Who Believes in Witches?
Do You Belief in Spirits, Ghosts, Saints, Evils, Demons, Cherubim, Jesus, Devils, Gods or Witches?
Where does our fondness for and persistent believe in invisible entities come from?
Last week , I wrote about contemporary witch hunts. No Sirree, witch-hunts are not a thing of the past. They are part of a harsh and brutal reality in other parts of the world. Every year, thousands of alleged witches are persecuted and killed. This week, I would like to explore the question where our robust and lasting belief in witches is coming from.
Our Taste for the Irrational
Steven Pinker asked in 2004, while accepting the "The Emperor's New Clothes Award" how in the world we develop this powerful tastes for apparently irrational beliefs. In musing on an answer, Pinker quotes H.L. Mencken as saying that "the most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It's the chief occupation of humankind."
Believing in Witches: A Universal Phenomenon?
Religious beliefs are, according to ethnographers, universal. In all communities, people believe that the soul lives on after death, that we can change the world and discover the truth by performing rituals, and that illness and misfortunes are the result of and can be improved by a variety of invisible entities such as spirits, ghosts, saints, evils, demons, cherubim, Jesus, devils, gods and witches (Pinker, 2004). Pinker (2004) gives an example: that of the contemporary United States. Turns out that 25% of Americans believe in witches, 50% in ghosts, 50% in the devil, 50% believe that the Book of Genesis is literally true, 69% believe in angels, 87% believe Jesus was raised from the dead, and 96% believe in a god or a universal spirit (Pinker, 2004).
Believing in Witches: An Evolutionary Phenomenon?
Robin Briggs (1996) explains our fondness for the irrational with evolutionary psychology, suggesting that we have believed in witches, ghosts, the devil, angels, and other invisible entities for so long and in so many different places that it has become part and parcel of the human psyche, a predisposition if you will, to look for that what is hidden and wicked. Such an inclination may have come in handy when it came to survival. Struggling peasants of early modern Europe for example, survived by maintaining the unity of the community by out casting others- oftentimes people had already separated themselves from other members of the community beacuse of their hostility, aggression or extreme shyness. Some time ago, I wrote about how certain behavior can cause social rejection. Shyness or aggressive quite often deviates from the group norms, and can be a reason for rejection. In that sense, social rejection the way in which the group expresses its disapproval of violation of those norms. In outcasting those who violate those norms, the group ensures its own survival..
Yet, as Steven Pinker points out, the survival argument might not be the whole answer. Believing in the supernatural, black magic, penis snatchers and other invisible creatures benefits us also other ways. We desire health, love and success, and sometimes, our experiences really does seem to evidence something mysterious and divine.
Do you believe in witches? Tell me about it! or post in our discussion forum.
References
Robin Briggs (1996). Witches and Neighbors: the Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. New York: Viking Penguin.
Steven Pinker (2004) The Evolutionary Psychology of Religion. Presented at the annual meeting of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin, October 29, 2004, on receipt of "The Emperor's New Clothes Award." Harvard University: http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/2004_10_29_religion.htm
