Ill 



THE MANAGEMENT OF LIFE. 



IN the lectures preceding this one we have seen that 

 the universe comes to life as time passes; life ap- 

 pears in a lifeless world. Life changes, develops; 

 breaks into streams that diverge in all directions; 

 some moving to destruction while others progress 

 toward higher conditions. Look now at certain prob- 

 lems in the management of life ; problems common to 

 our own life and to that of other organisms. Here we 

 come upon the immediate bearing of biological knowl- 

 edge upon conduct. 



The success of organisms — their survival and effi- 

 ciency, the fulness of their lives — depends not alone 

 on their structure and inner physiological processes ; 

 it depends in large measure on the way they behave. 

 It depends on their maintaining proper relations with 

 the rest of the world. Life is a complex set of orderly 

 processes, enveloped in a world of conflicting, clash- 

 ing conditions and agents. Many conditions, many 

 processes, in this outer world of the non-living, work 

 against life, are destructive to it. Others are neces- 

 sary to life ; they favor and promote the activities and 

 the survival of the living creature. In consequence, to 

 keep life in progress involves complex reactions. The 

 organism must avoid, retreat from, certain condi- 

 tions; it must seize and hold other conditions. Life 

 thus involves selectivity in a high degree ; selectivity 



