I had a friend with a 4 year old daughter. I lit a cigarette, and the little girl wanted to see my lighter. I took the opportunity to teach her fire safety. I told her if she got burned, it would make her ugly forever. Exact words were "You're a very pretty little girl, and it would make you ugly forever." (There was a guy I went to school with who had had his face burned off, and I had seen it first hand.) The little girl took it to mean that just touching the lighter would make her ugly forever. After that, she would not go anywhere near my lighter, she wouldn't touch it, she was afraid to even look at it. I instilled a superstition into that girl by telling her that getting burned would make her ugly forever. Her mom wasn't too happy about that, but I figure better to scare the daughter a little, and have her not play with lighters.
I was just thinking about it, and I thought perhaps Multiverser players might be interested in that. The way superstitions are born. Someone tells you something, and you believe it, and pass it on. Now it is superstition, based in fact, or in fiction. Anyone else have any other thoughts on that?
I'd say it was more instilling a phobia than superstition. Superstition is more like throwing salt over your shoulder after it is spilt. All you did was terrorize a child. There's a fine line. My example being: If you spill salt, if you don't throw it over your shoulder, you'll have bad luck. If you play with a lighter, you'll get burned and be ugly forever. Huge difference. I know you may have had good intentions, but, damn. The little girl might freak out whenever she sees someone light a cigarette or even a candle. How can she differenciate the difference between utilizing and playing with a lighter? Before handing out such further advice, I suggest you have children of your own. Not a slam, John, but as a father, I am horrified.
Still, as for instilling a superstition, it brings up a valid question.
Pharaoh, I see your point, I really do. I even considered what you said about a lighter phobia. I have a question for you though. Have you ever seen someone who had their face burned off? From what I understand, the guy that I mentioned started the fire that burned him. I bet if his parents knew that he was going to get burned like that, they wouldn't have minded someone instilling a phobia about lighters when he was a child. As I said, I'd rather have her afraid of lighters than have her playing with them.
The superstition you mentioned about spilling salt. That got started because salt was very valuable. If you spilled it, it was like throwing money away. So, you threw some over your shoulder so the Devil couldn't see you spill it. Throwing the salt in the eye of the Devil. It got started because of fear. Fear of throwing money away, and fear of the Devil. The thing is that spilling salt will not make you unlucky. Playing with a lighter can make you ugly forever. The difference between the two is one superstition is based in meaningless lore, and the other is based in practical advice.
To an extent, I see your point regarding the salt. But nowadays, most people have forgotten the lore behind it and now do it out of superstition. In my opinion, people are creatures of habit. If you did something long enough around someone and told them it was to prevent something bad from happening, they could in theory begin to do the same thing, thereby creating a superstition in someone. Just my opinion though.
Regarding the lighter, I still can't roll with you on that one, my friend. I have indeed seen a person with a large percentage of their face burned. It's not pretty. But opinions do vary, so I will respect how you think on that subject.
Some superstitions were at one time based in practical advice. "Three lights on a match is bad luck" started in WW1. If it was nighttime, and a sniper was nearby, he used the light from the match. On the first light, he got the windage, on the second light, he got the elevation, and on the third light, he shot the guy holding the match. What started as a practical tip became meaningless superstition.
I thank you for respecting my opinion on the lighter issue though. As someone with a few phobias, I know they can be crippling if they are taken to an extreme. The way I figure it though, by the time Natalie (the little girl) is old enough to realize that lighters don't make people ugly, she will probably have enough sense not to play with a lighter anyway. That is a temporary phobia. If it continues through her life, then yes, I did a bad thing. Of course, it might be what keeps her from starting smoking later in life hahaha. I'd rather run the risk of a phobia, and still have a pretty little unburned girl
Along this same line, I'm led to wonder if any Verser - or, more likely, how many - have ever Versed into some primitive world and started (or inadvertantly blundered into having) a cult to their worship...?
I've heard of that happening, but don't remember it happening in my games. The nearest I've had happen is someone came back to find a statue in his honor.
--M. J. Young
MJ, I wanted to hear your thoughts on the lighter/superstition/phobia topic. As a father, what do you think of that? As a practical man, what do you think about it? And as a believer (or not) in superstitions, what do you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Just read the Alan Dean Foster novel 'Running From the Deity'. Its part of his Pip and Flinx series that goes way back. In it, Flinx lands on a low-tech alien planet, tries to help out a few people, ends up being proclaimed a god, and kicking off a war.
Eric
John, I hold to the belief that children are usually given the parents they need, and that I should do what I can to support the parent's vision of how to raise them. If I am asked for help or advice, I can give what I know, what I think, what I would do, and can pitch in as I am able--but in the main, it's not my job to second-guess someone else's calling or authority.
I think that the lighter phobia was an undesireable but unintended consequence. I agree that it is a good thing that the child is afraid of lighters, just as it would be a good thing for a child to be afraid of stove tops--as long as in time the child is able to overcome these fears and move into a rational respect for the tools. I was afraid of gas stoves for a while, and it made it difficult for me to cook on them comfortably.
In the end, whether the phobia is in this particular case damaging or beneficial is something that will be determined in the future.
I hope this helps. I'm sure I did not answer your question, but I don't really think anyone can answer it. I don't think you intended to create the phobia, and I don't think you would do so again--and faced with the same situation, you would probably handle it a bit differently. The complexities of human interaction lead to surprising results at times, and this was one of those times.
--M. J. Young