*Manhood Of Humanity*
The Science and Art of
Human Engineering
By
Alfred Korzybski
New York
E. P. Dutton & Company
681 Fifth Avenue
1921
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
Preface
Chapter I. Introduction
Chapter II. Childhood of Humanity
Chapter III. Classes of Life
Chapter IV. What Is Man?
Chapter V. Wealth
Chapter VI. Capitalistic Era
Chapter VII. Survival of the Fittest
Chapter VIII. Elements Of Power
Chapter IX. Manhood Of Humanity
Chapter X. Conclusion
Appendix I. Mathematics And Time-Binding
Appendix II. Biology And Time-Binding
Appendix III. Engineering And Time-Binding
Footnotes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author and the publishers acknowledge with gratitude the following
permissions to make use of copyright material in this work:
Messrs. D. C. Heath & Company, for permission to quote from “Unified
Mathematics,” by Louis C. Karpinski, Harry Y. Benedict and John W.
Calhoun.
Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, for permission to quote
from “Organism as a Whole” and “Physiology of the Brain,” by Jacques Loeb.
Messrs. Harper & Brothers, for permission to quote from “From the Life,
Imaginary Portraits of Some Distinguished Americans,” by Harvey O’Higgins.
Messrs. D. Appleton & Company, for permission to quote from “Corporation
Finance,” by E. S. Mead.
Messrs. J. B. Lippincott Company, for permission to quote from “Forced
Movements,” by Jacques Loeb.
Princeton University Press, for permission to quote from “Heredity and
Environment,” by Edwin Grant Conklin.
Columbia University Press, for permission to quote from “The Human Worth
of Rigorous Thinking,” by C. J. Keyser.
The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, for permission to quote
from _The Journal of Experimental Medicine_, Vol. 27.
The New School for Social Research, for permission to quote from “An
Outline of the History of the Western European Mind,” by James Harvey
Robinson.
The Engineering Magazine Company, for permission to quote from “Mastering
Power Production,” by Walter N. Polakov.
PREFACE
This book is primarily a study of Man and ultimately embraces all the
great qualities and problems of Man. As a study of Man it takes into
consideration _all_ the characteristics which make Man what he is. If some
readers do note the absence of certain expressions familiar to them, it
does not mean that the author does not feel or think as many other
people—he does—and very much so; but in this book an effort has been made
to approach the problem of Man from a scientific-mathematical point of
view, and therefore great pains have been taken _not_ to use words
insufficiently defined, or words with many meanings. The author has done
his utmost to use such words as convey only the meaning intended, and in
the case of some words, such as “spiritual,” there has been superadded the
word “so-called,” not because the author has any belief or disbelief in
such phenomena; there is no need for _beliefs_ because some such phenomena
exist, no matter what we may think of them or by what name we call them;
but because the word “spiritual” is not scientifically defined, and every
individual understands and uses this word in a _personal_ and private way.
To be _im_personal the author has had to indicate this element by adding
“so-called.” I repeat once again that this book is not a “materialistic”
or a “spiritualistic” book—it is a study of “Man” and therefore does and
_should_ include materialistic as well as spiritual phenomena because only
the complex of these phenomena constitutes the complex of Man.
The problem has not been approached from the point of view of any private
doctrine or creed, but from a mathematical, an engineering, point of view,
which is impersonal and passionless. It is obvious that to be able to
speak about the great affairs of Man, his spiritual, moral, physical,
economic, social or political status, it must first be ascertained what
Man is—what is his real nature and what are the basic laws of his nature.
If we succeed in finding the laws of human nature, all the rest will be a
comparatively easy task—the ethical, social, economic and political status
of Man should be in accord with the laws of his nature; then civilization
will be a human civilization—a permanent and peaceful one—not before.
It is useless to argue if electricity be “natural” or “_super_natural,” of
“material” or of “spiritual” origin. As a matter of fact we do not ask
these questions in studying electricity; we endeavor to find out the
natural laws governing it and in handling live wires we do not argue or
speculate about them—we use rubber gloves, etc. It will be the same with
Man and the great affairs of Man—we have, first of all, to know what Man
is.
