Is it bad luck to believe in superstition?

Answer 1

1.the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities:

1.

a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

Using the following definitions, it is purely circumstantial on whether it is "bad luck to believe in superstition". It also depends on how you meant it. If you are asking "Is it bad luck to believe in superstition conceptually?", then directly I would say no but indirectly it is certainly a possibility. Belief in belief may not effect a behavior (and therefore a particular outcome in a given situation) very much but it may be a basis for another belief to develop that does indeed affect your behavior.

As for another possible interpretation of the question such as "Is it bad luck to believe in any particular instance of a superstition?", that would be totally based upon the context. It would depend on what the superstition is, to what degree it is believed and then upon the setting. A superstitious belief such as reading books is bad luck wouldn't be that much of problem if you lived hundreds of years ago and books weren't as common place as they are now. It would also be more detrimental if you were at a school or a library than if you weren't one. Also the degree to which you believe that books are bad luck, if you think they are just a minor thing and can easily overcome it and pass your English class would be an entirely different (and conceivably better) outcome than if you thought books were really evil and should be burned and therefore you went to your local public library and set it on fire.

To put it simply: Belief in superstition in general may not necessarily cause a bad outcome but may foster other superstitions that do affect said outcome more.

Belief in a particular superstition may affect the outcome of an event based upon the degree of belief, the setting (time and place) in which the belief propagates and then the subject of the superstitious belief.