We can never tell how many people are superstitious all I can say is there are a lot and they are everywhere since it all started with the culture people has. Even i become superstitious at times.. hahaha!! But I do not believe things can bring you goodluck like the ones chinese people use as displays in their homes or the gems they say will bring good luck to everyone who buys and wears it. And for me luck is just a word and is just something living in our brains that we always use when we experience negative or positive situations.I am curious as to how many people are superstitious? Are there certain objects, rituals, or thoughts that seem to bring you luck?
The pigeon thing makes so much sense for dice players too. You hit a nice win right after changing your seed or switching to high, and suddenly you think that's the trick. I caught myself doing little rituals like that for a while. The rolls don't care though, it's just our brain trying to find a pattern in random stuff.This is an interesting article about a study B.F. Skinner did on superstition and pigeons.
"Skinner published his study on a group of pigeons that showed even animals are susceptible to the human condition that is superstition. ... What observers of the pigeons found showed the birds developing superstitious behavior, believing that by acting in a particular way, or committing a certain action, food would arrive."
Here is an article.
How Superstition Affects Us And What We Can Learn From Skinner's Pigeon Experiment
How Skinner's pigeon experiment revealed signs of superstition in pigeons.www.psychologistworld.com
I think it is fascinating that superstition can be seen in different species.