Page 17 of The Law of Attraction
“I’m just saying, worrying about problems before they happen won’t accomplish anything.”
“Actually, worrying about problems before they happen is how you head them off before they become problems.”
“It’s also how you stress yourself into high blood pressure.”
“My blood pressure is fine.”
“If you say so.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when a voice came on the PA system to announce pre-boarding for their flight to Houston.
Adam looked smug. “See, they’ve started boarding. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Don’t jinx it!” she hissed.
He made a scoffing sound. When she continued to glare at him, he tilted his head at her, narrowing his eyes. “Wait. Are you serious?”
“Yes. You’ll bring down the wrath of the whatever with that kind of cockiness.”
He looked disconcerted. “You don’t actually believe that.”
“I believe it’s not worth taking the chance.”
“I thought you were more rational than that. Aren’t you an electrical engineer?”
“An education in science doesn’t preclude the belief that there might be forces in the universe outside our understanding. In fact, it’s far more rational to accept that we can’t know everything and leave yourself open to possibility.”
“The realm of the possible is not infinite.” He put his hand on her shoulder to edge her out of the path of a passenger in a wheelchair being pushed through the mob of people. The crowd was like a living, breathing thing swelling toward the gate, but Adam stood his ground like a pylon in the surge, making a safe little bubble to shelter her from the pushing and shoving around them. “Whether we understand it or not, there is a mundane, scientific explanation for everything, and it does not involve jinxes, woo-woo, or not stepping on a crack to avoid breaking your mother’s back.”
Olivia shrugged, enjoying how much her position seemed to bother him. “You live your life your way, and I’ll live my way. But keep your fate-tempting to yourself.”
“There’s no such thing as fate. The universe is ruled by cause and effect.”
“Exactly. And by acting too cocky you can bring a bad outcome down on yourself.” She wasn’t so superstitious that she really believed that—it was more a habit than anything—but it obviously rankled him, and she was having too much fun to let it go.
“That’s not cause and effect.” His voice rose with his dismay. “You know that, right? Please tell me you know that.”
She shifted closer to him as the first general boarding group was called, sending a ripple effect through the crowd. “It could be. You don’t know everything about how it works. We’re only just barely beginning to understand chaotic complex systems and their sensitivity to initial conditions. For all we know, superstitions are based on an innate understanding of the laws of the universe we’ve yet to explain scientifically.”
She could tell she’d scored a point, because he crossed his arms and glared in the direction of the gate. “In the meantime, I’ll stick to believing in things that can be scientifically tested and proven.”
“Are you saying you don’t have faith in anything but science? There’s nothing silly or romantic or fantastical you believe just because it makes you happy to believe it?”
His chin lifted, and he sniffed as if she’d suggested he try adding dog turds to his salad. “I believe in observable, measurable, and repeatable phenomena. Not fantasies and children’s stories.”
“That’s sad.”
He looked affronted. “It’s not sad.”
“It is. The reason humankind invented religion is because it’s comforting to believe in something bigger than your own understanding.”
His eyes flashed in triumph. “You just admitted that it’s all invented.” If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was enjoying himself.
“So what if it is? That doesn’t make it any less powerful.”
“It literally does.”
“I mean emotionally powerful. Psychologically. Life isn’t an experiment, it’s an experience. By refusing to believe in anything that can’t be measured by empirical evidence, you’re closing yourself off to wonder and the comfort of belief.”