Though this book has been written with scrupulous care to avoid words or
terms of vague meaning—and though it often may seem coldly critical of
things metaphysical, it has not been written with indifference to that
great, perhaps the greatest, urge of the human heart—the craving for
spiritual truth—our yearning for the higher potentialities of that which
we call “mind,” “soul” and “spirit”—but it has been written with the deep
desire to find the source of these qualities, their scientific
significance and a scientific proof of them, so that they may be
approached and studied by the best minds of the world without the
digressions, and misinterpretations that are caused by the color and the
confusion of personal emotions; and if the book be read with care, it will
be seen that, though the clarifying definition of the classes of life has
been chiefly used in the book for its great carrying power in the
_practical_ world, its greatest help will ultimately be in guiding the
investigation, the right valuation and especially the control and use of
the higher human powers.
In writing this book I have been not only introducing new ideas and new
methods of analysis, but I have been using a tongue new to me. The
original manuscript was very crude and foreign in form, and I am greatly
indebted to various friends for their patient kindness in correcting the
many errors of my poor English.
I am also under great obligations to Walter Polakov, Doctor of
Engineering, for his exceedingly helpful suggestions, not only in giving
me a thorough criticism from the point of view of the Engineer, but also
in devoting his energies to organizing the first “Time-binding Club” where
these problems have been discussed and criticized, with great practical
results.
To all those who have read and criticized the manuscript or helped
otherwise—Professors E. H. Moore, C. J. Keyser, J. H. Robinson, Burges
Johnson, E. A. Ross, A. Petrunkevitch; and Doctors J. Grove-Korski,
Charles P. Steinmetz, J. P. Warbasse; Robert B. Wolf, Vice-President of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Champlain L. Riley,
Vice-President of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating
Engineers; Miss Josephine Osborn; to the authors, L. Brandeis, E. G.
Conklin, C. J. Keyser, J. Loeb, E. S. Mead, H. O’Higgins, W. Polakov, J.
H. Robinson, R. B. Wolf, for their kind permission to quote them, I wish
to express my sincere appreciation.
I wish also to acknowledge the deepest gratitude to my wife, formerly Mira
Edgerly, who has found in this discovery of the natural law for the human
class of life, the solution of her life long search, and who, because of
her interest in my work, has given me incomparably inspiring help and
valuable criticism. It is not an exaggeration to state that except for her
steady and relentless work and _her time, which saved my time_, this book
could not have been produced in such a comparatively short time.
Mr. Walter Polakov of New York City, Industrial Counsellor and Industrial
Engineer in New York City, has kindly consented at my request to act, with
my authority, as my representative to whom any further queries should be
addressed in my absence from America.
To all other friends who have helped in many personal ways I express
thankfulness, as I wish also to thank John Macrae, Esq., the
Vice-President of E. P. Dutton & Co., for his unusual attitude toward
publishing the book.
A. K.
_January 17, 1921_
_New York City._
Chapter I. Introduction. Method and Processes of Approach to a New Concept
of Life
“For a while he trampled with impunity on laws human and divine
but, as he was obsessed with the delusion that two and two makes
five, he fell, at last a victim to the relentless rules of humble
Arithmetic.
“Remember, O stranger, Arithmetic is the first of the sciences and
the mother of safety.”
BRANDEIS.
It is the aim of this little book to point the way to a new science and
art—the science and art of Human Engineering. By Human Engineering I mean
the science and art of directing the energies and capacities of human
beings to the advancement of human weal. It need not be argued in these
times that the establishment of such a science—the science of human
welfare—is an undertaking of immeasurable importance. No one can fail to
see that its importance is supreme.
It is evident that, if such a science is to be established it must be
founded on ascertained facts—it must accord with what is _characteristic_
of Man—it must be based upon a just conception of what Man is—upon a right
understanding of Man’s place in the scheme of Nature.
No one need be told how indispensable it is to have true ideas—just
concepts—correct notions—of the things with which we humans have to deal;
everyone knows for example, that to mistake solids for surfaces or lines
would wreck the science and art of geometry; anyone knows that to confuse
fractions with whole numbers would wreck the science and art of
arithmetic; everyone knows that to mistake vice for virtue would destroy
the foundation of ethics; everyone knows that to mistake a desert mirage
for a lake of fresh water does but lure the fainting traveler to dire
disappointment or death. Now, it is perfectly clear that of all the things
with which human beings have to deal, the most important by far is Man
himself—humankind—men, women and children. It follows that for us human
beings nothing else can be quite so important as a clear, true, just,
scientific concept of Man—a right understanding of what we as human beings
really are. For it requires no great wisdom, it needs only a little
reflection, to see that, if we humans radically misconceive the nature of
man—if we regard man as being something which he is not, whether it be
something higher than man or lower—we thereby commit an error so
fundamental and far reaching as to produce every manner of confusion and
disaster in individual life, in community life and in the life of the
race.
