Scene: A cozy coffee shop in a quiet corner of town. Alex and Jamie sit across from each other, sipping their drinks.
Jamie: (grinning) You know, I have a good feeling about this job interview tomorrow. I’m totally going to crush it. (quickly knocks on the wooden table) There. Just had to make sure I didn’t jinx it.
Alex: (laughing) Seriously, Jamie? You still knock on wood? I thought you were kidding when you did that last week at the restaurant.
Jamie: (mock offense) Of course I do! You can’t just say something good is gonna happen without knocking on wood. That’s how the universe tricks you into messing it up!
Alex: (grinning) Oh man. I hate to break it to you, but knocking on wood doesn’t actually do anything. It’s just… wood. Not a cosmic good luck button.
Jamie: (leaning in) First of all, you don’t know that. Maybe it does work and that’s why bad stuff hasn’t happened yet! Ever think about that?
Alex: (chuckling) So you’re saying you’ve had a 100% success rate just because you’ve been knocking on wood?
Jamie: (hesitating) Well… no. I mean… maybe 70%? But who’s counting?
Alex: (playful) Seventy percent is basically the same as random chance! Come on, Jamie. There’s no scientific evidence that knocking on wood changes outcomes. It’s just a way humans cope with uncertainty.
Jamie: (shrugs) Maybe. But science doesn’t explain everything. Like that time I told you about — when I said my car had never broken down, forgot to knock on wood, and boom — flat tire the next day.
Alex: (grinning) Jamie, that’s not supernatural — that’s called confirmation bias. You remember the times when something bad followed forgetting to knock, but you forget all the thousands of times you knocked and still got a parking ticket or spilled coffee on yourself.
Jamie: (smirking) Okay, Mr. Rational Pants, explain why cultures all around the world have some version of this. Are all of them just silly?
Alex: (thoughtfully) Honestly? It’s fascinating. It probably comes from ancient beliefs that spirits lived in trees. People would knock to summon protection or avoid angering the spirits. It’s like a shared human need to feel in control when life feels random.
Jamie: (laughing) So basically you’re saying my brain is ancient and scared of tree-ghosts.
Alex: (mock seriousness) Exactly. Your brain is a medieval peasant with an iPhone.
Jamie: (snorts) That’s… weirdly accurate.
Alex: (grinning) Look, I get it. It feels good to have little rituals. They give us comfort. But if you really want to avoid jinxing yourself, maybe just prepare well, stay confident, and — I don’t know — keep your tires inflated?
Jamie: (pretending to be scandalized) Blasphemy! No wood-knocking, no protection!
Alex: (laughing) Fine, fine. Knock on all the wood you want. But just remember — you are the one creating your luck. Not the coffee table.
Jamie: (grinning while knocking again) Can’t hurt to have backup!
Alex: (raising their cup) To rational backup plans and irrational backup knocks.
Jamie: (clinking cups) The best of both worlds.
Science Vs Superstition 
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