And superstition is a good example of our brains trying to overcome its limits by just gambling on the outcome / being probabilistic. Maybe guessing is the right call in absense of other options. If part of a species guesses correctly, it can continue and reproduce. But if it insists on being 100% sure it would be wiped out quickly.

Yes, I think so too. Christian demons weren't that much different, just described in a more sinister way with some added metal lore.