THE ESSENTIALS OF PROGRESS
_How Mankind Goes Forward on the Trail_.--Although civilization cannot
exist without it, progress is something different from the sum-total of
the products of civilization. It may be said to be the process through
which civilization is obtained, or, perhaps more fittingly, it is the
log of the course that marks civilization. There can be no conception
of progress without ideals, which are standards set up toward which
humanity travels. And as humanity never rises above its ideals, the
possibilities of progress are limited by them. If ideals are high,
there are possibilities of a high state of culture; if they are low,
the possibilities are lessened, and, indeed, frequently are barren of
results. But having established ideals as beacon lights for humanity
to follow, the final test is whether there is sufficient knowledge,
sufficient ability, and sufficient will-power to approximate them. In
other words, shall humanity complete the trail of life, go on higher
and higher grounds where are set the standards or goals to be reached;
or will humanity rest easily and contentedly on a low level with no
attempt to reach a higher level, or, indeed, will humanity, failing in
desires for betterment, initiative, and will-power, drift to lower
levels?
Groups, either tribes, races, or nations, may advance along given lines
and be stationary or even retarded along other lines of development.
If the accumulation of wealth is the dominant ideal, it may be so
strenuously followed as to destroy opportunity for other phases of
life. If the flow of energy is all toward a religious belief that
absorbs the time and energy of people in the building of pyramids,
mausoleums, cathedrals, and mosques, and taboos the inquiry into nature
{19} which might yield a large improvement in the race, religion would
be developed at the expense of race improvement.
_Change Is Not Necessarily Progress_.--It is quite common in a popular
sense for people to identify change with progress, or indeed to accept
the wonderful changes which take place as causes of progress, when in
reality they should have taken more care to search out the elements of
progress of the great moving panorama of changing life. Changes are
frequently violent, sudden, tremendous in their immediate effect. They
move rapidly and involve many complexes, but progress is a slow-going
old tortoise that plods along irrespective of storm or sunshine, life
or death, of the cataclysms of war or the catastrophes of earthquakes
or volcanoes. Progress moves slowly along through political and social
revolutions, gaining a little here and a little there, and registering
the things that are really worth while out of the ceaseless, changing
humanity.
Achievement may take place without betterment, but all progress must
make a record of betterment with achievement. A man may write a book
or invent a machine at great labor. So far as he is concerned it is an
achievement, but unless it is a good book, a good invention, better
than others, so that they may be used for the advancement of the race,
they will not form a betterment. Many of the changes of life represent
the results of trial and error. "There is a way that seemeth right" to
a nation which may end in destruction. The evil aroused is sometimes
greater than the good. The prosperity of the Roman Empire was
destroyed because of luxury and corrupt administration. The German
Empire developed great powers in government, education, in the arts and
sciences, but her military purpose nearly destroyed her. The Spanish
Empire that once controlled a good part of the American continent
failed because laborers were driven out of Spain and the wealth gained
by exploitation was used to support the nobility and royalty in luxury.
Whether the United States will continue to carry out her high purposes
will depend upon the right use of her immense wealth and power.
Likewise the {20} radio, the movie, and the automobile are making
tremendous changes. Will the opportunities they furnish improve the
moral and intellectual character of the people--a necessary condition
to real progress?
In considering modern progress, too frequently it is estimated by the
greatness of things, by the stupendous changes, or by the marvellous
achievements of the age, and we pause and wonder at what has been
accomplished; but if we think long enough and clearly enough, we may
get a vision of real progress, and we may find it difficult to
determine the outcome of it all, so far as the real betterment of the
race is concerned. Is the millionaire of to-day any happier,
necessarily, and any more moral or of a higher religious standard than
the primitive man or the savage of the plains or forest of to-day?
True, he has power to achieve in many directions, but is he any happier
or better? It may be said that his millions may accomplish great good.
This is true if they are properly applied. It is also true that they
are capable of great harm if improperly used.
