Why are brains superstitious? Would you wear a nice sweater that belonged to a murderer?

What does this have to do with mind reading or our interpretation of coincidences or why kids often need their special blanket and what any of this has to do

with the brain.

Welcome to Inner Cosmos with me, David Eagleman. I'm a neuroscientist and author at Stanford,

and in these episodes, we dive deeply into our three-pound universe to understand

some of the most surprising aspects of our lives.

This is an I-Heart podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. There's a vile sickness in Abbas town.

You must excise it.

Dig into the deep earth and cut it out.

From IHeart podcasts and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky,

this is Havoc Town,

a new fiction podcast set in the Bridgewater Audio Universe,

starring Jules State and Ray Wise.

Listen to Havoc Town on the IHart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you. podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So here's today's question.

Why do so many humans across time, across geography, even across levels of education,

why do they believe in things they can't see and that presumably are not true,

like ghosts or guardian angels, or curses, or telepathy, or sacred relics, or vengeful gods,

or karma, or lucky socks? Even if you consider yourself totally unsuperstitious, you might still find

that you say something and then you knock on wood. Or maybe you dribble the ball three times

before you take a basketball free throw. Or maybe you would hesitate at the idea of moving into a house where a murderer lived.

...