What I found while traveling in India was that since most people in India had never been to school a day in their lives (around 60% then) that magical thinking then in 1985 and 1986 was how these people survived ongoing. There is what is called a "Field of Awareness". What do I mean by this?
Well. The belief system in the country you are in helps create the reality there. Since people in the U.S. believe mechanical things can work, they do often. Whereas in India people might believe something else works so that does.
While I was in India from December of 1985 until April of 1986 with my wife and 3 older children then 10 to 14 years old we noticed that reality was more based upon a local form of magical thinking. At the time we also were sort of worshipped by people who had never been to school as if we were gurus or something including my children.
My oldest son said, "These people think we are gold plated E.T.'s" which was true at the time also.
It was a very strange experience but this is how we were treated either like Gods or something like this often. But, sometimes people would be afraid of us too because we dressed different than they did because they often dressed out in the country like the people of Jesus' time in long robes and not wearing pants or skirts or regular dresses (both men and women). So, in many ways it was like being around people 2000 or 3000 years ago. In fact, at times it was exactly like this.
But, this included non-mechanical thinking and instead thinking in magical ways. We found ourselves often caught up in this magical thinking and I came to think this was just how energy always had worked here. If people (who were poor) didn't think this way they would have died under those conditions thousands of years ago already.
So, it's not that mechanical thinking is the only way people survive because they also survive in most of the world where people are poor by magical thinking too. It isn't perfect but neither is mechanical thinking either.
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