Comments on: Paraskavedekatriaphobia

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 07:29:06 +0000

No. You are confusing fear of Friday 13th (paraskavedekatriaphobia) with fear of the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia). Easily done.

By: J

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 21:44:54 +0000

Isn’t the correct term for Friday 13th phobics “triskadecaphobia”????

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:24:31 +0000

Thank you. I try.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:40:19 +0000

Can I just applaud the grammatical correctness of the statement ‘the data are too few’. The recognition of the plural nature of data is not often seen, but it’s appreciated.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:41:03 +0000

Another little surge in traffic today. A quick look at the Blog Stats indicates that, for reasons unknown, the ‘Logues briefly made it onto the WordPress front page. Nice.

Marsha – I am inclined to agree that there is something of the ’self-fulfilling’ prophecy about Friday 13th. I think that you are right that the expectation of calamity can sometimes bring it about.

I also think that people tend to overestimate the frequency of co-incidences. If you have a traffic accident on any normal day, it tends not to stick in the mind or come up in conversation in quite the same way as an accident occurring on a Friday 13th (as was the case for poor old Kenny). It might be that, say, Wednesday 12ths also see a lot of accidents, but because people have no reason to remember the date it tends not to figure in their memory of the event.

And yes, Kenny: the data are too few to warrant firm conclusions, although I do think that other similar surveys have been done and have found similar results. Mind you, there is probably a publication bias: surveys which do not show any particular increase in unfortunate events on Friday 13ths are less interesting and are therefore less likely to see the light of day.

By: What Happened on Friday the 13th « A Mind of My Own

What Happened on Friday the 13th « A Mind of My Own — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:17:10 +0000

[...] papers. I thought only new papers do that. Interestingly, the phobia for Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. I don’t even know how to pronounce [...]

By: Wille

Wille — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:39:36 +0000

The office certainly was deserted today. Like a ghost town almost.

Now I know why.

By: RYDLP

RYDLP — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:36:31 +0000

Well, besides mixing coffee with green tea and cinamon, all is well on Friday the 13th. I also saw myself driving a little crazy and I was scared that never happens, because I don’t get traffic tickets. Thanks

By: kenny

kenny — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:42:20 +0000

I was in a pretty serious road traffic accident on Friday 13th, maybe about 10 years ago now. I’m not superstitious at all and actually consider myself pretty fortunate to not have been injured more than I was.

As for the statistics, 2 years worth of friday the 13ths does not seem to me to be enough for a statistically valid survey, especially if you are only comparing with one other friday each time. perhaps the following friday had even more accidents and they chose to ignore this as it did not fit with what they wanted?

By: Marsha J. O'Brien

Marsha J. O'Brien — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:40:51 +0000

Interesting as people seem to have a mindset about Friday the 13th…movies don’t help, eh?
I think an explanation is that anxiety does affect what happens in our lives. (I specialize in stress management and relaxation techniques.) We’ve been taught “Oh-Friday the 13th – unlucky!” – therein the seed is planted and the blossoming of events begins.

Personally, I don’t believe in bad luck. Mama was born Friday the 13th and that was a lucky and
wonderful day for her clan. I celebrate the day! Thanks for the thoughts.