The question we have, therefore, to consider first of all is
fundamentally: What is Man? What is a man? What is a human being? What is
the defining or characteristic mark of humanity? To this question two
answers and only two have been given in the course of the ages, and they
are both of them current to-day. One of the answers is biological—man is
an animal, a certain kind of animal; the other answer is a mixture partly
biological and partly mythological or partly biological and partly
philosophical—man is a combination or _union_ of animal with something
supernatural. An important part of my task will be to show that both of
these answers are radically wrong and that, beyond all things else, they
are primarily responsible for what is dismal in the life and history of
humankind. This done, the question remains: What is Man? I hope to show
clearly and convincingly that the answer is to be found in the patent fact
that human beings possess in varying degrees a certain natural faculty or
power or capacity which serves at once to give them their appropriate
dignity as human beings and to discriminate them, not only from the
minerals and the plants but also from the world of animals, this peculiar
or characteristic human faculty or power or capacity I shall call the
_time-binding_ faculty or _time-binding_ power or _time-binding_ capacity.
What I mean by time-binding will be clearly and fully explained in the
course of the discussion, and when it has been made clear, the
question—What Is Man?—will be answered by saying that man is a being
naturally endowed with time-binding capacity—that a human being is a
time-binder—that men, women and children constitute the time-binding class
of life.
There will then remain the great task of indicating and in a measure
sketching some of the important ways in which the true conception of man
as man will transform our views of human society and the world, affect our
human conduct and give us a growing body of scientific wisdom regarding
the welfare of mankind including all posterity.
The purpose of this introductory chapter is to consider certain general
matters of a preliminary nature—to indicate the spirit of the
undertaking—to provide a short course of approach and preparation—to clear
the deck, so to speak, and make ready for action.
There are two ways to slide easily through life: Namely, to believe
everything, or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking. The
majority take the line of least resistance, preferring to have their
thinking done for them; they accept ready-made individual, private
doctrines as their own and follow them more or less blindly. Every
generation looks upon its own creeds as true and permanent and has a
mingled smile of pity and contempt for the prejudices of the past. For two
hundred or more generations of our historical past this attitude has been
repeated two hundred or more times, and unless we are very careful our
children will have the same attitude toward us.
There can be no doubt that humanity belongs to a class of life which to a
large extent determines its own destinies, establishes its own rules of
education and conduct, and thus influences every step we are free to take
within the structure of our social system. But the power of human beings
to determine their own destinies is limited by natural law, Nature’s law.
It is the counsel of wisdom to discover the laws of nature, including the
laws of human nature, and then to live in accordance with them. The
opposite is folly.
A farmer must know the natural laws that govern his wheat, or corn, or
cow, as otherwise he will not have satisfactory crops, or the quality and
abundance of milk he desires, whereas the knowledge of these laws enables
him to produce the most favorable conditions for his plants and animals,
and thereby to gain the desired results.
Humanity must know the natural laws for humans, otherwise humans will not
create the conditions and the customs that regulate human activities which
will make it possible for them to have the most favorable circumstances
for the fullest human development in life; which means the release of the
maximum natural-creative energy and expression in mental, moral, material
and spiritual and all the other great fields of human activities,
resulting in happiness in life and in work—collectively and
individually—because the conditions of the earning of a livelihood
influence and shape all our mental processes and activities, the quality
and the form of human inter-relationship.
Every human achievement, be it a scientific discovery, a picture, a
statue, a temple, a home or a bridge, has to be conceived in the mind
first—the plan thought out—before it can be made a reality, and when
anything is to be attempted that involves any number of
individuals—methods of coordination have to be considered—the methods
which have proven to be the best suited for such undertakings are
engineering methods—the engineering of _an idea_ toward a complete
_realization_. Every engineer has to know the materials with which he has
to work and the natural laws of these materials, as discovered by
observation and experiment and formulated by mathematics and mechanics;
else he can not calculate the forces at his disposal; he can not compute
the resistance of his materials; he can not determine the capacity and
requirements of his power plant; in short, he can not make the most
profitable use of his resources. Lately in all industries and particularly
during the late World War, which was itself a gigantic industrial process,
another factor manifested itself and proved to be of the utmost
importance: namely, the human factor, which is not material but is mental,
moral, psychological. It has been found that maximum production may be
attained when and only when the production is carried on in conformity
with certain psychological laws, roughly determined by the analysis of
human nature.