As we stand and gaze at the movements of the airplane, or contemplate
its rapid flight from ocean to ocean and from land to land around the
world, we are impressed with this great wonder of the age, the great
achievement of the inventive power of man. But what of the gain to
humanity? If it is possible to transport the mails from New York to
San Francisco in sixteen hours instead of in five days, is there
advantage in that except the quickening process of transportation and
life? Is it not worth while to inquire what the man at the other end
of the line is going to do by having his mail four days ahead? He will
hurry up somebody else and somebody else will hurry the next one, and
we only increase the rapidity of motion. Does it really give us more
time for leisure, and if so, are we using that leisure time in the
development of our reflective intellectual powers or our spiritual
life? It is easier to see improvement in the case of the radio,
whereby songs and lectures can be broadcast all over the earth, and the
{21} community of life and the community of interest are developed
thereby, and, also, the leisure hours are devoted to a contemplation of
high ideals, of beautiful music, of noble thoughts. We do recognize a
modicum of progress out of the great whirring, rapid changes in
transportation and creative industry; but let us not be deceived by
substituting change for progress, or making the two identical.
Thus human progress is something more than achievement, and it is
something more than the exhibition of tools. It is determined by the
use of the tools and involves betterment of the human race. Hence, all
the products of social heredity, of language, of science, of religion,
of art, and of government are progressive in proportion as they are
successfully used for individual and social betterment. For if
government is used to enslave people, or science to destroy them, or
religion to stifle them, there can be no progress.
_Progress Expresses Itself in a Variety of Ideals and Aims_.--Progress
involves many lines of development. It may include biological
development of the human race, the development of man, especially his
growth of brain power. It may consider man's adaptation to environment
under different phases of life. It may consider the efficiency of
bodily structure. In a cultural sense, progress may refer to the
products of the industrial arts, or to the development of fine arts, or
the advancement of religious life and belief--in fact, to the mastery
of the resources of nature and their service to mankind in whatever
form they may appear or in whatever phase of life they may be
expressed. Progress may also be indicated in the improvement in social
order and in government, and also the increased opportunity of the
individual to receive culture through the process of mutual aid. In
fact, progress must be sought for in all phases of human activity.
Whatever phase of progress is considered, its line of demarcation is
carefully drawn in the process of change from the old to the new, but
the results of these changes will be the indices of either progress or
retardation.
{22}
_Progress of the Part and Progress of the Whole_.--An individual might
through hereditary qualities have superior mental traits or physical
powers. These also may receive specific development under favorable
educational environment, but the inertia of the group or the race might
render ineffective a salutary use of his powers. A man is sometimes
elected mayor of a town and devotes his energies to municipal
betterment. But he may be surrounded by corrupt politicians and
promoters of enterprises who hedge his way at every turn. Also, in a
similar way, a group or tribe may go forward, and yet the products of
its endeavor be lost to the world. Thus a productiveness of the part
may be exhibited without the progress of the race. The former moves
with concrete limitations, the latter in sweeping, cycling changes; but
the latter cannot exist without the former, because it is from the
parts that the whole is created, and it is the generalization of the
accumulated knowledge or activities of the parts that makes it possible
for the whole to develop.
The evolution of the human race includes the idea of differentiation of
parts and a generalization that makes the whole of progress. So it is
not easy to determine the result of a local activity as progressive
until its relation to other parts is determined, nor until other
activities and the whole of life are determined. Local colorings of
life may be so provincial in their view-point as to be practically
valueless in the estimation of the degree and quality of progress.
Certain towns, especially in rural districts not acquainted with better
things, boast that they have the best school, the best court-house, the
best climate--in fact, everything best. When they finally awaken from
their local dream, they discover their own deficiencies.
