[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

chapter after some of the other attributes of humanity
have been discussed. Besides the instincts that I have
dealt with, there are of course many other qualities,
some of them not so instinctive, which are important
for survival. One may be selected as pre-eminent. Man
is superior to all other animals in his readiness to try
experiments. Many of the higher animals, like him, can
learn by experience, but if they are placed in an un-
familiar situation they are lost, whereas a man will al-
ways try to think it out and will often find a solution of
his difficulties. This flexibility of mind, and the adapt-
ability to unforeseen conditions are the main reasons
why he has succeeded in dominating the world. They
92
THE SPECIES HOMO SAPIENS
are possessed to very varying degrees by different
individuals, but they are clearly of supreme importance
in the struggle for life in an ever-changing world.
There are many other qualities, which help survival
and I shall be content to mention only a few of them,
some estimable and some the reverse. We value intel-
ligence, honesty, capacity for leadership, and other
similar qualities, and we mark our approval by selecting
their possessors for promotion. A man is promoted on
account of his individual merits, without any thought
about the consequences for the distant future. In a less
abnormal world than the present, his increased pros-
perity should lead to the man's having a larger family
than those of the less prosperous, so that the good quali-
ties inherited from him should gradually become dif-
fused throughout the population in later generations.
At the present time the exact opposite happens all too
often, in that he is likely to have a smaller family than
the average; in fact success in life is at present antagon-
istic to success in survival. I shall not consider this further
now, since it is to be discussed later.
It is always necessary to remember that nature itself is
quite non-moral, and that there are many qualities
which we by no means admire, which nevertheless are
often regrettably effective in the struggle for life. All
through the animal kingdom one of the most successful
roles is that of the parasite, and there are states of human
society where such a parasite as the professional beggar is
as successful as anyone else. Something of the kind is un-
fortunately true in Britain just now. The people we are
really encouraging are not those that we think we are,
93
THE NEXT MILLION YEARS
for a great many of the people who get good promotion
are contributing less than their share to the next genera-
tion. At present the most efficient way for a man to sur-
vive in Britain is to be almost half-witted, completely
irresponsible and spending a lot of time in prison, where
his health is far better looked after than outside; on
coming out with restored health he is ready to beget
many further children quite promiscuously, and these
"problem children" are then beautifully cared for by the
various charitable societies and agencies, until such time
as they have grown old enough to carry on the good
work for themselves. It is this parasitic type that is at
present most favoured in our country; if nothing is
done, a point will come where the parasite will kill its
host by exhaustion and then of course itself perish miser-
ably and contemptibly through having no one to sup-
port it. Now though there may be occasions in human
history when something of this kind can happen, there
is no fear that it should happen to mankind as a whole;
for a parasite is essentially subordinate to some host, and
man claims, and claims reasonably, to be master of the
world, so that there is nothing for him to be subordi-
nate to. In the long run there is no danger of mankind
adopting the role of the parasite.
There is another role, which is not by any means
wholly admirable, that may well be specially successful
in the struggle for life. This is the role of the hero, using
the term not in the modern sense of a man embodying
all the virtues, but in the original sense used by Homer.
The Homeric hero, who has his counterparts in many
other semi-barbaric conditions of life, is brave and reck-
94
THE SPECIES HOMO SAPIENS
less, but selfish, undisciplined and something of a bully.
He is by taste a leader, but his leadership is often marred
by impatience and lack of persistence, so that he fails to
carry through to the end any projects which would take
a long time. He cares little for the sufferings of others,
unless they are his henchmen, whom he looks after out
of self-interest. From the present point of view one of
his most important characteristics is that he is usually by
no means monogamous, but very much the reverse, so
that his qualities are likely to be reproduced and multi-
plied many times in the next generation. Is it possible
that in the long run the earth should be wholly peopled
by heroes? It is irrelevant that it would be an extra-
ordinarily disagreeable world to live in, for there is
nothing in nature to dictate that the world has got to be
agreeable. It does, however, seem unlikely that the
heroic type can ever become a large fraction of the
earth's population, because their qualities do not fit into
a society of dense population rather they prevent its
existence whereas the densely populated countries will [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]