An uncontrolled urge to perform an act repeatedly is referred to as:

Sometimes it can be refereed to as a ritual and can be a symptom of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. They can start off as harmless but as time goes on the OCD can and usually does get a lot worse. A lot of people suffer from OCD everyday. it's one of the leading mental illnesses.

The  ancient egyptians  who  built the pyramids  may have been  able  to move massive stone blocks across the desert by wetting the sand in front of a contraption  built  to pull the heavy objects