The Science of Superstition: The Case of Courtroom 13
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Recently and real-state-wise, a courthouse in Saint John, New Brunswick did what hotels usually do-dispensed with the number 13. That is, just like there's no elevator button for floor 13 in most (all?) commercial hostelries; there is now no Courtroom 13 in the Saint John Law Courts.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Instead, the former Courtroom 13 is now Courtroom 14. Since the building opened three years ago, some superstitious citizens voiced concerns about the shiny new Courtroom 13, complaining that it 鈥渇elt unlucky鈥� although the city's Regional Director of Court Services, Don Higgins stated there weren't听 any particular complaints about Courtroom 13, other than it giving some people 鈥渁 bad vibe.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Higgins told The Canadian Press: 鈥淧eople only come here once or twice in their lives, so we're hoping to make it easier. We didn't do any investigation or analysis to see how many people it impacted. It was an easy fix.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Changing the former Courtroom 13's sign came in at less than $100 and according to Higgins, all other references to the courtroom's number were easy-and inexpensive- to change, because they're online.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Citing other courthouse-related concerns, Higgins told CP that going to court is a highly stressful experience for most people and in addition to Courtroom 13's number change, court officials have addressed other issues, such as sightlines, noise in some rooms, and more.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淩ight from the beginning, we were working the kinks out,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 don't think the engineers who put the (building) together gave (the number 13) much thought.鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Higgins stated that he's not superstitious, 鈥渂ut if there's anything you can do to remove these distractions...鈥�
听听听听听听听听听听听 Higgins' statements are imbued with both compassion and common sense. Changing Courtroom 13's number to something more palatable to some folks-no matter which side of the law they're on-was an easy, inexpensive, and quick fix. And probably, the number of complaints received by his department听 decreased, too.
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, if the courts were to accomodate everyone's quirks and/or phobias, the wheels of justice would grind even more slowly than they already do and fairness and neutrality would be tainted by the law of the land succumbing to superstition.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Saint John's Court Services department made a sensible and efficient call on this one, but it cannot become the norm. Canada's courts have a big job to do-and pandering to the perceived discomfort of a few must not become a permanent part of their mandate.
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Lucky or unlucky: the number 13 still holds sway
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In tall buildings there鈥檚 never a 13th floor and in motels, hospitals, and airports you鈥檒l be hard pressed to find a room or gate 13. Why?
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Apparently it goes all the way back to the Code of Hammurabi, according to the History Channels website. The Code of Hammurabi reportedly skips over the 13th law within its legal rules, but this has to do with poor translating as the code isn鈥檛 even listed numerically.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In the ancient world, Sumerians developed a number system based on the 鈥減erfect鈥� number in their world, 12. In fact 12 is still a number that we use: 12-inches in a foot, a day is two 12-hour half days, a year is 12 months, etc鈥� So 13 became a number that was imperfect, it was lacking and with two ancient events playing into it, the superstition was born.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The ancient events being that the biblical Judas was the 13th guest to arrive at the Last Supper and in Norse mythology evil and treachery were introduced to the world by the mischievous god Loki who was also the 13th guest to a dinner party upsetting the perfect number of 12.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 However, in some cultures like the Ancient Egyptians and amongst First Nations, it鈥檚 a lucky number. I was once told that a hawk with 13 tail feathers is a good omen, they鈥檙e rare, most have 12, but if it has 13, then it is special.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In much of the world people are now calling 13 their lucky number, like pop star Taylor Swift.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In Asia 13 isn鈥檛 a bad omen, but the number four is, apparently the pronunciation of 鈥渇our鈥� is quite similar to the word 鈥渄eath鈥� in various Asian languages.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, why in 2016 are we renaming a courtroom? Courtroom 13 in Saint John, New Brunswick, has taken down the sign for Courtroom 13 and replaced it with Courtroom 14.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 According to Don Higgins, regional director of court services in Saint John, as he told the Free Press, going to court is stressful and eliminating an extra stressor like being in Courtroom 13 for those who fear the number is bad luck. Additionally there were never any complaints, but people simply said it emitted a bad vibe鈥� but this seems ridiculous to me.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Apparently the old courthouse which was built in the 1820s in Saint John, before moving to the new one where room 13 was just changed to 14, housed a gallows and was believed to be haunted鈥� I feel like that would give off way worse vibes than a room 13, but I digress.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The cost to replace the sign was less than $100, so I guess they didn鈥檛 spend an inordinate amount of money on something that seems quite trivial to me because at the end of the day the room may say 14鈥� it鈥檚 still technically the 13th courtroom in the courthouse.
