ABSTRACT
The Norwegian Law of Courts, states: “Well in advance of each session of the circuit court, hearing criminal cases, the chief judge, or another judge authorized by him, or the court's clerk shall, in the presence of a legal witness, by drawing lots, select fourteen jury members and two alternates.” This is one among a great many cases where society has institutionalized a recognized chance device as the proper mode of reaching a decision with social implications. One interesting step toward extending the concept of the chance device in social decisions has been taken by O.K. Moore in his analysis of hunting-magic among the Naskapi Indians in Labrador. By “chance theories” is meant everything from the calculus of probability to everyday attempts to explain events by reference to luck, accidents, fortune, or the like—with the emphasis upon the latter, the “folk theories.” Several years ago Moore and M. Tumin published a paper on the functions of ignorance in social affairs.