Except for productive human labor, our globe is too small to support the
human population now upon it. Humanity must produce or perish.
Production is essentially a task for engineers; it essentially depends
upon the discovery and the application of natural laws, including the laws
of human nature. It is, therefore, not a task for old fashioned
philosophical speculation nor for barren metaphysical reasoning _in
vacuo_; it is a scientific task and involves the coordination and
cooperation of all the sciences. This is why it is an engineering task.
For engineering, rightly understood, is the coordinated sum-total of human
knowledge gathered through the ages, with mathematics as its chief
instrument and guide. Human Engineering will embody the theory and
practice—the science and art—of all engineering branches united by a
common aim—the understanding and welfare of mankind.
Here I want to make it very clear that mathematics is not what many people
think it is; it is not a system of mere formulas and theorems; but as
beautifully defined by Professor Cassius J. Keyser, in his book _The Human
Worth of Rigorous Thinking_ (Columbia University Press, 1916), mathematics
is the science of “Exact thought or rigorous thinking,” and one of its
distinctive characteristics is “precision, sharpness, completeness of
definitions.” This quality alone is sufficient to explain why people
generally do not like mathematics and why even some scientists bluntly
refuse to have anything to do with problems wherein mathematical reasoning
is involved. In the meantime, mathematical philosophy has very little, if
anything, to do with mere calculations or with numbers as such or with
formulas; it is a philosophy wherein precise, sharp and rigorous thinking
is essential. Those who deliberately refuse to think “rigorously”—that is
mathematically—in connections where such thinking is possible, commit the
sin of preferring the worse to the better; they deliberately violate the
supreme law of intellectual rectitude.
Here I have to make it clear that for the purpose of Human Engineering the
old concepts of matter, space and time are sufficient to start with; they
are sufficient in much the same way as they have been sufficient in the
old science of mechanics. Figuratively speaking Human Engineering is a
higher order of bridge engineering—it aims at the spanning of a gap in
practical life as well as in knowledge. The old meanings of matter, space
and time were good enough to prevent the collapse of a bridge; the same
understanding of space and time as used in this book will protect society
and humanity from periodical collapses. The old mechanics lead directly to
such a knowledge of the intrinsic laws governing the universe as to
suggest the new mechanics. Human Engineering will throw a new light on
many old conceptions and will help the study and understanding of matter,
space and time in their relative meanings, and perhaps will ultimately
lead to an understanding of their absolute meanings.
Philosophy in its old form could exist only in the absence of engineering,
but with engineering in existence and daily more active and far reaching,
the old verbalistic philosophy and metaphysics have lost their reason to
exist. They were no more able to understand the “production” of the
universe and life than they are now able to understand or grapple with
“production” as a means to provide a happier existence for humanity. They
failed because their venerated method of “speculation” can not _produce_,
and its place must be taken by mathematical thinking. Mathematical
reasoning is displacing metaphysical reasoning. Engineering is driving
verbalistic philosophy out of existence and humanity gains decidedly
thereby. Only a few parasites and “speculators” will mourn the
disappearance of their old companion “speculation.” The world of
producers—the predominating majority of human beings—will welcome a
philosophy of ordered thought and production.
The scientists, all of them, have their duties no doubt, but they do not
fully use their education if they do not try to broaden their sense of
responsibility toward all mankind instead of closing themselves up in a
narrow specialization where they find their pleasure. Neither engineers
nor other scientific men have any right to prefer their own personal peace
to the happiness of mankind; their place and their duty are in the front
line of struggling humanity, not in the unperturbed ranks of those who
keep themselves aloof from life. If they are indifferent, or discouraged
because they feel or think that they know that the situation is hopeless,
it may be proved that undue pessimism is as dangerous a “religion” as any
other blind creed. Indeed there is very little difference in kind between
the medieval fanaticism of the “holy inquisition,” and modern intolerance
toward new ideas. All kinds of intellect must get together, for as long as
we presuppose the situation to be hopeless, the situation will indeed be
hopeless. The spirit of Human Engineering does not know the word
“hopeless;” for engineers know that wrong methods are alone responsible
for disastrous results, and that every situation can be successfully
handled by the use of proper means. The task of engineering science is not
only to know but to know how. Most of the scientists and engineers do not
yet realize that their united judgment would be invincible; no system or
class would care to disregard it. Their knowledge is the very force which
makes the life of humanity pulsate. If the scientists and the engineers
have had no common base upon which to unite, a common base must be
provided. To-day the pressure of life is such that we cannot go forward
without their coordinating guidance. But first there must be the desire to
act. One aim of this book is to furnish the required stimulus by showing
that Human Engineering will rescue us from the tangle of private opinions
and enable us to deal with all the problems of life and human society upon
a scientific basis.
