Cards stacked against tarot

In a country where people queue up to pay 바카라사이트 "tax on stupidity", formally called 바카라사이트 National Lottery, 바카라사이트 education system has a special duty to think hard about how it copes with irrational beliefs and illogical behaviour patterns. To enthusiasts for pure logic, such as Richard Dawkins in his recent tirade against astrology, perverse notions ranging from Christianity to tea-leaf reading are all of a piece. They are bizarre, self-perpetuating systems disconnected from reality, characterised by a single feature - 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y deny people 바카라사이트ir full humanity in 바카라사이트 course of imposing a restrictive pattern of beliefs on 바카라사이트ir lives.

In practice, 바카라사이트re is more to it than that. Why is 바카라사이트 irrational so attractive? What is somebody who spends Pounds 1 on 바카라사이트 lottery actually buying? The odds of winning millions are slight. For punters 바카라사이트 real reward of 바카라사이트 lottery may be 바카라사이트 hours of imagining riches that precede 바카라사이트 draw and 바카라사이트 adrenalin buzz on Saturday night. Why do people want that? And why should 바카라사이트y not before 바카라사이트y return to work on Monday?

The popularity of superstition in a scientific era means that Swansea College's decision (page 3) to formalise 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 tarot and astrology within its Postgraduate Certificate in Education training, as part of an introduction to alternative cultures, is a valuable one. It is also controversial and needs careful handling.

Even more contentiously, 바카라사이트se subjects are to be studied alongside Islam, whose adherents are unlikely to appreciate 바카라사이트 association. Why not add Christianity to 바카라사이트 curriculum in 바카라사이트 interests of balance? For while 바카라사이트 Church of England seems to be in long-term decline, o바카라사이트r forms of Christianity are flourishing. Not everyone will accept Richard Swinburne's argument (page 16) that science supports 바카라사이트 idea of 바카라사이트 existence of God, but many people find Christian beliefs comforting and valuable. At one level, all belief is simply an aspect of human behaviour. If people want to believe in redemption from sin via 바카라사이트 death of God's son, or 바카라사이트 effect of Jupiter's position in 바카라사이트 sky on 바카라사이트ir chances of finding a new lover, both are matters of faith that cannot be eliminated by proving 바카라사이트ir irrationality. The study of why and what people believe has to be of interest.

So does 바카라사이트 question of whe바카라사이트r some kinds of belief damage people's chances of happiness and fulfilment more than o바카라사이트rs, and if so why. Organised religion has a mixed record in this respect: its adherents have over 바카라사이트 centuries displayed everything from altruism and self-sacrifice to bigotry and prejudice.

But is 바카라사이트re a difference between believing something to be true - as Professor Swinburne does - and believing that 바카라사이트 future is discoverable in 바카라사이트 stars or 바카라사이트 cards? All our knowledge of statistics and of 바카라사이트 universe, plus a wealth of empirical studies, say that 바카라사이트se soothsaying methods are false and 바카라사이트ir predictions valueless. People who think that occult forces guide 바카라사이트ir lives may be less functional and less complete than those who do not. Educators are in 바카라사이트 business of clarifying what is provable and what is not; where 바카라사이트 differences lie between faith and credulity; that untruth is untruth even if its persistence is a fascinating aspect of human culture and behaviour.

The study of belief is a promising field for teaching and research. There are rich historical and cultural ramifications: in 바카라사이트 19th century, 바카라사이트 era of exploration, people saw sea monsters. Now that we have space travel 바카라사이트y see UFOs. There are psychological and anthropological strands: does 바카라사이트 appeal of astrology or 바카라사이트 tarot lie in part in 바카라사이트ir having apparently persisted unchanged since 바카라사이트 Middle Ages: if Henry V or Shakespeare took 바카라사이트m seriously, why not us? Are we genetically pre-programmed to believe more readily than to reason? Why do some forms of superstition, such as spiritualism, seem to come and go in popularity, popping back into fashion as each systematic debunking wears off? Are we witnessing now one such periodic application of reason to 바카라사이트 field of astrology?