Name: 【TEDx】Superstition ain't the way: Kylie Sturgess at TEDxPerth
Uploaded: 2014-12-05T09:19:10.000Z
Duration: 8 min 20 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

the opportunity to walk from one side at the Sydney Harbour Bridge

to the other. Now there's two reasons why I did this walk:

One because when I was a very little girl, my family

did the exact same walk. The second reason

is because since 2006 I have been completely

managing a breach is a challenge and the Balti Bridge

in particular is determined to kill me. There's nothing you can do

to make me be convinced otherwise. I just know that one day I'll be driving over it

and it will just tip me over like a mcveigh is Street

and throw me into the Yarra River. The Narrows Bridge

is also waiting to get me. It's just biding its time on a foggy day.

I just know it. The only way that I manage

to deal with my fear bridges is by engaging

in a superstitious behavior by having with me a teddy bear.

I am firmly convinced that bridges I'm not going to hurt

more recently I've discovered that somehow the songs Robbie Williams

are very useful too in helping me get over bridges.

I like to think of myself as a rational person.

I like to think of myself as a skeptical person:

but not so open that my brain falls out. And yet here I am

completely and utterly subject to this superstitious behavior.

Superstitions fascinate me and in fact it became the focus at a thesis I did here

here at UWA. One my favorite researchers, Stuart Vicey

talks about superstitions, and he says that it is often considered to be

Or often its beliefs that should be based upon an understanding of science

but somehow we attribute to external forces controlling us.

Fate. More often not we look at superstitions and think of them in terms

we try to gain good luck and avoid bad luck.

In my research I had the opportunity to look at cultural influences

on superstition. Crossing one's fingers, for example,

might be seen as something that mean help you get good luck

and yet many of us might just do it out of force of habit.

It loses its power. We say to each other that "Oh, I cross my fingers for you", but we

don't really think it's going to have that much of an influence.

Walking under a letter, for example, might not be something you

avoid to you doing due to bad luck but more because you don't want a

bucket of paint to land on your head. Some of the more famous research

done into superstitions include that by BF Skinner

where we looked at superstition in the pigeon. In fact that was the name in the

that he wrote about superstitions. He discovered that

with operant conditioning offering pigeons food

before the food came to them and somehow they seemed to believe

that this behavior would bring the food to them. And that's one of the

you can believe what you like whether or not be

teddy bears protecting you from nasty bridges

all the particular dance you do to bring you food

it's when you start taking them into action that we can become concerned.

We can all find ourselves overwhelmed by the irrational

and particularly if we are in groups. But how do we deal with this

Stevie Wonder says to superstition not become the way?

And what's the harm is something that I like to look at.

When do we start questioning? When you stop taking a stand?

And of course the actions of superstitious people can be varied.

For example urology is the belief that drinking one's own urine - or urotherapy -

is somehow going to be beneficial to your health.

The science behind urotherapy is completely flawed.

regulating the body, we are getting rid of electrolytes.

Also the practice, in my opinion, is completely and utterly gross.

And that's something you should ask yourself when people make claims

which are not based upon science fact is it

due to perhaps the placebo effect I want to my favorite researchers in this field

include Simon Singh and its audience you point out that the

misguided thinking behind such practice like your therapy

and other alternative medicines could possibly be to you

even larger when superstitions become endorsed

becomes a question of human rights people can take a stand

for example ERA qua is a human rights activists from Nigeria

one of the things that he does is attempt to find

superstitious beliefs which result in the persecution

stepping stones Nigeria is a group that tries to provide support for children

who are being killed injured cast out of their tribal lands

due to the belief that there which is he sits

one particular powerful documentary which is again banja

looks at women who have been persecuted due to the belief that they are

unfortunately this is not a problem that is like to just to Africa

even in Papua New Guinea 2013 concerns about women being persecuted

due to the belief that there which is continue

so what you doing when the superstition of the way

well personally awareness is one way to take a stand

when it becomes a question human rights when