Magical thinking
Arthur C. Clarke famously said, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Consequently, we use magical thinking to deal with advanced technology.
This is very evident to me when I watch other people use computers, which I understand better than they do. Sometimes I catch myself doing the same thing, for example when I have to do something with Vista and Microsoft has changed the terminology or behavior to make it more confusing (to me).
As technology advances, any one person will understand less and less of it. We will have to use more magical thinking, not less.
Or maybe there is a synthesis, a scientifically informed magical thinking. With branded chemicals, such as Benadryl, I understand that diphenhydramine hydrochloride has a predictable effect on my body. I believe that I am capable of understanding the chemical reactions involved if I put in some effort, although I do not presently understand them.
There is also a false magical thinking, as when people pay as much extra for the Benadryl brand as they did for the diphenhydramine hydrochloride. The false magical thinking is encouraged by the advertisers, who aren’t thinking magically at all.