Why we believe in the supernatural, godmen, the paranormal etc

The Infinite monkey cage is an extremely witty irreverent discussion hosted by the hilarious Robin Ince and the delectable Brian Cox. And in one of their discussions they touched upon a very beautiful point of uncertainty and control.

Humans hate uncertainty. Very few of us can thrive in an uncertain setting for long and we love to believe that we have control on whats happening around us. And when we lose someone important to us we hate to believe that we dont know whats happening with them and if some conman convinces you into accepting tio talk to your loved one, you will gladly fall for it despite being  scientific minded otherwise.
And same is the case with the multiple homams that godmen make people perform. To say that "Its because your ancestors are unhappy taht your son is falling sick" attributes a reason and thus something we can do something about and control, as compared to " sometimes shit happens". Instead of sitting simply we believe that we are actively doing something about the problem and that accords us a grip on the whole situation. This is always preferred over the whole " we are just pawns in the game of fate".

The same thing is true for multiple things- You were involved in a car accident because you had committed some sins in your past birth and now you are absolved of it sounds more soothing than " its was just a random occurrence, could have been anyone. Accepting that the universe is random and that you have to make the best of what it throws is not as easy as typing it. We always look for other solid reasons to know why this happened to us, what we can do so that it doesn't happen again etc.

And ghosts emerge from the lack of knowledge of what happens after death. To say that we just stop existing seems unacceptable to most of us so we fabricate stories about people continuing to exist after death and whats more, routinely visiting their past lives.

Thats what it ultimately comes down to. Your ability to handle uncertainty is inversely proportional to your belief in astrology, psychics, and other similar phenomenon.  Think about it- Is it easier to believe that someone voodoo conspried to make you hit the car, or to rationally wonder whether it was just a matter of probability?

Just when exactly, does one give up ?

This post is inspired by and entirely dedicated to the Brazil national football team and to their disastrous performance in the semi-finals last night. Everyone knew that Germany was the better team and that Brazil is most likely going to exit the finals, specially given the fact that Silva was not there to defend and Neymar was occupied with the broken back thing, but no one could have predicted the level of humiliation Brazil had to go through. Poor markings, haphazard formations and an abysmal morale led to what is probably the worst defeat Brazil has ever faced. Before half time it was clear who was moving to the next round.

But this post is not about my analysis of the match. There are enough articles on that. 

What touched me  and somehow what no one is talking about is the lone goal scored by Oscar in the 90th minute. Well, of course no one celebrated it. Fans didnt know whether to laugh or to cry. His teammates didnt come rushing to his side, hugging him and pushing him down in a wave of affection and happiness. In fact he himself didnt look relieved and didnt look at anyone for acknowledgement. He simply continued playing as if it were a goal scored during a practice session.

Thats the difference between him and most people. Knowing that that one action isnt going to change the outcomes, yet doing it unselfishly, not to add to his own meagre goal  count ( one more goal would have made no difference) , not to bring glory to his team and country, but merely doing it because it has to be done. Never has a goal been more futile and more unwanted and disrespected, but that didnt stop or deter him.

There is something to be said about that spirit which lets one keep playing for the sake of playing when the game is over, when your exit from the World cup is inevitable and ignominy is anyway a few minutes away- all the other players showed signs of physical and mental fatigue- Luiz was visibly disturbed, Marcelo was incredibly sad but somehow found the strength to run, but Oscar merely continued playing with the same puppy face with which he started in the Croatia match. 

Well, the media might not be talking about it- they are too busy showing us photos of saddened fans , glowing articles might not be written about him, but hey somewhere in the corner of the world there was one blog post about it. 

Far far away from what Oscar or anyone would have wanted from a world cup goal but it is what it is.