EVOLUTION AND HUMAN DESTINY 



component of modern society are coming to depend 

 ever more upon the internal rather than the external 

 environment. To clarify this, it should be stated that 

 by the term ''internal environment," as used in this 

 book, is meant the total social surroundings in which 

 the individual lives. The expression "external environ- 

 ment" will be used to refer to the ambient that is pro- 

 vided by inanimate matter, as well as that resulting 

 from the presence of other species. Now it is evident 

 that for any animal which shows social tendencies, an 

 internal environment begins to exist, gaining im- 

 portance in respect to the external one as the social 

 cohesion of the species increases. When so viewed, the 

 evident importance of internal environment for man, 

 serves as an indication of the extent to which the social 

 integration of human society has already proceeded to- 

 wards the formation of an organic entity. 



If in our time an individual human being, or a small 

 group of people, are placed in a wilderness without 

 being aided by very special equipment, they will per- 

 ish, unless conditions happen to be unusually favor- 

 able. Yet a wilderness is essentially nature as it would 

 exist if man were not present. It is external environ- 

 ment in relatively pure form. In the same wilderness 

 animals can survive even under relatively adverse con- 

 ditions without necessarily depending upon mutual 

 assistance. However, modern man cannot do so. It is 

 probable that members of more primitive cultures 



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