The history of superstitions

I was walking around my neighborhood this weekend with the little girl I was babysitting. As we were on our way to the park, I lifted her up and said, "Don’t step on the cracks because it will break your mothers back!" Even I found myself jumping over all the cracks just in case the saying was true. Growing up, when someone told me to jump over the cracks I would, why? Because as kids we don’t know any better and believe any lies or stories we are told. Some of the stories and lies stick and are believable. Someone can be thirty and still believe some of the things your parents told you from a kid. Maybe that is why there have always been superstitions. Another question is why we have superstitions and where they came from. I have always been interested in superstitions and old tales. So when I was jumping over the crack it got me thinking. I wondered why all these superstitions have become so popular, I mean I think everyone knows about the black cat being bad luck, not to step under a ladder, to throw salt over your shoulder.. No one has any explanations why we do it. For the next little bit I have decided to take on the task and figure out the real meanings and real truths to this silly acts we do to keep our good luck. It's interesting to see obsessive people over these superstitions, when they don't even know why they do them. Who knows, we could actually be throwing salt over our shoulders after spilling it just to keep the monsters away. Last time I checked we have no monsters.. Unless you consider school a monster, then that's okay.