Setting: A sunny afternoon in Melbourne. Two friends, Maya and Liam, are sitting in Maya’s kitchen, drinking coffee. Maya has just unwrapped a shiny new chef’s knife that Liam gifted her for her birthday.
Maya: (gasping) Oh no, Liam! You didn’t!
Liam: What? You don’t like it? It’s a proper Japanese chef’s knife — razor-sharp, perfect for slicing veggies.
Maya: It’s beautiful, but… you can’t just give someone a knife! It cuts the friendship. You know that, right?
Liam: (chuckling) Cuts the friendship? Maya, it’s a kitchen tool, not a relationship assassin.
Maya: I’m serious! It’s bad luck. My grandma always said if someone gives you a knife, you’ve got to give them a coin in return — even a dollar will do — to “buy” the knife. Otherwise, it’ll cut the bond between you.
Liam: (grinning) So let me get this straight — I give you a $150 knife, and you hand me back a dollar to keep our friendship safe? Sounds like a good deal for me.
Maya: (rolling her eyes) Don’t mock it. It’s tradition. My mum once gave her best friend a knife set for her wedding, and they had a massive falling out a few months later. They haven’t spoken since!
Liam: Or maybe the argument had more to do with human behavior than knife blades. Correlation doesn’t equal causation, Maya.
Maya: (frowning) You always say that. But you can’t deny — it’s happened too many times to be coincidence.
Liam: Okay, so if I gift you an umbrella, and it rains the next day, do I get to take credit for that too? That’s how superstition works — we link random events because our brains love patterns.
Maya: Still, I’d rather not risk it. Just to be safe, I’ll grab a coin. (reaches for her purse)
Liam: (laughs) You’re unbelievable. You know, scientifically, there’s no mechanism that connects a piece of metal to friendship dynamics. It’s all in the mind — like placebo for bad luck.
Maya: Maybe. But traditions have meaning. They keep us connected to our past, to family stories. It’s not about science; it’s about respect.
Liam: That’s fair. But don’t you think blind belief can hold people back? Like, imagine a surgeon refusing to accept a gift scalpel because it might “cut their friendship” with the patient.
Maya: (smiling) Well, that’d be weird, but this is different. This is… symbolic. Like knocking on wood or saying “bless you” after sneezing. It’s just good manners.
Liam: (leaning back) So if it’s manners, not magic, I can live with that. Tell you what — keep the knife, give me your coin, and let’s call it cultural psychology in action.
Maya: (hands him a shiny coin) There. Friendship officially uncut.
Liam: (grinning) Excellent. Now, please use that knife to cut the cake, not our relationship.
Maya: Deal. But if it slips and I get a cut, I’m blaming your “scientific reasoning.”
Liam: And I’ll blame your superstition for jinxing it in the first place.
(They both laugh as Maya carefully slices the cake.)
Science Vs Superstition 
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