Setting: A small kitchen in a Moscow apartment. Snow lightly dusts the windowpanes. Masha is setting the table for tea, and Ivan is sitting at the counter peeling an orange.
Masha: (gasps loudly) Oh no, no, no! I just spilled the salt!
Ivan: (without looking up) Congratulations. You’ve summoned the Salt Demon. I hear he’s a nightmare to get out of the carpet.
Masha: I’m serious, Ivan. This is bad. Really bad. Spilling salt brings arguments. We’ll probably fight today. Or worse, I’ll lose my job. Or my cat will run away. Or—
Ivan: Masha. Breathe. Salt is not some kind of emotional grenade. It’s just sodium chloride.
Masha: That’s exactly what someone cursed by the Salt Spirit would say.
Ivan: You honestly believe a few grains of salt can summon chaos into your life?
Masha: You joke, but remember last year? I spilled salt in the morning, and by evening, my boyfriend broke up with me and I dropped my phone in the toilet.
Ivan: That says more about your boyfriend and your grip strength than about salt. Correlation doesn’t mean causation.
Masha: Okay, then explain how every time I’ve spilled salt, something goes wrong. It never fails.
Ivan: Confirmation bias. You remember the bad stuff because it fits your belief. What about the times you spilled salt and nothing happened?
Masha: That’s because I threw some over my left shoulder. To neutralize the curse.
Ivan: (laughs) Ah, so salt is dangerous unless you chuck it at an invisible demon behind you?
Masha: Yes! Exactly. See, you do get it.
Ivan: Masha… historically, salt was expensive. So spilling it was considered wasteful, and people invented superstitions to discourage clumsiness. It’s not magic. It’s economics.
Masha: Then why did Da Vinci paint Judas knocking over a salt cellar at The Last Supper? Huh?
Ivan: Because Da Vinci was symbolic. Not a sorcerer. Maybe Judas just had poor table manners.
Masha: Still. It’s not just salt. You have to admit some superstitions are true. Like the time I whistled indoors and lost my wallet the next day.
Ivan: Whistling indoors is annoying. Your wallet was probably karma.
Masha: I don’t care what you say. I’m not taking chances. (picks up spilled salt and tosses it over her left shoulder) There. Better safe than sorry.
Ivan: (ducks as salt hits him in the eye) Ow! Now we are going to argue, and it’s because you threw salt at my face, not because it spilled!
Masha: See? It works.
Ivan: You know what else works? Not throwing salt at your friends.
Masha: Fine. But if something bad happens today, I’m blaming the salt.
Ivan: And if nothing bad happens?
Masha: Then it’s because I threw it over my shoulder.
Ivan: You’ve built a logic-proof bunker of belief. Impressive.
Masha: Thank you. Now sit down. I made blini.
Ivan: Just don’t spill the sugar. I hear that causes existential crises.
Science Vs Superstition 
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