If those who know why and how neglect to act, those who do not know will
act, and the world will continue to flounder. The whole history of mankind
and especially the present plight of the world show only too sadly how
dangerous and expensive it is to have the world governed by those who do
not know.
In paying the price of this war, we have been made to realize that even
the private individual can not afford to live wrapped up in his own life
and not take his part in public affairs. He must acquire the habit of
taking his share of public responsibility. This signifies that a very
great deal of very simple work, all pointing in the direction of a greater
work, must be done in the way of educating, not engineers and scientific
men only, but the general public to cooperate in establishing the practice
of Human Engineering in all the affairs of human society and life.
In writing this book I have had to wrestle with tremendous difficulties in
expressing new thoughts and in indicating new methods. The reader who
stops to criticize words or expressions because of their more or less
happy or unhappy use will miss the whole point of the work. The reading of
it should be done with a view to seeing how much can be found in it of
what is new and good that may be elaborated further, and put into better
form. This new enterprise is too difficult and too vast for the unaided
labor of one man—life is too short.
The method used in this book in analysing life phenomena is essentially an
engineering method, and as physics and mechanics always suggest to
mathematicians new fields for analysis, it is not improbable that Human
Engineering will give mathematicians new and interesting fields for
research. The humblest rôle of mathematicians in Human Engineering may be
likened to that of “Public accountants” who put _in order_ the affairs of
business.
In relation to mathematics Bertrand Russell has said: “Logic is the youth
of mathematics, mathematics is the manhood of logic.” This brilliant _mot_
of the eminent philosopher of mathematics is no doubt just and is
profoundly significant; the least it can teach us is that it is useless to
try to find a dividing line between logic and mathematics, for no such
line exists; to seek for one serves merely to betray one’s ignorance of
mathematical philosophy. Elsewhere Mr. Russell says: “The hope of
satisfaction to our more human desires, the hope of demonstrating that the
world has this or that ethical characteristic, is not one which, so far as
I can see, philosophy can do anything whatever to satisfy.” By
“philosophy” he means mathematical philosophy—a philosophy that is
rigorously scientific, not vaguely speculative. I am entirely unable to
agree with him that such a philosophy can make no contribution to ethics.
On the contrary, I contend, and in this book I hope to show, that by
mathematical philosophy, by rigorously scientific thinking, we can arrive
at the true conception of what a human being really is and that in thus
discovering the characteristic nature of man we come to the secret and
source of ethics. Ethics as a science will investigate and explain the
essential nature of man and the obligations which the essential nature of
man imposes upon human beings. It will be seen that to live righteously,
to live ethically, is to live in accordance with the laws of human nature;
and when it is clearly seen that man is a natural being, a part of nature
literally, then it will be seen that the laws of human nature—the only
possible rules for ethical conduct—are no more _super_natural and no more
_man_-made than is the law of gravitation, for example, or any other
natural law.
It is no cause for wonder that mathematical thinking should lead to such a
result; for Man is a _natural_ being, man’s mind is a _natural agency_,
and the results of rigorous thinking, far from being artificial fictions,
are natural facts—natural revelations of natural law.
I hope I have not given the impression, by repeated allusion to
mathematical science, that this book is to be in any technical sense a
mathematical treatise. I have merely wished to indicate that the task is
conceived and undertaken in the mathematical spirit, which must be the
guiding spirit of Human Engineering; for no thought, if it be
non-mathematical in spirit, can be trusted, and, although mathematicians
sometimes make mistakes, the spirit of mathematics is always right and
always sound.
