SOCIETAL EVOLUTION 135 



law-giver. To arrive at any of these cultural adjustments de- 

 mands the give and take, and the gradual accumulation, pos- 

 sible only where there are a number of human beings cooperat- 

 ing in the effort to maintain and perpetuate the race, that is, 

 in a society. Cultural adjustment is therefore social; or, 

 better, since the word "social" is so vague, it is "societal." 

 It is a thing that occurs only in society. It is "of society," and 

 that is what "societal" means. The securing of such cultural 

 adjustment is, therefore, by "societal evolution." 



This is the new mode or grade of evolution that replaces for 

 man the organic mode or grade. Organic evolution goes but 

 a short way in explaining human relations, even though, since 

 man remains always an animal, it is basic to the whole of 

 human existence. Natural selection continues to operate upon 

 men, for instance, through the ravages of some diseases; 3 but 

 in general it is replaced by another kind of selection which may 

 be called societal. Natural selection could never result in a 

 religious adjustment, for example. Such an adjustment is not 

 of the organic grade. At best, natural selection cannot exceed 

 that grade; in fact, it is a risky contention to assert that even 

 the fittest human animals are surviving and multiplying in com- 

 parison with the unfit. The alarmists about race-suicide, 

 counter-selection, racial degeneration, and the like, are com- 

 plaining that we are breeding all the time from the worse ele- 

 ments in the population. We may be, if animal-fitness is the 

 sole criterion; and we may be, even though we realize that 

 there are other criteria. But it is essential to note that societal 

 fitness fitness to be a member of society is not identical with 

 physical fitness. It is enlightening to run over a list of those 

 men who have served society best and see how many of them 

 were physically defective. 



If natural selection is not effectively in operation in pre- 

 serving the fittest human animals, because societal criteria 



3 Holmes, S. J., "The trend of the race," 1921, chs. VIII and IX. 



