through which radical rational selection is realized; is there not some point of entrance into the societal system itself, some part of the code, common to all constituent groups in a society, which admits this factor? I believe there is, and that its determination opens the only vital point of attack for rational selection. Rational selection in the mores, as applied constantly, directly, and generally to all societal forms, cannot be demonstrated; but I think it will be seen that such selection is natural and effective in certain of the societal forms and then, strongly rooted in the very seats of society's life, is enabled to extend its effectiveness, though indirectly, throughout the whole societal structure. In order to render this view, toward which we have been working, as clear and definite as possible, it will be necessary to approach the issue from a selected point outside, and somewhat by way of a detour.

CHAPTER V

RATIONAL SELECTION

Continued

To act with reason, or science, or common sense, that which is most needed is verification. Verification, unmistakable and also repeated, will prove anything. Neither logic nor prejudice can stand before it long; it is after the facts of repeated experience that science comes limping. Such verification can be attained in the field of the natural sciences through experimentation, where the environment can be controlled and artificialized and the object of experimentation manipulated. This, we have seen, cannot be done in the domain of social science; it is forbidden that man should experiment on man. What goes by the name of social experimentation is generally vague and inconclusive in its results, and error must needs be rife. This is one of the reasons why the social scientist looks with keen envy upon the procedure, yielding tangible results, of his colleague in the natural sciences. The best the social scientist can do is the worst the natural

scientist has to do to wait on nature and history to perform quasi-experiments for him; and he seizes upon one of these, like that exhibited in the case of the Pitcairn Island society, with pathetic eagerness. But one can profit only partially even by recorded previous experiences, in view of the loss of detail, the omission of that which is later seen to be of commanding importance, etc.; and then nature next to never repeats societal phenomena in the same terms. She even seems to act furtively, as it were, so that men do not recognize the scientific significance of what she has been doing till too late. The social scientist must get the best tests he can, and put up with their insufficiencies. We must know the best places in which to look for the occurrence or repetition of social phenomena; and in a hard matter like this one of societal selection, the favorable field of observation must be sedulously sought.

Where, then, in the societal system, can verification be found? Where shall the student look to discover and verify the activity of rational selection based upon positive knowledge? Where in the societal field are inadequate adaptations to the environment, as exhibited in unfit mores, most irresistibly demonstrated to be

K

inadequate and unfit? It is a fact of observation that dissatisfaction due to the non-realization of human interests may occur in an equal degree anywhere in the societal field. But, whereas in some parts of that field it seems almost impossible to reason out conclusively the causes of dissatisfaction and then remove them, in the case of others there is a general persuasion that the nexus between effect and cause can be passed and satisfaction attained - and that through rational processes unaided. It is a bold man who believes that through rational means the race can be bred so as to be free of the physically and mentally weak; but every one expects as a matter of course that fifty years will see the solution of many a present and arising difficulty in the line of material progress. Nobody in 1890 could reasonably expect the abolition of prostitution within any definite period; but there were those who regarded aërial navigation as merely a question of time. Men look to and depend upon rational procedure all the time in some parts of the societal field; they take up the war against smallpox and typhoid with confidence in their ultimate success. They realize that there are probably unknown physical elements, and are not forced

to regard that man as a wizard who discloses them; they expect more surprises like the discovery of radium and the development of wireless telegraphy. But they have no hope that their religious mores will be adjusted as the result of some scientific discovery of a positive character; or that sociologists of a certain type may be able to set the relations of the sexes upon a sure basis. They do not hope for inventions in religion and marriage which can be tested with certainty and introduced with general or intelligent approval. Such results will come, they say, in the millennium- that is, when the conditions of life as now lived shall have been altered as the result of an unpredictable or even supernaturally directed development. Examples of this sort crowd to the page. It is not hard to demonstrate to an ignorant person in this country that he should learn to read and write; he can see that by living in this society. Similarly for his interest is it that he shall use the English language. Tests lie all about him, and are immediate and decisive. But try to persuade him by abstract argument to give up the vendetta, to renounce anarchistic leanings, or to change his religion, and you fail. There are no immediate and