224 Changing Human Nature 



Perhaps, however, this concern with the whence and the 

 whither is only an illusion, and is prominent only because 

 man seeks in the remote some clue to the immediate. If we 

 only knew whence we came, or what the future has in store 

 for us, we might perhaps shape our day-by-day conduct more 

 effectively, or more satisfactorily. 



When we think of the history of the race, the past is 

 shrouded in obscurity. We have at best highly probable 

 conjectures based on the convergence of many kinds of evi- 

 dence — paleontological and geological, anatomical and 

 embryological, physiological and pathological, anthropologi- 

 cal and psychological. No single fact can tell us unmistaka- 

 bly that man is now a different animal from his ancestors of 

 hundreds of thousands or a million years ago. All the facts 

 taken together, however, leave no room for doubt — unless 

 and until a more satisfactory interpretation is offered. Simi- 

 larly, we have no single fact that tells us unmistakably that 

 the human race as a whole is undergoing change. And again, 

 all the facts taken together point to changes going on in 

 every race, more with some, less with others. 



It is thus quite as impossible to predict the future as it 

 is to draw a simple picture of the past. The probabilities are 

 against any radical change in type, any radical im- 

 provement in the living mechanism, any radical change in 

 stature. We may be losing our hair, we may be changing 

 to a nearsighted race, our descendants may have flabbier 

 muscles than we have. There is some indication that the 

 " wisdom " teeth are disappearing; fortunately, however, 

 there is no direct connection between the last molars and 

 wisdom. There are indications that certain portions of the 

 brain that have to do with the getting of ** knowledge " are 

 being used more extensively, even if they do not increase in 

 size. Unfortunately, however, it has been observed that 

 knowledge may grow while wisdom lingers. 



In thus using the terms fortunately and unfortunately 

 we reveal a trait that appears to be confined to human beings. 

 Man is the only organism that gives evidence of having a 



