ABSTRACT
One issue that has puzzled humankind throughout the ages is that of control. Humans seem to be driven to understand their world and what makes it work, and further they seem to need to believe that they play some role in it all—that somehow they can exercise control over their actions, their bodies, and their environments. A whole host of gods and spirits have been posited to wield control over those events that are seemingly uncontrollable. But in designing these gods, people have shrewdly built in an element of human control. If one needs rain for the crops, one prays to Dementer or Ceres or does a rain dance, depending on one’s location in time and space. If one wishes to have a healthy child, one sacrifices to the fertility god, or lights a candle, or visits a genetic consultant. The explanations for control and causation have varied over the years, but the search for them has never diminished.
