, we look for something to blame. And superstition gives our brains that thing to blame.
For what it’s worth, the few studies that have looked at stuff like accidents haven’t found any significant trends to suggest Friday the 13th is more dangerous than other Fridays.
(Thinking Is Power / Moresapien.org / LiveScience)
