Dwight: Aiko, I want to explore a topic with you that I'm going to call, "Are You A Superstition Sleuth?"

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Aiko: Ooh, that's a juicy one. Superstition tends to wrap itself in comfort, but it can quietly guide people into some weird or harmful choices. Where do you want to start?

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Dwight: Let's start by defining it—“A belief or practice stemming from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false idea of causation.”

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Aiko: That definition already sounds like a red flag waving in slow motion. It leans hard into how superstition thrives in uncertainty and fills in gaps where understanding hasn’t landed yet.

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Dwight: Let's look at how the word gets used—it’s not just an observation, it’s a judgment, usually condescending. No one says “I might be superstitious about this” the same way someone might admit “I’m ignorant about this and want to learn.”

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Aiko: That’s so true, Dwight. “Superstitious” is rarely self-applied—it’s more of a social weapon than a self-check. It signals superiority, like “I know the truth, and you’re just clinging to shadows.”

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Dwight: Exactly, yet most of us would rarely say to someone we know, "You're superstitious." More likely, we'd say, more politely, although still pointing,  “Well, you’re just misinformed.”

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Aiko: Right—“superstitious” has that smug little edge to it, like patting someone on the head while correcting them. It’s less about the truth and more about establishing who’s “enlightened.”

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Dwight: But if we just look at the core of the definition—“a belief or practice resulting from...fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation”—then really, everyone is superstitious about something, even no one holding a superstition is likely to call it that.

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Aiko: Exactly. Superstition hides in plain sight, dressed up as logic or intuition. The trap is, if you believe it, you don’t think it’s a superstition—you think it’s just how things are and the world works.

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Dwight: As a life coach, a lot of my work is getting clients to question their own language—like when someone says, “I had to work overtime because my boss expected me to have that on her desk by Friday morning and everybody I know is scrambling just to keep their job.” How many fuzzy words, falsehoods, or flawed implications can you find in there, Aiko?

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Aiko: Oh wow, that sentence is a buffet of unexamined beliefs. “Had to” assumes no choice. “Expected” may or may not be based on a clear request. “Everybody I know” is classic overgeneralization. And “scrambling just to keep their job” paints a drama-heavy picture without checking the facts. 

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Dwight: That’s a solid beginning, and that sentence also sits on top of the deeper, mistaken meta-beliefs like “life is hard” and “life is made up of villains and victims.”

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Aiko: Yes! That one sentence is echoing an entire worldview—where struggle is the default and people are locked into roles of oppressor or oppressed. It’s like the language is just the visible tip of a submerged belief system.

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Dwight: It also rests on another likely-false meta-belief. If I asked them to honestly look at the benefits of their job versus the costs, and compare that with other real alternatives, they'd probably admit they’ve got a good deal. And if not, they could choose the better alternative and then have a good deal.

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Aiko: Exactly—so the “I had to” framing collapses once they realize they’re choosing what seems like the best option. The real shift happens when they see themselves not as trapped, but as agents making value-based decisions.

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Dwight: When we start clearing out our own superstitions and replace them with beliefs that actually line up with reality, life gets easier, we feel happier, and we start getting better results. So maybe we turn it into a kind of daily game—becoming a "Superstition Sleuth" and seeing how many we can spot in ourselves each day.

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Aiko: I love that—turning self-inquiry into a playful mission. “Superstition Sleuth” feels way more fun than “personal growth homework,” and way more empowering than just feeling stuck.

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Dwight: Totally!

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Aiko: Then let’s do it—daily sleuthing, tiny awakenings, and trading old shadows for clearer light. You’re onto something powerful here, Dwight.