The world is filled with wonderful, fantastic, and even miraculous events. Animals change color, providing natural camouflage as part of seasonal variations. Tadpoles and caterpillars metamorphose into frogs and butterflies as part of their natural growth and development. Amazing events are not limited to living things. From the startling beauty of the motion of waves, rainbows, or sunsets to the tremendous destructive powers of volcanoes and hurricanes, nature is filled with awesome events and surprising phenomena. Changes in technology have also made wonderful events commonplace in our homes and offices. At the touch of a button or remote control, lights, televisions, computers, and all sorts of machines come to life. Adults in many cultures generally accept all of these events without question. We view these events as possible and governed by natural causes or ordinary human agencies.

At the same time, we do not always agree about the possibility of events or causal mechanisms that stretch or violate scientific principles. If asked about the possibility of life on Mars, time travel, fish that change from male to female, carnivorous mushrooms that devour worms, the existence of ghosts or angels, the efficacy of prayer, or the likelihood that certain individuals have telepathic powers, many adults are not quite sure what to think. Most adults routinely place still other events in the realm of pure fantasy (e.g., visits by the Tooth Fairy, wishes granted by genies).