The great development of art, literature, philosophy, and politics
among the ancient Greeks was inefficient in raising the great masses of
the people to a higher plane of living, but the fruits of the lives of
these superiors were handed on to other groups to utilize, and they are
not without influence {23} over the whole human group of to-day. So,
too, the religious mystic philosophy and literature of India
represented a high state of mental development, but the products of its
existence left the races of India in darkness because the mystic
philosophy was not adaptable to the practical affairs of life. The
Indian philosophers may have handed on ideas which caused admiration
and wonder, but they have had very little influence of a practical
nature on Western civilization. So society may make progress in either
art, religion, or government for a time, and then, for the want of
adaptation to the conditions imposed by progress, the effects may
disappear. Yet not all is lost, for some achievements in the form of
tools are passed on through social heredity and utilized by other
races. In the long run it is the total of the progress of the race,
the progress of the whole, that is the final test.
_Social Progress Involves Individual Development_.--If we trace
progress backward over the trail which it has followed, there are two
lines of development more or less clearly defined. One is the
improvement of the racial stock through the hereditary traits of
individuals. The brain is enlarged, the body developed in character
and efficiency, and the entire physical system has changed through
variation in accordance with the laws of heredity. What we observe is
development in the individual, which is its primary function. Progress
in this line must furnish individuals of a higher type in the
procession of the generations. The other line is through social
heredity, that is the accumulated products of civilization handed down
from generation to generation. This gives each succeeding generation a
new, improved kit of tools, it brings each new generation into a better
environment and surrounds it with ready-made means to carry on the
improvement and add something for the use of the next generation.
Knowledge of the arts and industries, language and books, are thus
products of social heredity. Also buildings, machinery, roads,
educational systems, and school buildings are inherited.
Connected with these two methods of development must {24} be the
discovery of the use of the human mind evidenced by the beginning of
reflective thought. It is said by some writers that we are still
largely in the age of instincts and emotions and have just recently
entered the age of reason. Such positive statements should be
considered with a wider vision of life, for one cannot conceive of
civilization at all without the beginning of reflective mental
processes. Simple inventions, like the use of fire, the bow-and-arrow,
or the flint knife, may have come about primarily through the desire to
accomplish something by subjecting means to an end, but in the
perfection of the use of these things, which occurred very early in
primitive life, there must have been reflective thinking in order to
shape the knife for its purpose, make the bow-and-arrow more effective,
and utilize fire for cooking, heating, and smelting. All of these must
have come primarily through the individual initiative.
Frequent advocates of social achievement would lead one to suppose that
the tribe in need of some method of cutting should assemble and pass
the resolution that a flint knife be made, when any one knows it was
the reflective process of the individual mind which sought adaptation
to environment or means to accomplish a purpose. Of course the
philosopher may read many generalizations into this which may confuse
one in trying to observe the simple fact, for it is to be deplored that
much of the philosophy of to-day is a smoke screen which obscures the
simple truth.
The difference of races in achievement and in culture is traced
primarily to hereditary traits developed through variation, through
intrinsic stimuli, or those originating through so-called inborn
traits. These traits enable some races to achieve and adapt themselves
to their environment, and cause others to fail. Thus, some groups or
races have perished because of living near a swamp infested with
malaria-carrying mosquitoes or in countries where the food supply was
insufficient. They lacked initiative to move to a more healthful
region or one more bountiful in food products, or else they {25} lacked
knowledge and skill to protect themselves against mosquitoes or to
increase the food supply. Moreover, they had no power within them to
seek the better environment or to change the environment for their own
advancement. This does not ignore the tremendous influence of
environment in the production of race culture. Its influence is
tremendous, especially because environmental conditions are more under
the direction of intelligence than is the development of hereditary
traits.
Some writers have maintained that there is no difference in the
dynamic, mental, or physical power of races, and that the difference of
races which we observe to-day is based upon the fact that some have
been retarded by poor environment, and others have advanced because of
fortunate environment. This argument is good as far as it goes, but it
does not tell the whole story. It does not show why some races under
good environment have not succeeded, while others under poor
environment have succeeded well. It does not show why some races have
the wit to change to a better environment or transform the old
environment.
