Essays On Education And Kindred Subjects (Fiscle Part- 11), Herbert Spencer [historical books to read .txt] 📗

Part 2 Chapter 1 (Progress Its Law And Cause) Pg 76

We Have Marked How Multitudinous Are The   Effects Which One Cause May

Generate In An Adult Organism; That A Like Multiplication Of    Effects

Must Happen In The   Unfolding Organism, We Have Observed In Sundry

Illustrative Cases; Further, It Has Been Pointed Out That The   Ability

Which Like Germs Have To Originate Unlike Forms, Implies That The

Successive Transformations Result From The   New Changes Superinduced On

Previous Changes; And We Have Seen That Structureless As Every Germ

Originally Is, The   Development Of    An Organism Out Of    It Is Otherwise

Incomprehensible. Not Indeed That We Can Thus Really Explain The

Production Of    Any Plant Or Animal. We Are Still In The   Dark Respecting

Those Mysterious Properties In Virtue Of    Which The   Germ, When Subject To

Fit Influences, Undergoes The   Special Changes That Begin The   Series Of

Transformations. All We Aim To Show, Is, That Given A Germ Possessing

These Mysterious Properties, The   Evolution Of    An Organism From It,

Probably Depends Upon That Multiplication Of    Effects Which We Have Seen

To Be The   Cause Of    Progress In General, So Far As We Have Yet Traced It.

 

 

 

When, Leaving The   Development Of    Single Plants And Animals, We Pass To

That Of    The   Earth's Flora And Fauna, The   Course Of    Our Argument Again

Becomes Clear And Simple. Though, As Was Admitted In The   First Part Of

This Article, The   Fragmentary Facts Palæontology Has Accumulated, Do Not

Clearly Warrant Us In Saying That, In The   Lapse Of    Geologic Time, There

Have Been Evolved More Heterogeneous Organisms, And More Heterogeneous

Assemblages Of    Organisms, Yet We Shall Now See That There _Must_ Ever

Have Been A Tendency Towards These Results. We Shall Find That The

Production Of    Many Effects By One Cause, Which, As Already Shown, Has

Been All Along Increasing The   Physical Heterogeneity Of    The   Earth, Has

Further Involved An Increasing Heterogeneity In Its Flora And Fauna,

Individually And Collectively. An Illustration Will Make This Clear.

 

 

 

Suppose That By A Series Of    Upheavals, Occurring, As They Are Now Known

To Do, At Long Intervals, The   East Indian Archipelago Were To Be, Step

By Step, Raised Into A Continent, And A Chain Of    Mountains Formed Along

The Axis Of    Elevation. By The   First Of    These Upheavals, The   Plants And

Animals Inhabiting Borneo, Sumatra, New Guinea, And The   Rest, Would Be

Subjected To Slightly Modified Sets Of    Conditions. The   Climate In

General Would Be Altered In Temperature, In Humidity, And In Its

Periodical Variations; While The   Local Differences Would Be Multiplied.

These Modifications Would Affect, Perhaps Inappreciably, The   Entire

Flora And Fauna Of    The   Region. The   Change Of    Level Would Produce

Additional Modifications: Varying In Different Species, And Also In

Different Members Of    The   Same Species, According To Their Distance From

The Axis Of    Elevation. Plants, Growing Only On The   Sea-Shore In Special

Localities, Might Become Extinct. Others, Living Only In Swamps Of    A

Certain Humidity, Would, If They Survived At All, Probably Undergo

Visible Changes Of    Appearance. While Still Greater Alterations Would

Occur In The   Plants Gradually Spreading Over The   Lands Newly Raised

Above The   Sea. The   Animals And Insects Living On These Modified Plants,

Would Themselves Be In Some Degree Modified By Change Of    Food, As Well

As By Change Of    Climate; And The   Modification Would Be More Marked

Where, From The   Dwindling Or Disappearance Of    One Kind Of    Plant, An

Allied Kind Was Eaten. In The   Lapse Of    The   Many Generations Arising

Before The   Next Upheaval, The   Sensible Or Insensible Alterations Thus

Produced In Each Species Would Become Organised--There Would Be A More

Or Less Complete Adaptation To The   New Conditions. The   Next Upheaval

Would Superinduce Further Organic Changes, Implying Wider Divergences

From The   Primary Forms; And So Repeatedly.

