FATALISM OR FREEDOM 



discovered only by observation and rea- 

 soning. The reasoning must square with 

 the observations. The scientific method 

 admits of no appeal to mystical agencies 

 which do not knit Into a unitary system of 

 natural processes and of no logical argu- 

 ments whose premises are not verifiable 

 experiences. 



In the study of living things we recog- 

 nize two kinds of vital processes. One is 

 conservative, the preservation and repe- 

 tition of bodily forms and behavior pat- 

 terns time after time, typified by heredity. 

 The other Is progressive, constructive, 

 typified by growth, learning, and evolu- 

 tion. Patterns of structure and behavior 

 change. New patterns appear, some of 

 which never before existed. These new 

 things are not uncaused, but they are really 

 new. Growth and evolution, as truly as 

 heredity, go on In orderly or lawful ways. 

 They are natural processes. 



Ordinary growth Is an act of creation. 

 The body form Is repeated (very nearly, 

 never exactly) time after time, generation 

 after generation. In each growing body 

 new structures and new ways of behav- 

 ing are made out of old stuff. The ma- 



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