Thelikesenseofaninscrutablebutspirituallynecessarytendencyineventsisstilltraceableasanobscureelementincurrentpopularbelief，asshown，forinstance，bythewell-accreditedmaxim，“Thriceishearmedwhoknowshisquarreljust，“——amaximwhichretainsmuchofitssignificancefortheaverageunreflectingpersoneveninthecivilizedcommunitiesoftoday。Themodernreminiscenceofthebeliefinthehamingia，orintheguidanceofanunseenhand，whichistraceableintheacceptanceofthismaximisfaintandperhapsuncertain；anditseemsinanycasetobeblendedwithotherpsychologicalmomentsthatarenotclearlyofananimisticcharacter。
Forthepurposeinhanditisunnecessarytolookmorecloselyintothepsychologicalprocessortheethnologicallineofdescentbywhichthelaterofthesetwoanimisticapprehensionsofpropensityisderivedfromtheearlier。Thisquestionmaybeofthegravestimportancetofolk-psychologyortothetheoryoftheevolutionofcreedsandcults。Thesameistrueofthemorefundamentalquestionwhetherthetwoarerelatedatallassuccessivephasesinasequenceofdevelopment。
Referenceisheremadetotheexistenceofthesequestionsonlytoremarkthattheinterestofthepresentdiscussiondoesnotlieinthatdirection。Sofarasconcernseconomictheory，thesetwoelementsorphasesofthebeliefinluck，orinanextra-causaltrendorpropensityinthings，areofsubstantiallythesamecharacter。Theyhaveaneconomicsignificanceashabitsofthoughtwhichaffecttheindividual’shabitualviewofthefactsandsequenceswithwhichhecomesincontact，andwhichtherebyaffecttheindividual’sserviceabilityfortheindustrialpurpose。Therefore，apartfromallquestionofthebeauty，worth，orbeneficenceofanyanimisticbelief，thereisplaceforadiscussionoftheireconomicbearingontheserviceabilityoftheindividualasaneconomicfactor，andespeciallyasanindustrialagent。
Ithasalreadybeennotedinanearlierconnection，thatinordertohavethehighestserviceabilityinthecomplexindustrialprocessesoftoday，theindividualmustbeendowedwiththeaptitudeandthehabitofreadilyapprehendingandrelatingfactsintermsofcausalsequence。Bothasawholeandinitsdetails，theindustrialprocessisaprocessofquantitativecausation。The“intelligence“demandedoftheworkman，aswellasofthedirectorofanindustrialprocess，islittleelsethanadegreeoffacilityintheapprehensionofandadaptationtoaquantitativelydeterminedcausalsequence。Thisfacilityofapprehensionandadaptationiswhatislackinginstupidworkmen，andthegrowthofthisfacilityistheendsoughtintheireducation——sofarastheireducationaimstoenhancetheirindustrialefficiency。
Insofarastheindividual’sinheritedaptitudesorhistraininginclinehimtoaccountforfactsandsequencesinothertermsthanthoseofcausationormatter-of-fact，theylowerhisproductiveefficiencyorindustrialusefulness。Thisloweringofefficiencythroughapenchantforanimisticmethodsofapprehendingfactsisespeciallyapparentwhentakeninthemass-whenagivenpopulationwithananimisticturnisviewedasawhole。Theeconomicdrawbacksofanimismaremorepatentanditsconsequencesaremorefar-reachingunderthemodernsystemoflargeindustrythanunderanyother。Inthemodernindustrialcommunities，industryis，toaconstantlyincreasingextent，beingorganizedinacomprehensivesystemoforgansandfunctionsmutuallyconditioningoneanother；andthereforefreedomfromallbiasinthecausalapprehensionofphenomenagrowsconstantlymorerequisitetoefficiencyonthepartofthemenconcernedinindustry。Underasystemofhandicraftanadvantageindexterity，diligence，muscularforce，orendurancemay，inaverylargemeasure，offsetsuchabiasinthehabitsofthoughtoftheworkmen。