Magic, Science, And Religion - 1542 Words

Magic, science, and religion are culturally constructed concepts that we use as ways of apprehending, comprehending, and interacting to orient ourselves within the world. A world without meaning cannot be interpreted—chaos, a state of complete disorder and confusion, is the most feared idea by humans. The human brain tries to create meaning out of the chaos and meaninglessness of the world in an effort to understand its surroundings. By gaining an understanding of the world and how it functions, we are able to begin to conceptualize an order to existence. Clifford Geertz explains that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance that he himself has spun. With this idea, Geertz describes our affinity for culturally constructed†¦show more content†¦E.E. Evans-Pritchard explains that humans are fascinated with the idea of coincidence, how unrelated events coincide in time and space. For example, he describes how fire has the universal quality to burn, but not th e universal quality to burn you. Thus, we are drawn to this idea and attempt to rationalize its occurrence (Evans-Pritchard). By attempting to find meaning through associations, we make an attempt to decode our environment as a result of our natural attraction to the control of chaos. Magic is commonly used in situations where individuals lack a sense of control, where we encounter a gap but must continue on our path. In this type of instance, magic functions to offer power and guidance, instilling confidence and an aura of reason. The role of magic in baseball, which arises through superstition and is most notably observed through routine practices of baseball players is described by Goerge Gmelsch. He compares these examples of the sense of control and added confidence that the comfort of a routine gives to a baseball player to Trobian islanders use of magic in ocean fishing, as a means of showing the long standing tradition and wide use of magic. Both baseball and fishing are activities with a high amount of natural uncertainty, thus the incorporation of magic aims to control this chance. Gmelsch describes magic through three venues: ritual, taboo, and fetish. Rituals