Some event or events in the past caused predictability to break, and causes pair up with effects in novel combinations.
The result is an almost religious belief in the probability of unlikely events occurring, and no explanatory power when the expected effect does not follow the cause.
Some examples, in the form of 'if.... then....' statements, ones that have been known to flash through my mind on occasion:
- If I do not complete this workout in the gym (without pressing the stop button) then the woman I have an interest in will arbitrarily exit my life.
- If there are any plugs left in sockets anywhere in the house at the time I go to bed, then I shall die in a fire overnight. NB: The plug which sustains my alarm clock is exempt. It should be noted that plugs have an independent will, and can jump into sockets of their own volition - hence they must be repeatedly checked.
All such thoughts take the form if or if not x then.... some unwelcome fate will befall me, or someone close to me. The plugs example is from my teenage years, the first one is used as a motivating tool whilst on one of the machines which seemingly seeks to tear me apart on a twice or thrice weekly basis.
I am of the opinion that the second example is a classic case of burgeoning obsessive-compulsive disorder, somehow negated without the need for psychological assessment.
What happens should the 'if....' condition fail? If my weak leg gives way on the treadmill, and I have to pack up and come home without completing my session in the gym? Well, it has happened, and the woman I refer to in the 'then....' condition did not arbitrarily take leave.
This is why there's no explanatory power. The 'then....' condition always points to someone or something that I am unable to control, anyway, rendering the 'if....' part meaningless.
Taking the second bulleted example as our cue, there are four possible outcomes:
- No plugs are in sockets; I don't die in a fire.
- No plugs are in sockets; I die in a fire anyway.
- I accidentally leave a plug in a socket; I don't die in a fire.
- I accidentally leave a plug in a socket; I die in a fire.
I shrug my shoulders, vexed, when asked why outcomes 2 and 3 occurred. Such lack of an explanation is the reason that people invoke God or demons or spirits. I instead shrug my shoulders, for the atheist even lacks a sky-pixie to appeal to.