Whilst I do not intend to trouble the reader with any highly technical
mathematical arguments, there are a few simple mathematical considerations
which anyone of fair education can understand, which are of exceedingly
great importance for our purpose, and to which, therefore, I ask the
reader’s best attention. One of the ideas is that of an _arithmetical
progression_; another one is that of a _geometrical progression_. Neither
of them involves anything more difficult than the most ordinary arithmetic
of the secondary school or the counting house, but it will be seen that
they throw a flood of light upon many of the most important human
concerns.
Because we are human beings we are all of us interested in what we call
progress—progress in law, in government, in jurisprudence, in ethics, in
philosophy, in the natural sciences, in economics, in the fine arts, in
the practical arts, in the production and distribution of wealth, in all
the affairs affecting the welfare of mankind. It is a fact that all these
great matters are interdependent and interlocking; it is therefore a fact
of the utmost importance that progress in each of the cardinal matters
must keep abreast of progress in the other cardinal matters in order to
keep a just equilibrium, a proper balance, and so to maintain the
integrity and continued prosperity of the whole complex body of our social
life; it is a fact, a fact of observation, that in some of the great
matters progress proceeds in accordance with one law and one rate of
advancement and in others in accordance with a very different law and
rate; it is a fact, a fact of observation and sad experience, a fact
attested by all history and made evident by reason, that owing to the
widely differing laws and rates of progress in the great essential
concerns of humanity, the balance and equilibrium among the parts is
disturbed, the strain gradually increases until a violent break ensues in
the form of social conflicts, insurrections, revolutions and war; it is a
fact that the readjustment that follows, as after an earthquake, does
indeed establish a kind of new equilibrium, but it is an equilibrium born
of violence, and it is destined to be again disturbed periodically without
end, unless by some science and art of Human Engineering progress in all
the great matters essential to human weal can be made to proceed in
accordance with one and the same law having its validity in the nature of
man.
Taken in combination, the facts just stated are so extremely important
that they deserve to be stated with the utmost emphasis and clarity. To
this end I beg the reader to consider very carefully and side by side the
two following series of numbers. The first one is a simple geometrical
progression—denoted by (_GP_); the second one is a simple arithmetical
progression—denoted by (_AP_):
_GP_: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.;
_AP_: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, etc.
For convenience of comparison I let them begin with the same number and
for simplicity I have taken 2 for this initial term; observe that in the
(_GP_) each term is got from the preceding term by _multiplying_ by 2 and
that in the (_AP_) each term is got from its predecessor by adding 2; in
the first series the multiplier 2 is called the common _ratio_ and in the
second series the repeatedly added 2 is called the common _difference_; it
is again for the convenience of comparison that I have chosen the same
number for both common ratio and common difference and for the sake of
simplicity that I have taken for this number the easy number 2. Other
choices would be logically just as good.
Why have I introduced these two series? Because they serve to illustrate
perfectly two widely different _laws of progress_—two laws representing
vastly different _rates_ of growth, increase, or _advancement_.
Do not fail to observe in this connection the following two facts. One of
them is that the magnitude of the terms of any geometric progression whose
ratio (no matter how small) is 2 or more will overtake and surpass the
magnitude of the corresponding terms of any arithmetical progression, no
matter how large the common difference of the latter may be. The other
fact to be noted is that the greater the ratio of a geometric progression,
the more rapidly do its successive terms increase; so that the terms of
one geometric progression may increase a thousand or a million or a
billion times faster than the corresponding terms of another geometric
progression. As any geometric progression (of ratio equal to 2 or more),
no matter how slow, outruns every arithmetic progression, no matter how
fast, so one geometric progression may be far swifter than another one of
the same type.
To every one it will be obvious that the two progressions differ in pace;
and that the difference between their corresponding terms becomes
increasingly larger and larger the farther we go; for instance, the sum of
the first six terms of the geometrical progression is 126, whereas the sum
of the first six terms of the arithmetical progression is only 42, the
difference between the two sums being 84; the sum of 8 terms is 510 for
the (_GP_) and 72 for the (_AP_), the difference between these sums (of
only 8 terms each) being 438, already much larger than before; if now we
take the sums of the first 10 terms, they will be 2046 and 110 having a
difference of 1936; etc., etc.
