As science progresses, superstitions ought to grow less. On the whole, that is true. However, it is surprising how superstitions linger on. If we are tempted to look down on savage tribes for holding such ideas, we should remember that even today, among most civilised nations, a great many equally stupid superstitions exist and are believed in by a great many people.

Some people will not sit down thirteen at a table; or will not like to start anything important on a Friday; or refuse to walk under a ladder. Many people buy charms and talismans because they think they will bring them luck. Even in civilised nations today, many laws are made on the basis of principles which are just as much unproved. For instance, it is often held as a principle that white people are by nature superior to people of other colours. The ancient Greeks believed that they were superior to the people of Northern and Western Europe. The only way to see if there is anything in such a principle is to make scientific studies of a number of white and black and brown people under different conditions of life and find out just what they can and cannot achieve.

It is however, true that the increase of scientific knowledge does reduce superstition and also baseless guessing and useless arguments and practices. Civilised people do not argue and get angry about what water is composed of. The composition of water is known, and there is no argument about it.

If asked, “What matters are related to health i.e. health decisions?” most of us would answer – hospitals, doctors and pills. Yet we are all making a whole range of decisions about our health which go beyond this limited area of doctors, pills etc. For example, whether or not to smoke, take exercise, wear a seat belt, drive a motor bike, drink alcohol regularly etc. The way we reach decisions and form attitudes about our health is only just beginning to be understood.

The main paradox is why people consistently do things which are known to be very hazardous. Two interesting examples of this are smoking and not wearing seat belts. Addiction makes smokers keep on smoking and whether to wear a seat belt or not is affected by safety considerations. Taken together both these examples show how people reach decisions about their health. Understanding this process is crucial. Only then can we effectively change public attitude towards voluntary activities like smoking.

Smokers run the risk of contracting heart disease, several times more as compared to non-smokers. Even lung cancer. Despite extensive press campaigns which have regularly told smokers and car drivers the grave risks they are running, the number of smokers and non-wearers of seat belts had remained much the same. Although the numbers of deaths from road accident and smoking are well publicized, they have aroused little public interest.

If we give smokers the real figures of death caused by smoking, will it affect their views on the dangers of smoking? Unfortunately not. Many of the real figures are in the form of probable estimates, and evidence shows that people are very bad at understanding this kind of information.

छाया मत छूना
मन, होगा दुख दूना।
जीवन में हैं सुरंग सुधियाँ सुहावनी
छवियों की चित्र-गंध फैली मनभावनी;
तन-सुगंध शेष रही, बीत गई यामिनी,
कुंतल के फूलों की याद बनी चाँदनी।
भूली-सी एक छुअन बनता हर जीवित क्षण-
छाया मत छूना
मन, होगा दुख दूना।
यश है या न वैभव है, मान है न सरमाया;
जितना ही दौड़ा तू उतना ही भरमाया।
प्रभुता का शरण-बिंब केवल मृगतृष्णा है,
हर चंद्रिका में छिपी एक रात कृष्णा है।
जो है यथार्थ कठिन उसका तू कर पूजन-

छाया मत छूना
मन, होगा दुख दूना।
दुविधा-हत साहस है, दिखता है पंथ नहीं,
देह सुखी हो पर मन के दुख का अंत नहीं।
दुख है न चाँद खिला शरद-रात आने पर,
क्या हुआ जो खिला फूल रस-बसंत जाने पर?
जो न मिला भूल उसे कर तू भविष्य वरण,