There seems to be a great persistency of individual traits, of family
traits, and, in a still larger generalization, of racial traits which
culture fails to obliterate. As these differences of traits seem to be
universal, it appears that the particular combination which gives motor
power may also be a differentiation. At least, as all races have had
the same earth, why, if they are so equal in the beginning, would they
not achieve? Had they no inventive power? Also, when these so-called
retarded races came in contact with the more advanced races who were
superior in arts and industries, why did they not borrow, adapt, and
utilize these productions? There must have been something vitally
lacking which neither the qualities of the individual nor the stimulus
of his surroundings could overcome. Some have deteriorated, others
have perished; some have reached a stationary existence, while others
have advanced. Through hereditary changes, nature played the {26} game
in her own way with the leading cards in her own hand, and some races
lost. Hence so with races, so with individuals.
_Progress Is Enhanced by the Interaction of Groups and Races_.--The
accumulation of civilization and the state of progress may be much
determined by the interaction of races and groups. Just as individual
personality is developed by contact with others, so the actions and
reactions of tribes and races in contact bring into play the utility of
discoveries and inventions. Thus, knowledge of any kind may by
diffusion become a heritage of all races. If one tribe should acquire
the art of making implements by chipping flint in a certain way, other
tribes with which it comes in contact might borrow the idea and extend
it, and thus it becomes spread over a wide area. However, if the
original discoverer used the chipped flint for skinning animals, the
one who would borrow the idea might use it to make implements of
warfare.
Thus, through borrowing, progress may be a co-operative process. The
reference to people in any community reveals the fact that there are
few that lead and many that follow; that there is but one Edison, but
there are millions that follow Edison. Even in the educational world
there are few inventors and many followers. This is evidence of the
large power of imitation and adaptation and of the universal habit of
borrowing. On the other hand, if one chemical laboratory should
discover a high explosive which may be used in blasting rock for making
the foundations for buildings, a nation might borrow the idea and use
it in warfare for the destruction of man.
Mr. Clark Wissler has shown in his book on _Man and Culture_ that there
are culture areas originating from culture centres. From these culture
centres the bow-and-arrow is used over a wide area. The domestication
of the horse, which occurred in central Asia, has spread over the whole
world. So stone implements of culture centres have been borrowed and
exchanged more or less throughout the world. The theory is that one
tribe or race invented one thing because of the {27} adaptability to
good environment. The dominant necessity of a race stimulated man's
inventive power, while another tribe would invent or discover some
other new thing for similar reasons. But once created, not only could
the products be swapped or traded, but, where this was impossible,
ideas could be borrowed and adapted through imitation.
However, one should be careful not to make too hasty generalizations
regarding the similar products in different parts of the world, for
there is such universality of the traits of the human mind that, with
similar stages of advancement and similar environments, man's adaptive
power would cause him to do the same thing in very much the same way.
Thus, it is possible for two races that have had no contact for a
hundred thousand years to develop indigenous products of art which are
very similar. To illustrate from a point of contact nearer home, it is
possible for a person living in Wisconsin and one in Massachusetts,
having the same general environment--physical, educational, ethnic,
religious--and having the same general traits of mind, through
disconnected lines of differentiation, to write two books very much
alike or two magazine articles very much alike. In the question of
fundamental human traits subject to the same environmental stimuli, in
a general way we expect similar results.
With all this differentiation, progress as a whole represents a
continuous change from primitive conditions to the present complex
life, even though its line of travel leads it through the byways of
differentiation. Just as the development of races has been through the
process of differentiation from an early parent stock, cultural changes
have followed the same law of progressive change. Just as there is a
unity of the human race, there is a unity of progress that involves all
mankind.
