52 The Universe and Life 



Most momentous is another characteristic of Hfe 

 and development. As the universe comes to hfe, as it 

 begins to feel and to think and to know, this does not 

 occur uniformly throughout all its parts as one great 

 unity. It occurs only in definite localized centers. And 

 life does not occur and develop as a single unified 

 phenomenon, as one continuous organism. On the con- 

 trary, we find life now occurring and developing in a 

 great number of diverse centers separated in space. 

 These separated centers we call individuals; myself, 

 yourself, our friends, my dog, the sparrow I saw in 

 the tree as I walked in the park. Each one of these in- 

 dividuals is an integrated group of structures, activi- 

 ties, and inner experiences. Each has sensations, emo- 

 tions, and mental experiences that are separate from 

 those of the other individuals. And in each individual 

 all these things develop from a simple condition to a 

 complex, highly diversified condition, so that to each 

 taken separately there applies what we have already 

 said as to the nature of development. Each, too, is a 

 center of experience, a spectator of the world as well 

 as an actor in it ; a center which retains its separate 

 identity, its "personality" among the changes that 

 occur. This is a matter to which we shall return ; now 

 we look particularly at certain other peculiarities of 

 these individuals. 



The separate centers of life and development — the 

 different individuals — are not duplicates. On the con- 

 trary they differ greatly among themselves. There 

 now exist diverse types among them — bacilli, amoe- 

 bae, snails, dogs, men. But many of these diverse types 



