A few illustrations will suffice to make clear the instinct of
causality in children. I draw first of all upon notes taken on
the religious development of a boy between the age of three and
six years. At the end of the third year, while visiting Niagara
Falls with his parents, this boy showed his first interest
in the cause of things. While watching the water of the falls
from Prospect Park, he said: “Mama, who pours the water over
Niagara Falls?” We may imagine similar questions being asked
by the American Indian ages previously, and answered in terms
of “Gitchie Manitou, the Mighty.” From this beginning, the boy
during the next three years seemed to be trying to make himself
clear upon the question of where things come from originally,
and who keeps the world going. “Who makes the birds?” “Who made
the very first bird?” “Who fixt their wings so they can fly?”
“Who takes care of the birds and rabbits in the winter when snow
is on the ground?” “Who makes the grass grow?” “Who makes the
trees?” “Who makes them shed their leaves and then get them back
again?” “Who makes it thunder?” “Who put the moon in the sky?”
“Who made the whole world?” “Who made people?” “Who made me?”
“Does God make everything?” “Who made God?” “Was God already
made?” “Is God everywhere?” Such were the questions asked again
and again, with all sorts of comments in reply to the answers
that were given him. The question of what is the origin of
things was seldom or never asked. It was always who; and when
the personal cause he was seeking was named “God” in connection
with numerous objects, he finally generalized by asking if God
makes everything.--GEORGE E. DAWSON, “The Child and His
Religion.”
(325)
=Causative Sense Instructive=--See AUTOMATIC EXPERIENCE.