The Magic of Wishful Thinking
By Owen F Ireland

For some time I have been wondering about the practice of magical thinking. While I had no specific topic in mind, I was thinking of how people tend to believe that if they wish for something long enough and strong enough, then they have a right to expect it to happen. Such belief has become quite popular in recent days to demand freedom, democracy or fairness as the magical words which justify whatever you are desiring. All vital elements in the pursuit of happiness. That sounds reasonable. However, if you explore further as to what that means it becomes quite evident that what will make them happy is not necessarily governmental policy but in practical terms food, clothing, house, car, job, medical care and all of the practical needs of daily living. Freedom becomes freedom from want. And that requires money to purchase that which eliminates pain, suffering in terms of physical well being, hunger, house, and many creature comforts. And who can argue with wanting these things.

I have also been pondering the matter of Magical Thinking during my days as a Hospital Chaplain. It was always impressive to observe a surgeon spend hours tediously seeking to remove a diseased organ and if it failed then simple say it was the Will of God. While it can readily be discussed as a Theological proposition or a simple statement of faith, quite obviously the surgeon believed that he must utilize his skills to save a life, not destroy it. Again, a form of Magical Thinking that has frequently confounded me.

Recently I have been reading a book titled, “Magic and Mayhem, The Delusions of American Foreign Policy”. It deals with believing that we as a nation almost inherently believe we have the power to do whatever we want throughout the world without adequate planning, research, and often limited knowledge by policy makers at whatever level of government.

The book describes Magical thinking in terms of illusion and delusion. If I understand this correctly illusion is to believe that something is there because the illusionist manipulates the situation to believe that which is not true. The magician does this all the time. It can be great fun but it is not real, it is not true, it is not fact. On the other a delusion is to see, hear or believe something is real, true, simply because you want it to be true. In short, you act or react always getting the same result, failure.

So, Magical Thinking is try to get two plus two to equal six. Or to buy a two thousand car with a one dollar bill and becoming surprised when the sales person says no. Do you practice magical thinking? Perhaps more than you realize. I suspect that I do.

A bit of humor...


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