_The Study of the Uncultured Races of To-Day_.--It is difficult to
determine the beginnings of culture and to trace its slow development.
In accomplishing this, there are two main methods of procedure; the
first, to find the products or {28} remains of culture left by races
now extinct, that is, of nations and peoples that have lived and
flourished and passed away, leaving evidence of what they brought to
the world; also, by considering what they did with the tools with which
they worked, and by determining the conditions under which they lived,
a general idea of their state of progress may be obtained. The second
method is to determine the state of culture of living races of to-day
who have been retarded or whose progress shows a case of arrested
development and compare their civilization statistically observed with
that of the prehistoric peoples whose state of progress exhibits in a
measure similar characteristics to those of the living races.
With these two methods working together, more light is continually
being thrown upon man's ancient culture. To illustrate this, if a
certain kind of tool or implement is found in the culture areas of the
extinct Neanderthal race and a similar tool is used by a living
Australian tribe, it may be conjectured with considerable accuracy that
the use of this tool was for similar purposes, and the thoughts and
beliefs that clustered around its use were the same in each tribe.
Thus may be estimated the degree of progress of the primitive race. Or
if an inscription on a cave of an extinct race showed a similarity to
an inscription used by a living race, it would seem that they had the
same background for such expression, and that similar instincts,
emotions, and reflections were directed to a common end. The recent
study of anthropologists and archaeologists has brought to light much
knowledge of primitive man which may be judged on its own evidence and
own merits. The verification of these early cultures by the living
races who have reached a similar degree of progress is of great
importance.
_The Study of Prehistoric Types_.[1]--The brain capacity of modern man
has changed little since the time of the Cro-Magnon race, which is the
earliest ancestral type of present European races and whose existence
dates back many {29} thousand years. Possibly the weight of the brain
has increased during this period because of its development, and
undoubtedly its power is much greater in modern man than in this
ancient type. Prior to that there are some evidences of extinct
species, such as Pithecanthropus Erectus, the Grimaldi man, the
Heidelberg man, and the Neanderthal. Judging from the skeletal remains
that have been found of these races, there has been a general progress
of cranial capacity. It is not necessary here to attempt to determine
whether this has occurred from hereditary combinations or through
changing environment. Undoubtedly both of these factors have been
potential in increasing the brain power of man, and if we were to go
farther back by way of analogy, at least, and consider the Anthropoid
ape, the animal most resembling man, we find a vast contrast in his
cranial capacity as compared with the lowest of the prehistoric types,
or, indeed, of the lowest types of the uncultured living races.
Starting with the Anthropoid ape, who has a register of about 350 c.c.,
the Pithecanthropus about 900 c.c., and Neanderthal types registering
as high as 1,620 c.c. of brain capacity, the best measures of the
highest types of modern man show the brain capacity of 1,650 c.c.
Specimens of the Cro-Magnon skulls show a brain capacity equal to that
of modern man. There is a great variation in the brain capacity of the
Neanderthal race as exhibited in specimens found in different centres
of culture, ranging all the way from 1,296 c.c. to 1,620 c.c. Size is
only one of several traits that determine brain power. Among others
are the weight, convolutions, texture, and education. A small, compact
brain may have more power than a larger brain relatively lighter. Also
much depends upon the centres of development. The development of the
frontal area, shown by the full forehead in connection with the
distance above the ear (auditory meatus), in contrast with the
development of the anterior lobes is indicative of power.
It is interesting to note also that the progress of man as shown in the
remnants of arts and industry corresponds in {30} development to the
development of brain capacity, showing that the physical power of man
kept pace with the mental development as exhibited in his mental power
displayed in the arts and industries. The discoveries in recent times
of the skeletons of prehistoric man in Europe, Africa, and America, and
the increased collection of implements showing cultures are throwing
new light on the science of man and indicating a continuous development
from very primitive beginnings.
