I came to the realisation recently that I occasionally engage in behaviours that I think are, to put it bluntly, completely stupid. These are things that defy all logic, things I try just because I once hoped that they might work, because it would be really amazing if they did. And I was wondering if anyone else here does things like this.

Let me give you a couple of examples. The first was something I did frequently as a kid, though I still find myself trying it when I'm bored and in a situation with people around. Basically, it's an attempt at telepathy. I think as hard as I can at a person, trying to catch his attention without doing anything overt like looking at him. Or I'll try to influence someone's behaviour, forcing him to walk this way around a table, rather than that way, when both are equal choices (or, preferably, I make him do something inconvenient). When I was a kid, I'd try to use telepathy to talk to friends before I fell asleep, even though I knew it wouldn't work (though it did help me fall asleep). I know it's totally silly, but I still occasionally catch myself doing it anyway!

My next example is just as bad. I have a friend who was into witchcraft -- as in, totally into it. She knew the distance to the nearest ley line at all times, she was forever writing little symbols on stuff for luck or whatever, she tried to slip people love potions, and she held seances with her friends (I was invited to one, but apparently I give off negative energy that keeps the Ouija thingy from moving, so I never had to go again). Anyway, sometimes when I'm waiting for someone, or trying to track someone down, I'll catch myself etching the little symbols she used for those things into the ground. I didn't even try to learn it... they're just ingrained into me after years of knowing her. Silly!

(These are things that I think are unlikely to be real, by the way... no offense is intended to anyone who believes in telepathy or witchcraft. They are simply things I don't believe in but do anyway... that is what I find silly.)

Does anyone else do stuff like this? Do you obsessively try to show that P=NP? Do you demand that paper be taken out of the package and placed in the printer with a certain orientation? Do you habitually cover up your nose whenever you see contrails (chemtrails) overhead? Do you sometimes break out your telescope, intending to look for flying saucers?

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