Superstitions
How superstitious are you? What if any superstitions do you believe in? Do they influence your decision-making at all? If so how, and how much?
I'm superstitious in 2 main situations. If I have to make a decision and I've considered all the factual and best-guess information but am still left with 2 or more choices, I might consider superstitious factors. Frankly if I can't think of a rational reason to choose one option over the other, I don't think considering superstitious factors is any worse than flipping a coin. (And if it *is* consistently worse that's pretty much an acknowledgement that there is some reality to the superstition and I've just picked the wrong one, like worshipping a false god and thereby pissing off the real one.)
The other situation is where I plan to do something (out of 2 or more possible options) which should be pretty straightforward but am unexpectedly thwarted by a very unusual or surprising situation. For instance if I want fried chicken I might go to Popeye's. They've been there for years, so this should be a simple, routine thing. If they are closed or otherwise unable to sell me chicken for some unusual reason (labor strike, burned down, closed by health department) I might take that as a sign that I should get something else. If I persist and go down the street to KFC and they are also closed for some odd reason I'll definitely take that as a sign and get some other food instead. The key factor is the highly unusual or improbable nature of the thwarting. Note that this only applies if I have other equally-rational options. If I'm thwarted writing some code at work I will just have to fight my way through the problem, no matter how weird, unless other more or less equally good options are available. [Edit: Naturally, *right* after I posted this I was reminded of another variation. I went into the kitchen to make some soup for lunch, and was confronted by the sudden and unexpected arrival of pizza. That wouldn't have stopped me from making soup, but it was an odd enough coincidence that I decided the universe wanted me to have pizza instead.]
I also tend to have a superstitious (or I would say spiritual) mindset about certain events, like the Wheel, but that's something else entirely.
I'm superstitious in 2 main situations. If I have to make a decision and I've considered all the factual and best-guess information but am still left with 2 or more choices, I might consider superstitious factors. Frankly if I can't think of a rational reason to choose one option over the other, I don't think considering superstitious factors is any worse than flipping a coin. (And if it *is* consistently worse that's pretty much an acknowledgement that there is some reality to the superstition and I've just picked the wrong one, like worshipping a false god and thereby pissing off the real one.)
The other situation is where I plan to do something (out of 2 or more possible options) which should be pretty straightforward but am unexpectedly thwarted by a very unusual or surprising situation. For instance if I want fried chicken I might go to Popeye's. They've been there for years, so this should be a simple, routine thing. If they are closed or otherwise unable to sell me chicken for some unusual reason (labor strike, burned down, closed by health department) I might take that as a sign that I should get something else. If I persist and go down the street to KFC and they are also closed for some odd reason I'll definitely take that as a sign and get some other food instead. The key factor is the highly unusual or improbable nature of the thwarting. Note that this only applies if I have other equally-rational options. If I'm thwarted writing some code at work I will just have to fight my way through the problem, no matter how weird, unless other more or less equally good options are available. [Edit: Naturally, *right* after I posted this I was reminded of another variation. I went into the kitchen to make some soup for lunch, and was confronted by the sudden and unexpected arrival of pizza. That wouldn't have stopped me from making soup, but it was an odd enough coincidence that I decided the universe wanted me to have pizza instead.]
I also tend to have a superstitious (or I would say spiritual) mindset about certain events, like the Wheel, but that's something else entirely.