Magical Beliefs

So, I lazily skimmed an article mentioned on the Skepchicks blog... and I tried really hard to apply the points about magical thinking to my own life, but I just couldn't swallow the pill.

70% of what the article talks about are simple associations: I wouldn't name my kid "Adolf" because of the negative associations... not because I think the name is cursed!

10% of what the article talks about is social pressure, and another 10% is simply the biological (chemical) effect of the mind on the body. Watch (or read) Derren Brown. What people will do because of other people may appear magical, but doesn't make it so.

The last 10% of what the article talks about is just misunderstanding or anthropomorphism of statistics. The most common one I see (being a role-player) is with dice: the idea that some dice "don't like me", or that if we leave the dice on the table with their highest value facing upward, we're more likely to roll well.

As a result: sorry, no. I still can't buy the premise that all people believe in magic.