Our ancestors were very supersticious. They lived in an age before science, before electricity, and before printed books.

For them:

• The night was very dark before the invention of electrical lights.
• Big animals were a real threat before the invention of firearms.
• Countries were terribly far apart before the invention of cars and trains; populations were more isolated.
• Natural elements were scary before people understood what they were.
• Knowledge was mostly passed on orally before the invention of the printed books. Even then, very few people knew how to read.
• There were long delays between the facts and the report, with distortion due to the oral mode of transmission.
• There were no photos or videos to document an event.
• There was little ways to check facts before books and the Internet, as people had to rely on memory.

What they had was stories and their imagination.

Can you blame them for being superstitious to the core?

Now that we have access to:

• knowledge through books and Internet
• basic understanding of our physical world
• critical thinking derived from higher education level
• remote location with webcams, tv, and fast modes of transportation
• photos and videos to document events

Now, you would think people would be a lot more sceptic al of magical claims. Still, a large portion of the population think the same way our ancestors did…