IMO three things contribute to higher superstition. 1) People are more religious, even in the younger generation. (Having said that, it is important to note th

IMO three things contribute to higher superstition. 1) People are more religious, even in the younger generation. (Having said that, it is important to note that religious != fundamentalist for most young, educated Indians. At least in my circles, religious folks will 'pay respects' to any place of worship they pass by including churches, mosques and temples of various types.) 2) Education in America involves a lot of critical thinking. In many classes you are specifically required to challenge an author, debate and you are encouraged to contradict the teacher. There is almost none of this in India. To me, this is something of a tragedy. I went to a small, secular school with excellent teachers (relatively speaking) and I can count on one hand the number of teachers who encouraged debate in class. It doesn't help that many 'good' schools in India are run by religious organizations like the Catholic church or religious trusts. 3) Until not too long ago, luck was a big factor in success in India. Opportunities were few and far between. When efforts are de-linked from rewards, I suspect many people start subscribing to superstitions. Edit: I thought of one more reason: 'Respect for elders' really means 'disagreeing with elders is rude' in India. Put together with a much closer knit society, this means that your elders are going to chide you constantly for disagreeing with them, and pretty much going to take it as a personal insult. Suddenly it becomes very hard to develop independent beliefs. I was fairly lucky growing up in a family where we had all manner of debates, including on religion, but I believe that's pretty atypical.