Magical Thinking

Let me just say, the psychology classes I've taken in university are limited; I think I've taken about four now, and I don't plan on taking any more.  In fact, the classes bother me most of the time as they usually consist of 'special' students who can ramble off countless studies that I never really pay that much attention to - although I'm sure they're interesting.  However, I have to credit psychology with helping me figure out my own mind at times; in particular my 'magical thinking'.

'Magical Thinking' is when you think your mind or your thoughts can actually influence reality.  For example, say you didn't want to see your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend at a restaurant you usually frequent, well you might picture yourself seeing them there a few moments before you left your house for dinner.  The idea is that since you thought about seeing your ex first, before you left, it would just be too much of a coincidence if you actually did see them there at the restaurant.  Of course it doesn't affect anything at all, your thoughts posited at the world in this way are absolutely meaningless, this actually wastes vast amounts of my time; but I find myself doing this more than frequently.

I remember lying awake as a kid and thinking things out in my head in this fashion; multilayered and complex things about certain events that I didn't want to happen or did want to happen.  I didn't actually believe my thoughts could influence anything, but think about it, isn't there some kind of chance that they could?  Of course obsessing in this kind of mannerism can lead to actually psychological disorders, but perhaps at some level, it allows the mind to think about things on a slightly more complex level - or maybe it's just a way for me to comfort myself?

Nowadays, my 'magical thinking' has been trained in a sense (probably by philosophy), and I'm glad for that.  However, I still wonder if it does have some kind of effect on possibilities or possible worlds that are the outcome of the way we think.  There really is no way to investigate this or test it empirically, it's just a flaw of the mind - a phantom.  Does thinking your plane is going to crash affect the outcome? No; but the last time something good or bad happened to you did you think about it previously?  Probably not.  The person who won the lottery probably didn't expect to win it either - it's just how it works.  So I suppose the idea is to give thought to things, but not too much; either way, I still find my mind at times fracturing into what seems like hundreds of possibilities for every action I make.