The best soil for variations to take root in is always the rising generation. However effectually the educational system may be used to promote uniformity between two generations, it never really succeeds in making the new generation exactly like the old. Even when originality and inventiveness in the younger generation are subjected to repression, it still remains more receptive to new ideas than does the older which has become habituated to modes of thought and action. It is an universal truth that the old are more conservative and the young more radical in temperament. Relative variations occur with increased association and sympathy between groups. The association of groups causes new methods to be learned which had not previously been heard of and increased friendliness helps to force the admission that the ways of the foreigner may occasionally be superior to one's own. In early times war was the ordinary form of group contact. But war is not the most stimulating form of association; first, because the association it forces is not intimate; and, secondly, because this association is based upon opposition rather than upon sympathy. It does however stimulate ideas because the armies are brought into new environments, and moreover war is often followed by more friendly intercourse. A form of group contact much more desirable arises from normal travel and trade relations. In the Middle Ages the travelling merchant spread new ideas, as well as new commodities, which awakened desires and stimulated production. In modern times travel and trade on a large scale have become the chief means of spreading ideas and creating uniformity of customs. Missionary effort has in many instances been an early stimulus to progress; begun with the professed intention of spreading new religious ideals, it has necessarily carried with it also new secular ideas and methods which have wrought changes in the general social life. Selection. Selection, the third step in the evolutionary process, is not a chance phenomenon but takes place inevitably whenever variations occur. Although a group may not often adopt a new invention, it has inevitably to decide between the new and the old; and such a decision is a true case of selection, although if it is in favor of the old method the choice may attract little attention. We speak of selection as being made by a group, but large numbers seldom select a new invention simultaneously. Ordinarily certain leaders, becoming convinced of the need of a change or the desirability of a new method, suggest the reform; and it is finally adopted or rejected by the group through the process of imitation or that of opposition. Strong opposition may be encountered either from those who oppose all change or from those who wish to see a rival method adopted; or opposition may be reduced to mere inertia on the part of the majority. If the idea is finally adopted by the leaders it spreads through society slowly or rapidly according to the nature of the change adopted. If it is a new system, like a form of government, it must necessarily be put into operation as a unit and people adjust themselves rapidly. If it is a belief, like a new religion or a new scientific conception, it is accepted slowly by the rank and file. But selection of one kind or another must always be made. The problem therefore is not how to cause selection, for that is inevitable, but how to improve the quality of selection. Automatic Selections. Selections in society are of two kinds, – those which take place automatically, and those which are made by conscious choice. Automatic selections are such as are from the nature of the case inevitable. Man has little control over them. They include those selections depending upon physical or biological conditions and are therefore similar to selections in the lower organic world. They include also selections resulting from isolation in social life; and these are of greater social significance, though they are still practically automatic in their nature. Farmers inevitably select their fruits and grains from among those which will grow in their particular localities. Inhabitants of the tropics do not select their clothing from among the different varieties of furs on the market because all furs are unsuited to their particular environment. These examples illustrate the limitations imposed by the physical environment upon selection; for such selections are limited not by lack of knowledge but by environmental conditions. Social isolations determining selection are of many varieties. Some are economic. For example, the poor do not make a selection among the various types of automobiles. With their pennies they inevitably buy bread. This again is not because they are unacquainted with automobiles but because their range of choice is automatically limited by an isolation caused by poverty. Isolations may also be mental in their nature. Illiterate persons do not make a choice as to which newspapers they shall read even though they can afford to buy newspapers, because they are excluded from the use of all reading matter. Lack of intelligence is continually setting limits to the choice of occupations, and may even determine the method of carrying on a particular occupation, for the unintelligent may be unable to make use of complicated machinery and be restricted therefore to the use of simple tools and primitive methods. Isolations caused by social customs and institutions are common. We no longer resort to torture of suspected criminals, because our judicial system does not permit it. We do not select one among various types of idols for worship, because our religious beliefs exclude the use of idols entirely. These various forms of selection through isolation are enumerated not so much because they are unusual or because they offer a basis for a profitable study of the selective process, but because they show that selection by choice in all societies is greatly restricted by limitations over which the individual has little control. Selection by Conscious Choice. Selection by conscious choice is, in the last analysis, the all important step in the evolutionary process, because through it society may be intelligently directed to higher stages of development. Whenever a variation is adopted, it results in social change; but improvement in social life is realized only when selection among variations is exercised with wisdom and foresight. Selection by conscious choice is well illustrated in political life when two parties stand for different measures. The leaders first specify in general terms the policies to be followed, and the voters finally accept or reject them. The responsibility for selection rests partly with the leaders and partly with the followers, the relative amount of responsibility depending upon the character of the population. If the population is made up largely of the amiable imitative type, the leaders will be more dictatorial and will expect the people to follow instructions. If the population is of a more independent and critical type, the leaders will be much more influenced by the wishes of the voters; and the people rather than the leaders will be chiefly responsible for the choices made. Of these types of societies, the imitative is less likely to make permanent progress than is the critical. Where the chief responsibility for the selection of new policies rests upon a few leaders, personal and selfish motives are likely to determine selection, unless the leaders have broad vision and unusual devotion to the common good. With exceptional leaders progress may, it is true, be rapid; but they may be succeeded by narrow and selfish leaders under whom any previous gains may be speedily lost. In the critical type of society, on the other hand, where selections are finally made through the deliberate choice of large numbers, mistakes are more likely to be errors of judgment than perversions of motive. Now bad judgment improves with experience, but evil motives are changed only through regeneration of character. The highest form of selection then is that in which the action of the leaders is guided by the needs of society, and the decisions of society rest upon rational judgment. Conclusion. In conclusion two points should be emphasized with regard to these three processes of social progress, — integration, variation, and selection. First, progress requires not merely the presence of all three processes, but a definite relationship among them. Integration must not be so strong as to . destroy variations; and variations cannot be so frequent as to overcome the stabilizing force of integration; selection must discriminate among the variations or retrogression rather than progress may result. And secondly, the character of each process may be improved and along with it the nature of progress itself. Integrations may be forced or voluntary; variations may be frequent or occasional, and they may be original or bor. rowed; and selection may be more or less accurate in choosing the best variations. Progress can still occur even when integrations are forced; and also when variations are few and selection among them is exercised by the leaders, with the consequent adoption of their choice from compulsion or through blind imitation. But progress is much more rapid and assured, if a society is held together by the common consent of its members, if variations are numerous and absolute, and if, among these variations, those suggested by the leaders are finally sanctioned by the rational judgment of all the members of the group. |