 

 

 

But Now Let It Be Observed That The   Revolution Thus Resulting Would Not

Be A Substitution Of    A Thousand More Or Less Modified Species For The

Thousand Original Species; But In Place Of    The   Thousand Original Species

There Would Arise Several Thousand Species, Or Varieties, Or Changed

Forms. Each Species Being Distributed Over An Area Of    Some Extent, And

Tending Continually To Colonise The   New Area Exposed, Its Different

Members Would Be Subject To Different Sets Of    Changes. Plants And

Animals Spreading Towards The   Equator Would Not Be Affected In The   Same

Way With Others Spreading From It. Those Spreading Towards The   New

Shores Would Undergo Changes Unlike The   Changes Undergone By Those

Spreading Into The   Mountains. Thus, Each Original Race Of    Organisms,

Would Become The   Root From Which Diverged Several Races Differing More

Or Less From It And From Each Other; And While Some Of    These Might

Subsequently Disappear, Probably More Than One Would Survive In The   Next

Geologic Period: The   Very Dispersion Itself Increasing The   Chances Of

Survival. Not Only Would There Be Certain Modifications Thus Caused By

Change Of    Physical Conditions And Food, But Also In Some Cases Other

Modifications Caused By Change Of    Habit. The   Fauna Of    Each Island,

Peopling, Step By Step, The   Newly-Raised Tracts, Would Eventually Come

In Contact With The   Faunas Of    Other Islands; And Some Members Of    These

Other Faunas Would Be Unlike Any Creatures Before Seen. Herbivores

Meeting With New Beasts Of    Prey, Would, In Some Cases, Be Led Into Modes

Of Defence Or Escape Differing From Those Previously Used; And

Simultaneously The   Beasts Of    Prey Would Modify Their Modes Of    Pursuit

And Attack. We Know That When Circumstances Demand It, Such Changes Of

Habit _Do_ Take Place In Animals; And We Know That If The   New Habits

Become The   Dominant Ones, They Must Eventually In Some Degree Alter The

Organisation.

 

 

 

Observe, Now, However, A Further Consequence. There Must Arise Not

Simply A Tendency Towards The   Differentiation Of    Each Race Of    Organisms

Into Several Races; But Also A Tendency To The   Occasional Production Of

A Somewhat Higher Organism. Taken In The   Mass, These Divergent Varieties

Which Have Been Caused By Fresh Physical Conditions And Habits Of    Life,

Will Exhibit Changes Quite Indefinite In Kind And Degree; And Changes

That Do Not Necessarily Constitute An Advance. Probably In Most Cases

The Modified Type Will Be Neither More Nor Less Heterogeneous Than The

Original One. In Some Cases The   Habits Of    Life Adopted Being Simpler

Than Before, A Less Heterogeneous Structure Will Result: There Will Be A

Retrogradation. But It _Must_ Now And Then Occur, That Some Division Of

A Species, Falling Into Circumstances Which Give It Rather More Complex

Experiences, And Demand Actions Somewhat More Involved, Will Have

Certain Of    Its Organs Further Differentiated In Proportionately Small

Degrees,--Will Become Slightly More Heterogeneous.

 

 

 

Thus, In The   Natural Course Of    Things, There Will From Time To Time

Arise An Increased Heterogeneity Both Of    The   Earth's Flora And Fauna,

And Of    Individual Races Included In Them. Omitting Detailed

Explanations, And Allowing For The   Qualifications Which Cannot Here Be

Specified, We Think It Is Clear That Geological Mutations Have All Along

Tended To Complicate The   Forms Of    Life, Whether Regarded Separately Or

Collectively. The   Same Causes Which Have Led To The   Evolution Of    The

Earth's Crust From The   Simple Into The   Complex, Have Simultaneously Led

Part 2 Chapter 1 (Progress Its Law And Cause) Pg 77

To A Parallel Evolution Of    The   Life Upon Its Surface. In This Case, As

In Previous Ones, We See That The   Transformation Of    The   Homogeneous Into

The Heterogeneous Is Consequent Upon The   Universal Principle, That Every

Active Force Produces More Than One Change.

 

 

 

The Deduction Here Drawn From The   Established Truths Of    Geology And The

General Laws Of    Life, Gains Immensely In Weight On Finding It To Be In

Harmony With An Induction Drawn From Direct Experience. Just That

Divergence Of    Many Races From One Race, Which We Inferred Must Have Been

Continually Occurring During Geologic Time, We Know To Have Occurred

During The   Pre-Historic And Historic Periods, In Man And Domestic

Animals. And Just That Multiplication Of    Effects Which We Concluded Must

Have Produced The   First, We See Has Produced The   Last. Single Causes, As

Famine, Pressure Of    Population, War, Have Periodically Led To Further

Dispersions Of    Mankind And Of    Dependent Creatures: Each Such Dispersion

Initiating New Modifications, New Varieties Of    Type. Whether All The

Human Races Be Or Be Not Derived From One Stock, Philology Makes It

Clear That Whole Groups Of    Races Now Easily Distinguishable From Each

Other, Were Originally One Race,--That The   Diffusion Of    One Race Into

Different Climates And Conditions Of    Existence, Has Produced Many

Modified Forms Of    It.