Consider now any two matters of great importance for human
weal—jurisprudence for example, and natural science—or any other two major
concerns of humanity. It is as plain as the noon-day sun that, if progress
in one of the matters advances according to the law of a geometric
progression and the other in accordance with a law of an arithmetical
progression, progress in the former matter will very quickly and ever more
and more rapidly outstrip progress in the latter, so that, if the two
interests involved be interdependent (as they always are), a strain is
gradually produced in human affairs, social equilibrium is at length
destroyed; there follows a period of readjustment by means of violence and
force. It must not be fancied that the case supposed is merely
hypothetical. The whole history of mankind and especially the present
condition of the world unite in showing that far from being merely
hypothetical, the case supposed has always been actual and is actual
to-day on a vaster scale than ever before. My contention is that while
progress in some of the great matters of human concern has been long
proceeding in accordance with the law of a rapidly increasing geometric
progression, progress in the other matters of no less importance has
advanced only at the rate of an arithmetical progression or at best at the
rate of some geometric progression of relatively slow growth. To see it
and to understand it we have to pay the small price of a little
observation and a little meditation.
Some technological invention is made, like that of a steam engine or a
printing press, for example; or some discovery of scientific method, like
that of analytical geometry or the infinitesimal calculus; or some
discovery of natural law, like that of falling bodies or the Newtonian law
of gravitation. What happens? What is the effect upon the progress of
knowledge and invention? The effect is stimulation. Each invention leads
to new inventions and each discovery to new discoveries; invention breeds
invention, science begets science, the children of knowledge produce their
kind in larger and larger families; the process goes on from decade to
decade, from generation to generation, and the spectacle we behold is that
of advancement in scientific knowledge and technological power according
to the law and rate of a rapidly increasing geometric progression or
logarithmic function.
And now what must we say of the so-called sciences—the pseudo sciences—of
ethics and jurisprudence and economics and politics and government? For
the answer we have only to open our eyes and behold the world. By virtue
of the advancement that has long been going on with ever accelerated
logarithmic rapidity in invention, in mathematics, in physics, in
chemistry, in biology, in astronomy and in applications of them, time and
space and matter have been already conquered to such an extent that our
globe, once so seemingly vast, has virtually shrunken to the dimensions of
an ancient province; and manifold peoples of divers tongues and traditions
and customs and institutions are now constrained to live together as in a
single community. There is thus demanded a new ethical wisdom, a new legal
wisdom, a new economical wisdom, a new political wisdom, a new wisdom in
the affairs of government. For the new visions our anguished times cry
aloud but the only answers are reverberated echoes of the wailing cry
mingled with the chattering voices of excited public men who know not what
to do. Why? What is the explanation? The question is double: Why the
disease? And why no remedy at hand? The answer is the same for both. And
the answer is that the so-called sciences of ethics and jurisprudence and
economics and politics and government have not kept pace with the rapid
progress made in the other great affairs of man; they have lagged behind;
it is because of their lagging that the world has come to be in so great
distress; and it is because of their lagging that they have not now the
needed wisdom to effect a cure.
Do you ask why it is that the “social” sciences—the so-called sciences of
ethics, etc.—have lagged behind? The answer is not far to seek nor
difficult to understand. They have lagged behind, partly because they have
been hampered by the traditions and the habits of a bygone world—they have
looked backward instead of forward; they have lagged behind, partly
because they have depended upon the barren methods of verbalistic
philosophy—they have been metaphysical instead of scientific; they have
lagged behind, partly because they have been often dominated by the lusts
of cunning “politicians” instead of being led by the wisdom of enlightened
statesmen; they have lagged behind, partly because they have been
predominantly concerned to protect “vested interests,” upon which they
have in the main depended for support; the _fundamental_ cause, however,
of their lagging behind is found in the astonishing fact that, despite
their being by their very nature most _immediately_ concerned with the
affairs of mankind, they have not discovered what Man really is but have
from time immemorial falsely regarded human beings either as animals or
else as combinations of animals and something supernatural. With these two
monstrous conceptions of the essential nature of man I shall deal at a
later stage of this writing.
