13 



The Trends of Evolution 



At the risk of possible repetition some of the trends that 

 one sees in the endlessly long and tremendously varied pro- 

 cession of evolution v^ill be reviewed here. But lest we be 

 led astray and lose sight of the underlying unity of nature let 

 us again be reminded that there is but one over-all trend and 

 direction to all phenomena— that of the eternal striving of 

 cosmic energy toward greater conscious understanding. All 

 else is subsidiary and incidental. Organization is primary. 

 Organization is manifested in the mind-matter substance, 

 seeking expression as a part of a spiritual universality. It is 

 the "principle of order" leading always, wherever possible 

 and to whatever degree possible, to the sentient beings who 

 alone by their interdependent and cooperative effort can 

 bring into the universe the highest hierarchies of conscious- 

 ness. 



There are many trends in evolution; one sees them at 

 every turn. They can provide intimate and interesting stud- 

 ies in the detail of evolution, as may easily be verified by 

 reading Julian Huxley's Evolution, the Moderii Synthesis 

 and G. G. Simpson's The Meaning of Evolution. Here, 

 however, the concern is only with the broad changes that I 

 feel have given direction to the process through which mind 

 in matter-energy has risen to higher imaginative levels in the 

 mind and social hfe of man; and in subsequent chapters with 

 those minor, but sometimes troublesome tendencies, like 

 overpopulation, which may even threaten the future exist- 



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