Once again, it may be clearer if you defined what you consider a 'habit' because, as far as I know, a habit can very well be defined as 'simply doing thing'.
I have the feeling you did not get that my remark was not made to troll you. Sorry if that was not clear it was a real remark.
A habit may be a lot of things, from the most basic 'something usual that you do without thinking much about it'—ie, I wash my teeth after each meal and floss at least once a day, in the evening, or I will do the washes on the WE: I don't invest a lot of brain power in those tasks. But it may also be a more or less complex ritual—I will say 'hello' to anyone that says hello to me, or I may go to church every single Sunday and wear a certain type of suit to do so (I don't go to church, it's just an exemple). And anything in between, and beyond that.
And that's not even considering, say, the evolutionist/zoologist point of view. Sorry, I do not the English word: a dude that would study the behavior of some types of animals (yeah, I know you said 'people' but people are animals too (we're mammals), and that may be an error to think our human habits are that different from, say, the migrating habits of some birds or the art of singing and dancing of other birds when they're mating, or the fact that a cat could meow mostly for humans, or the way fishes can move very differently when faced with either a potential mate or a foe... like most of us humans would do ;)
What's the purpose of that habit within that determined group of individuals, and why does it completely differ from that other group of individual from a very similar species? I mean, a very similar (similar enough to be misunderstood) habit/move may very well mean 'let's make love' in one species of birds while meaning 'I will kick your sorry ass if you don't fly away' in another.
I don't think 'making an efficient worker' is key in many of those. That said, efficiency, may still be key just with a very different purpose. Say, simplifying communication between members of one groupe (or with rival groups) and by simplifying it, aka making it a habit with automated gestures, highly reducing the risk of any misunderstanding. Therefore making it crystal clear that there some danger, ir that one is ready to fight to protect their nest while that other is ready to f. Efficiency, with another target.
To get back to those animals you're more interested in: have you ever wondered why it's considered polite (aka, a good habit) to say hello to someone? It sounds silly, but it's real fascinating once you start thinking about it. Like, really. Even more interesting: why here in some regions of France (and elsewhere in the world too), it's considered natural for two men to say hello kissing one another on the cheek while one would better stick to shaking hands in other regions of France (and in many others countries)? In both cases, it's considered a good habit, and still they would not be read the same at all.
Hope this lengthy reply makes it clearer I was serious when I suggested to define 'habit'.
Edit: typos.
Très intéressante lecture et qui résonne particulièrement auprès d'un non-geek relativement âgé tel que moi, qui s'est déjà cassé les dents en tâtant de LaTeX, qui ne désespère pourtant pas de sortir de cette course à toujours plus de puissance qui semble être devenue la norme pour le développement logiciel (comme pour le web, j'ai switché de WP à un site statique par exemple... je suppose que ça en fera sourire plus d'un, c'est ok ;)
Je serais enchanté de lire ton tutoriel sur groff le jour où il sera terminé (j'en avais déjà entendu parler, après mon expérience LaTeX justement, mais la doc est tellement... massive que j'ai pas eu le courage d'y plonger. En attendant, je lirai ce que tu publieras sur ton blog.