At present I am chiefly concerned to drive home the fact that it is the
great _disparity_ between the rapid progress of the natural and
technological sciences on the one hand and the slow progress of the
metaphysical, so-called social “sciences” on the other hand, that sooner
or later so disturbs the equilibrium of human affairs as to result
periodically in those social cataclysms which we call insurrections,
revolutions and wars. The reader should note carefully that such
cataclysmic changes—such “jumps,” as we may call them—such violent
readjustments in human affairs and human relationships—are recorded
throughout the history of mankind. And I would have him see clearly that,
because the _disparity_ which produces them increases as we pass from
generation to generation—from term to term of our progressions—the “jumps”
in question occur not only with increasing violence but with increasing
frequency. This highly significant fact may be graphically illustrated in
the following figure:
[ A horizontal line, with numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 above, and markings
_a’_, _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_ in the corresponding locations below. ]
Geometric evolution of the natural and technological sciences.—Peaceful
progress.
[ A horizontal line, again marked with numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, but with
gaps between 6 and (unprinted) 7, 8 and (unprinted) 9, 10 and (unprinted)
11. Above are markings: _A’_ above 2 and _A_ above 4; _B_ above 6 and _C_
above 7; _D_ above 8 and _E_ above 9; _F_ above 10 and _G_ at the far
right end. The steady progress areas, 2 to 4, 7 to 8, 9 to 10, are marked
“Peaceful”, while the gaps are labeled “Jump, Revolution or War.” ]
Arithmetical evolution of the so-called social “sciences,” accelerated by
violent “jumps.”—Non-peaceful social progress.
_a’2_, _2a_, _ab_, _bc_, _cd_, represent the geometrical law of
progression in the natural and technological sciences (peaceful
evolution).
_A’2_, _2A_, _AB_, _CD_, _EF_, represent the lagging arithmetical law of
progression in the so-called social sciences (peaceful evolution).
Both of these during the same periods of time.
_BC_, _DE_, _FG_, represent revolutions or wars, with the aftermath of
revolution of ideas—the “jump”—violent readjustment of ideas to
facts—forced by events.
_ab_, _bc_, _cd_, and _AB_, _CD_, _EF_, take the same amount of time, but
the second progression being much slower than the first one, the “jumps”
or revolutions occur at shorter intervals as time goes on and thus more
frequently force us to coordinate our ideas to facts. Periods of peace or
seeming peace alternate more and more frequently with periods of violence;
the mentioned _disparity_ of progress in peaceful times is the hatching
seed of future violence.(1)
As a matter of fact these few mathematical considerations can hardly be
called mathematics or mathematical philosophy; nevertheless, without
bringing attention to these very simple mathematical ideas we should not
be able to proceed any further than in the past. Our life problems have
always been “solved” by verbalists and rhetorical metaphysicians who
cleverly played with vague words and who always ignored the supremely
important matter of dimensions because they were ignorant of it. There was
no possible way to arrive at an agreement on the significance of words, or
even the understanding of them. Let us take, for instance, such words as
“good” or “bad” or “truth;” volumes upon volumes have been written about
them; no one has reached any result universally acceptable; the effect has
been to multiply warring schools of philosophy—sectarians and partisans.
In the meantime _something_ corresponding to each of the terms “good,”
“bad,” “truth” exists as matter of fact; but what that something is still
awaits scientific determination. If only these three words could be
scientifically defined, philosophy, law, ethics and psychology would cease
to be “private theories” or verbalism and they would advance to the rank
and dignity of sciences.
Here I may quote a characteristic of life as expressed by one of the
“heroes” of my esteemed friend Harvey O’Higgins, in his book, _From the __
Life, Imaginary Portraits of Some Distinguished Americans_ (Harper, N.
Y.).
“Warren never philosophized; he handled facts as an artisan
handles his tools; but if he _had_ philosophized, his theory of
life would probably have been something like this: ‘There is no
justice, there is no morality, in nature or in natural laws;
justice and morality are laws only of human society. But society,
natural life, and all civilization are subject in their larger
aspects to natural laws—which contradict morality and outrage
justice—and the statesman has to move with those laws and direct
his people in accordance with them, despite the lesser by-laws of
morality and justice.’ ”
If such are the creeds of “distinguished people” anywhere, what better can
we expect than that which we see in the history of humanity?
But the fact that the old philosophy, law, ethics, psychology, politics
and sociology could not solve the practical problems of humanity, is not
any reason whatsoever why we should despair. The problems can be solved.
To follow the reasoning of this book, it is not necessary to be a highly
trained specialist; the only qualifications required are candor, an open
mind, freedom from blinding prejudice, thoughtfulness, a real desire for
truth, and enough common sense to understand that to talk of adding three
quarts of milk to three-quarters of a mile is to talk nonsense.