From Today's New York Times article on magical thinking:
If the tendency to think magically were no more than self-defeating superstition, then over the pitiless history of human evolution it should have all but disappeared in intellectually mature adults.
How exactly does magical thinking lead to disadvantages in terms of survival or reporductive success? Evolution doesn't lead to a loss of habits just because they are silly or irrational.
The article does go on to describe how magical thinking can actually be an advantage in certain situations (it reduces stress and gives some poeple the motivation or confidence to do things that they might otherwise not do - but that can cut both ways when it leads to risky or foolish behavior), but it still leaves the impression that if something is not necessary it should disappear from a population.
Update
OK, I just realized the writer provided some wiggle room with the phrase "self-defeating," which I overlooked, since there's zero explanation of how wishful thinking might be self-defeating. Not one example. I can think of a few, but these excesses would in fact likely be weeded out by natural selection, assuming that magical thinking is not an either/or trait but exists along a continuum. On the most obvious level, magical thinking that leads to totally ridiculous acts of "bravery" or daredevil stunts would likely lead more often to death or injury.
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