Assignment task: Write a philosophical dialogue featuring two characters:
Gladys: A scientist who believes that there's nothing unlucky about the number 13.
Harvey: A superstitious person who believes that the number 13 is inherently unlucky.
In your dialogue, have Gladys give thoughts, theories, and evidence to Harvey as to why his belief is wrong. Have Harvey cling to his belief, despite everything Gladys says to him.
Cognitive issues you could have Gladys raise: Priming, confirmation bias, and the Texas sharpshooter fallacy. (Is Harvey perhaps predisposed to see certain things, because he has a lens through which he's viewing the world? Is the world actually different from the way Harvey sees it?)
Other issues Gladys could raise: The number 13 comes up in lots of circumstances where people could be seen as "lucky". Numbers don't have the ability to change the course of events in the real world. In Italy, 13 is considered lucky. If you stay on the 14th floor of a hotel that doesn't use the number 13, you're still staying on the actual 13th floor, so why isn't that unlucky? The number 13 (this is for the mathematically inclined) is actually "1101" in base 2 or "15" in base 8 - there's nothing special about "13".
Experiences you could have Harvey rely on (don't feel compelled to use these; they're just examples - feel free to come up with your own backstory for Harvey): He once stayed in a hotel on the 13th floor and his room got robbed. He wore 13 on his baseball jersey in high school, and he played terribly. His parents got divorced on his 13th birthday. On January (which could be seen as the 13th month) 13, 2013, his car exploded, and he lost his left foot. It seems like every time he gets 13 in blackjack, he loses. He read a book that says that 13 is unlucky. He's allergic to peanuts, and peanut butter ice cream is the 13th flavor listed at his local Ben & Jerry's.