Setting: A cozy cabin in Tromsø, Norway, with snow falling gently outside. Two friends, Lars (the superstitious one) and Ingrid (the rational thinker), are sipping warm apple cider near the fireplace after a ski trip.
Lars: (crunching an apple) You know, Ingrid, I swear this is why I never get sick. Apples. Magical fruit. Keeps the Norse gods young, and me too!
Ingrid: (laughs) Ah, here we go again. Let me guess, Idunn’s apples? The ones from Norse mythology that kept the gods youthful?
Lars: Exactly! Idunn’s apples. It’s ancient wisdom. I mean, if Odin and Thor needed apples to stay young, who am I to argue? I eat one every morning. Haven’t caught a cold in five years.
Ingrid: Or maybe it’s because you wear three layers, drink elderberry tea like it’s water, and avoid people all winter?
Lars: Coincidence! It’s the apples. They’re enchanted. My grandmother used to say, “Eat an apple, keep the gods smiling on you.”
Ingrid: Your grandmother also made you carry a potato in your pocket to ward off trolls.
Lars: And I never got attacked by a troll. Tell me that’s not proof.
Ingrid: (chuckles) Okay, fair point. But seriously, Lars, the whole Idunn’s apples thing is a myth. A beautiful one, yes, but not a nutritional science paper. Apples are good for you, sure—vitamin C, fiber, antioxidants—but they’re not laced with divine immortality juice.
Lars: How do you know they’re not? Maybe science hasn’t caught up yet. Maybe they’re scanning for vitamin A and missing the god particles.
Ingrid: God particles? This isn’t the Large Hadron Collider. It’s an apple from Kiwi grocery.
Lars: A very fresh apple from Kiwi grocery.
Ingrid: (grinning) Look, I get the sentiment. I really do. My uncle swears by herring every morning to keep his joints loose, but turns out it’s the omega-3s, not the fish gods of the fjord.
Lars: But isn’t it kind of nice to believe in something older than science? Something that connects us to stories and traditions? Like when we eat apple cake on the equinox or hang apples on the Yule tree?
Ingrid: It is. Absolutely. Traditions give life meaning. But there’s a difference between celebrating a myth and treating it as medical advice. I wouldn’t go skipping vaccines just because you’ve got apples on the shelf.
Lars: (mock scandalized) I would never skip vaccines. I’m superstitious, not stupid.
Ingrid: (laughs) That’s the Lars I know.
Lars: Still, science can’t explain everything. You ever notice how the apples in my kitchen never go bad as fast as yours?
Ingrid: Because yours are in the cold pantry and you don’t live with two teenagers who treat fruit like couch cushions?
Lars: Okay, that’s also true. But what if—just what if—the gods do reward believers with little miracles? Like eternal youth. Or fewer dentist appointments.
Ingrid: Then I’ll eat an apple in your honor. But I’ll also brush my teeth and trust the dentist more than Freyja.
Lars: (raising his apple) To Idunn and evidence-based medicine.
Ingrid: (clinking her cider mug against his apple) May your apples be magical and your logic occasionally flexible.
Lars: And may your science never be too serious to enjoy a good Norse story.
[They both laugh and return to watching the snowfall, knowing that some beliefs, even if not entirely logical, can still be shared with warmth and a touch of humor.]
Science Vs Superstition 
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