Evening star., 1933-09-10

a nature different from that OF an INFANT z,OVo
years ago?
It is possible to test this problem expert
mentally and this has been done. Infants OF
our race have been compared with infants OF
primitive tribes culturally on level ABOVE
which We rose thousands Of years ago. Inc
results showed that the social instinct OF our
children, up to an amazingly advanced age
is not jot more highly developed than the
social instinct of the children of primitive
peoples. We may hold, positively, that our
white civilization has not succeeded in civil
izing the instincts of the individual the least
hit above the instructive level Of 1000 years
ago
Probably we have grown somewhat IN social
insight Il shall revert to this later); the social
instinct however is just as weakly rooted to-
day as 1t was 1000 years ago. and II 1t comes
into serious conflict with older, mature urges,
the sexual one and the destructive one, then
most commonly one Of these two older drives
will win the day.
As definitely as must deny any growth
Of the social instinct or the nauve 1nteih-
Rence Of the race, just as definitely may we
claim that the bodily efficiency Of the white
race has at least not declined.
On the contrary the life expectancy OF
the contemporary child its chances OF reach
ing old age are nowadays incomparaoly oetter
than they were 1000 years ago. We are de-
pendept on estimates but shall not be
TODAY has four times better chances OF re-
naming in good health and OF reaching an
age Of at least so years than had the child
of 20O0 years ago.
The ancient world by the way, was as fond
as we are Of drawing comparisons with the
past, and 1t indulged in psychological cnho
experiments that tended in the direction OF our
own Only their experiments were somewhat
more robust Dionysius, the tyrant OF Syra-
cuse for example, wanted to ascertain whether
language was inborn in man or not-that Is
whether child without receiving any nstruc-
tion could of his own accord come to communi-
cate by words. For this purpose he mace uie
following experiment: On secluded island
he had placed q number of children who we're
looked after exclusively by deal ana oumo at
tendants The result Of the experiment was
that when the children were grown up tney
could utter none but inarticulate SOUNDS Inc
same result was obtained when l5oo years
later Frederick H. the German Emperor re-
peated the experiment.
, FIT lis return to our starting point very
l. we'll YOU may say, the evolution OF ciVlilza-
ton in the last 1000 years has not been aoie
to heighten our races native power Oh Juoe
n,ent But we know how infinitely long "
takes before qualities become instincts. 10
change an instinct takes 10000 years. very
well Yet have we not perhaps In these ZooV
wears at least changed the world viewpoint
of the adult to such an extent that from ui'
beginning his attitude or conduct IN most si'-
uations will be different from that tine man
of antiquity? Has not his attitude toward ma
ture become clarified? Have not his reheiouS
ideas become deeper, less childish?
No thev have not You will counter: The
ancient world believed in gods in a Thoroughly
childlike way and the ancient world in cniio-
like manner believed in miracles.
Granted that that was so in broad masses
of the people but those broad masses had lor
counterfoil equally broad masses that dec'oeoiy
denied the real existence OF the popular goos
and the providence supposedly exercised Dy
them, the dominant world viewpoint OF the
educated was that of the Stoa, whose teaching
did not. indeed deny the gods, but sublimated
them to such an extent as to reduce them 10
forces of nature. Between the conception which
an educated member of the ancient world en-
tertained, say, of the god Vulcan and the con-
ception of electricity entertained by an eou-
Gated person of today, there is hardly much
difference And when one of the ancients
talked of the power of Venus he said hardly
more-and he didn't mean to say more-than
that the sex instinct plays an important role
in life.
The views of the time most character
istically expressed in Pliny'S natural history
as for himself explains this great scientist OF
antiquity, God and nature cannot be separated
Nature, he asserts, is the mother OF all Things
Only the weakness of man makes him seek
the image and form of the deity. All my
thology is childish claptrap. 1t is very doubtful
whether the supreme power, whatever that may
be- cares about human beings. For maintain
ing human society in good order the belief OF
the uneducated in the guidance OF human al
fairs by Heaven is indeed of undoubted utility
as also is the idea that misdeeds unfailingly
incur penalties.
This was written exactly 1850 years ago
leave it to you to decide how far Pliny's views
are congruent with those of the powers that
be today, but can't help citing, side by side