_Progress Is Indicated by the Early Cultures_.--It is convenient to
divide the early culture of man, based upon his development in art into
the Paleolithic, or unpolished, and the Neolithic, or polished, Stone
Ages.[2] The former is again divided into the Eolithic, Lower
Paleolithic, and the Upper Paleolithic. In considering these divisions
of relative time cultures, it must be remembered that the only way we
have of measuring prehistoric time is through the geological method,
based upon the Ice Ages and changes in the physical contour of the
earth.
In the strata of the earth, either in the late second inter-glacial
period or at the beginning of the third, chipped rocks, or eoliths, are
found used by races of which the Piltdown and Heidelberg species are
representatives.[3] Originally man used weapons to hammer and to cut
already prepared by nature. Sharp-edged flints formed by the crushing
of rocks in the descent of the glaciers or by upheavals of earth or by
powerful torrents were picked up as needed for the purpose of cutting.
Wherever a sharp edge was needed, these natural implements were useful.
Gradually man learned to carry the best specimens with him. These he
improved by chipping the edges, making them more serviceable, or
chipping the eolith, so as to grasp it more easily. This represents
the earliest relic of the beginning of civilization through art.
Eoliths of this kind are found in Egypt in the hills bordering the Nile
Valley, in Asia and America, as well as in southern Europe. Perhaps at
the same period of development man selected stones suitable for
crushing bones or for other purposes when hammering {31} was necessary.
These were gradually fashioned into more serviceable hammers. In the
latter part of this period, known as the pre-Chellean, flint implements
were considerably improved.
In the Lower Paleolithic in the pre-Neanderthal period, including what
is known as the Chellean, new forms of implements are added to the
earlier beginnings. Almond-shaped flint implements, followed later by
long, pointed implements, indicate the future development of the stone
spear, arrowhead, knife, and axe. Also smaller articles of use, such
as borers, scrapers, and ploughs, appeared. The edges of all
implements were rough and uneven, and the forms very imperfect.
_Industrial and Social Life of Primitive Man_.--In the industry of the
early Neanderthal races (Acheulean) implements were increased in number
and variety, being also more perfectly formed, showing the expansive
art of man. At this period man was a hunter, having temporary homes in
caves and shelters, which gradually became more or less permanent, and
used well-fashioned implements of stone. At the close of the third
interglacial period the climate was mild and moist, and mankind found
the open glades suitable places for assemblages in family groups about
the open fires; apparently the cooking of food and the making of
implements and clothing on a small scale were the domestic occupations
at this time. Hunting was the chief occupation in procuring food. The
bison, the horse, the reindeer, the bear, the beaver, the wild boar had
taken the place of the rhinoceros, the sabre-tooth tiger, and the
elephant.
Judging from the stage of life existing at this time, and comparing
this with that of the lowest living races, we may safely infer that the
family associations existed at this time, even though the habitations
in caves and shelters were temporary.[4]
"Yet, when at length rude huts they first devised,
And fires and garments; and in union sweet
Man wedded woman, the pure joys indulged
{32}
Of chaste connubial love, and children rose,
The rough barbarians softened. The warm hearth
Their frames so melted they no more could bear,
As erst, th' uncovered skies. The nuptial bed
Broke their wild vigor, and the fond caress
Of prattling children from the bosom chased
Their stern, ferocious manners."
--LUCRETIUS, "ON THE NATURE OF THINGS."
AFTER OSBORN.
Thus the Lower Paleolithic merged into the Upper; with the appearance
of the Mousterian, Augrignacian, Solutrian, Magdalenian, and Azilian
cultures followed the most advanced stage of the Neanderthal race
before its final disappearance. The list of tools and implements
indicates a widening scope of civilization. For war and chase and
fishing, for industry and domestic life, for art, sculpture, and
engraving, and for ceremonial use, a great variety of implements of
stone and bone survived the life of the races.