 

 

 

Similarly With Domestic Animals. Though In Some Cases--As That Of

Dogs--Community Of    Origin Will Perhaps Be Disputed, Yet In Other

Cases--As That Of    The   Sheep Or The   Cattle Of    Our Own Country--It Will

Not Be Questioned That Local Differences Of    Climate, Food, And

Treatment, Have Transformed One Original Breed Into Numerous Breeds Now

Become So Far Distinct As To Produce Unstable Hybrids. Moreover, Through

The Complications Of    Effects Flowing From Single Causes, We Here Find,

What We Before Inferred, Not Only An Increase Of    General Heterogeneity,

But Also Of    Special Heterogeneity. While Of    The   Divergent Divisions And

Subdivisions Of    The   Human Race, Many Have Undergone Changes Not

Constituting An Advance; While In Some The   Type May Have Degraded; In

Others It Has Become Decidedly More Heterogeneous. The   Civilised

European Departs More Widely From The   Vertebrate Archetype Than Does The

Savage. Thus, Both The   Law And The   Cause Of    Progress, Which, From Lack

Of Evidence, Can Be But Hypothetically Substantiated In Respect Of    The

Earlier Forms Of    Life On Our Globe, Can Be Actually Substantiated In

Respect Of    The   Latest Forms.

 

 

 

If The   Advance Of    Man Towards Greater Heterogeneity Is Traceable To The

Production Of    Many Effects By One Cause, Still More Clearly May The

Advance Of    Society Towards Greater Heterogeneity Be So Explained.

Consider The   Growth Of    An Industrial Organisation. When, As Must

Occasionally Happen, Some Individual Of    A Tribe Displays Unusual

Aptitude For Making An Article Of    General Use--A Weapon, For

Instance--Which Was Before Made By Each Man For Himself, There Arises A

Tendency Towards The   Differentiation Of    That Individual Into A Maker Of

Such Weapon. His Companions--Warriors And Hunters All Of

Them,--Severally Feel The   Importance Of    Having The   Best Weapons That Can

Be Made; And Are Therefore Certain To Offer Strong Inducements To This

Skilled Individual To Make Weapons For Them. He, On The   Other Hand,

Having Not Only An Unusual Faculty, But An Unusual Liking, For Making

Such Weapons (The Talent And The   Desire For Any Occupation Being

Commonly Associated), Is Predisposed To Fulfil These Commissions On The

Offer Of    An Adequate Reward: Especially As His Love Of    Distinction Is

Also Gratified. This First Specialisation Of    Function, Once Commenced,

Tends Ever To Become More Decided. On The   Side Of    The   Weapon-Maker

Continued Practice Gives Increased Skill--Increased Superiority To His

Products: On The   Side Of    His Clients, Cessation Of    Practice Entails

Decreased Skill. Thus The   Influences That Determine This Division Of

Labour Grow Stronger In Both Ways; And The   Incipient Heterogeneity Is,

On The   Average Of    Cases, Likely To Become Permanent For That Generation,

If No Longer.

 

 

 

Observe Now, However, That This Process Not Only Differentiates The

Social Mass Into Two Parts, The   One Monopolising, Or Almost

Monopolising, The   Performance Of    A Certain Function, And The   Other

Having Lost The   Habit, And In Some Measure The   Power, Of    Performing That

Function; But It Tends To Imitate Other Differentiations. The   Advance We

Have Described Implies The   Introduction Of    Barter,--The Maker Of    Weapons

Has, On Each Occasion, To Be Paid In Such Other Articles As He Agrees To

Take In Exchange. But He Will Not Habitually Take In Exchange One Kind

Of Article, But Many Kinds. He Does Not Want Mats Only, Or Skins, Or

Fishing Gear, But He Wants All These; And On Each Occasion Will Bargain

For The   Particular Things He Most Needs. What Follows? If Among The

Members Of    The   Tribe There Exist Any Slight Differences Of    Skill In The

Manufacture Of