Essay: THAT NEW BLACK MAGIC

WESTERNERS laugh at the benighted superstitions of their Asian and African brothers. How amusing it is to learn that Burmans refuse to wash their hair on Saturdays, that Zambians believe eggs cause sterility, that Chinese voyagers never turn over the fish on their plates for fear of capsizing their ships. In fact, Westerners themselves seem to becoming the most superstitious people the on earth. For all his faith in scientific reason, Western man is so baffled by complex social and economic problems that he is increasingly attracted to irrational solutions—to all kinds...

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