ABSTRACT
Interests in continuity A part of the evolutionary scientific perspective on continuity concerns human habits. A simple definition from an evolutionary perspective is that habits are ‘not fully conscious forms of behaviour’ (Marechal, 2009, 69). Habits should not be equated with frequent or repetitive behaviour. Concerning the latter behaviours, it remains an open question to what extent they have been preceded by extensive, reflexive thought and calculation (as in non-habits) or through a degree of automacy. Habits are not taken lightly by evolutionary scientists, not even by history’s greatest one. Darwin expresses amazement at the strength of habits, both in the animal kingdom and in human society. He claims that ‘It is notorious how powerful is the force of habit’ (Darwin, 1872, 29). Darwin is not alone to be intrigued by habits during the age he lived. In the book with the strikingly modern title Self-Help from 1859, Smiles maintains the following: ‘It is . . .
