/lit/ - Literature

Whenever I ask someone "why does X happen?" they always give me this long-winded history of X from the very beginning. What is a way I can better phrase my question?
>I think it started in my childhood, my neighbor was 4 years older than me and developed early, she sometimes babysitted me and often bullied me...
>Hundreds of years ago in Japan they would conduct outdoor festivals where rituals evolved into short dramatic tellings
When what I'm asking isn't the origin story, I want to understand what continues to sustain a behaviour or activity. I don't want to know where Kabuki came from, I want to understand why people continue to sustain the tradition. I don't want to know when you first had a beer, I want to know what triggers you to start drinking today.
I wonder if any /lit/ authors discuss this peculiarity.