Spears, daggers, knives, arrowheads, fish-hooks, and harpoons;
hand-axes, drills, hammers, scrapers, planes, needles, pins, chisels,
wedges, gravers, etchers, mortars, and pilasters; ceremonial staffs and
wands--all are expressions of a fulness of industrial and social life
not recognized in earlier races. Indications of religious ceremonies
represent the changing mind, and the expression of mind in art suggests
increased mental power.
_Cultures Indicate the Mental Development of the Race_.--As the art and
industry to-day represent the mental processes of man, so did these
primitive cultures show the inventive skill and adaptive power in the
beginnings of progress. Perhaps instinct, emotion, and necessity
figured more conspicuously in the early period than reflective thought,
while in modern times we have more design and more planning, both in
invention and construction. Also the primitive social order was more
an unconscious development, and lacked purpose and directing power in
comparison with present life.
{33}
But there must have been inventors and leaders in primitive times, some
brains more fertile than others, that made change and progress
possible. Who these unknown geniuses were human records do not
indicate. In modern times we single out the superiors and call them
great. The inventor, the statesman, the warrior, the king, have their
achievements heralded and recorded in history. The records of
achievement of the great barbarous cultures, of the Assyrians, the
Egyptians, and the Hebrews, centre around some king whose tomb
preserves the only records, while in reality some man unknown to us was
the real author of such progress as was made. The reason is that
progress was so slow that the changes passed unnoticed, being the
products of many minds, each adding its increment of change. Only the
king or ruler who could control the mass mind and the mass labor could
make sufficient spectacular demonstration worth recording, and could
direct others to build a tomb or record inscriptions to perpetuate his
name.
_Men of Genius Cause the Mutations Which Permit Progress_.--The toiling
multitudes always use the products of some inventive genius. Some
individual with specialized mental traits plans something different
from social usages or industrial life which changes tradition and
modifies the customs and habits of the mass. Whether he be statesman,
inventor, philosopher, scientist, discoverer, or military leader, he
usually receives credit for the great progressive mutation which he has
originated. There can be little progress without these few fertile
brains, just as there could be little progress unless they were
supported by the laborers who carry out the plans of the genius. While
the "unknown man" is less conspicuous in the progress of the race in
modern complex society, he is still a factor in all progress.
_The Data of Progress_.--Evolution is not necessarily progress; neither
is development progress; yet the factors that enter into evolution and
development are essential to progress. The laws of differentiation
apply to progress as well as to evolution. In the plant and animal
life everywhere this law {34} obtains. In man it is subservient to the
domination of intelligent direction, yet it is in operation all of the
time. Some races are superior in certain lines, other races show
superiority in other lines. Likewise, individuals exhibit differences
in a similar way. Perhaps the dynamic physical or mental power of the
individual or the race will not improve in itself, having reached its
maximum. There is little hope that the brain of man will ever be
larger or stronger, but it may become more effective through training
and increased knowledge. Hence in the future we must look for
achievement along co-operative and social lines. It is to social
expansion and social perfection that we must look for progress in the
future. For here the accumulated power of all may be utilized in
providing for the welfare of the individual, who, in turn, will by his
inventive power cause humanity to progress.
The industrial, institutional, humanitarian, and educational machinery
represents progress in action, but increased knowledge, higher ideals
of life, broader concepts of truth, liberty of individual action which
is interested in human life in its entirety, are the real indices of
progress.
SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. Why do some races progress and others deteriorate?
2. Compare different communities to show to what extent environment
determines progress.
3. Show how the airplane is an evidence of progress. The radio. The
gasoline-engine.
4. Discuss the effects of religious belief on progress.
5. Is the mental capacity of the average American greater than the
average of the Greeks at the time of their highest culture?
6. What are the evidences that man will not advance in physical and
mental capacity?
7. Show that the improvement of the race will be through social
activity.
[1] See Chapter IV.
[2] See Chapter III.
[3] See Chapter IV.
[4] See Chapter VI.
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