THE INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION 475 



tions we have to go outside of instincts to judgments of 

 their relation to esthetic, cognitive and moral values as ends. 

 Finally, in this connection, our modern knowledge of 

 biological equipment defines one of the fundamental unsolved 

 problems of education. All our knowledge goes to show that 

 man is not fitted by his biological heritage to Hve success- 

 fully in civihzation. The more complex a civiHzation, the 

 more "artificial," biologically speaking, are the conditions 

 imposed upon its constituent members, and the greater the 

 strain to which they are subjected. Statistics of disease and 

 of nervous and mental disorders reveal their increase under 

 modern conditions of Hfe. It is for this reason that the prob- 

 lem of deahng with the organism so that it may adjust itself 

 to take advantage of the resources of civihzation is said to be 

 an unsolved fundamental problem. While there is constantly 

 increased attention paid to the body and its education, it 

 cannot be asserted even by the most optimistic that its 

 results as yet even offset the maladjustments created by 

 our school practices, to say nothing of providing a positive 

 and constructive basis for a general efficient and healthful 

 meeting of the conditions of present civihzation. 



We now return to a consideration of the relation which 

 the incidental education given to the young in early societies 

 bears to intentional nurture, defining for our purposes 

 "incidental" and "intentional" by the absence or presence of 

 schools. 



EDUCATION AND CIVILIZATION 



Lack of systematic organization of educative processes 

 was no doubt one cause of the slow progress of early society. 

 As long as the process of transmission by nurture was acci- 

 dentally carried on, much that was gained was inevitably lost. 

 Yet knowledge of primitive societies discloses that even in them 

 there was a certain amount of dehberate instruction given. 

 There were even solemn ceremonies set apart for induction of 

 the young into the most cherished traditions and rites of 

 their group. The perpetuation of such culture as existed was 

 not left at the mercy of accident. Although there were no 

 schools, education was a conscious function, definitely and 

 rehgiously taken care of. 



