Ritual.
It's very important in our society. A ritual can be more powerful than its components -- after all, don't we all know that person who drinks the dreaded in the morning, claiming that he needs it to wake up? And it works?
A "placebo effect"? Sure, probably. But a valid solution nonetheless; by going through actions practiced by our forefathers and our peers, we can actualize what we're trying to accomplish. And doing things an established way, even when we have no specific goal in mind, can add gravity and a sense of context to even the simplest things. Eating. Drinking. Socializing.
Okay, that's more than enough pseudo-pop-sociology from a layperson. But a couple cases in point follow . . .
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