the experience of others into something new. That is creative, that makes 

 each day almost a new day, with new possibiUties that we could not have 

 anticipated. 



The most striking achievements in the creative use of biological knowl- 

 edge are seen in the new species of plants and animals that have taken the 

 place of breeds formerly cultivated. These creations are made possible by 

 the same peculiarity of the human mind as is revealed in the other creative 

 arts — the trick of analyzing and synthesizing. We analyze what different 

 strains of cattle, cotton, beans, hens, tomatoes, dogs, strawberries, wheat and 

 horses can do, what qualities they have. Then we set to work to combine 

 useful or interesting qualities from different strains into new combinations 

 and so produce new types of cattle, cotton, beans and so on. 



This is not quite as simple as the work of the child who makes some- 

 thing "new" by drawing the shape of a pear and laying on it the color of a 

 black cat. But essentially the creative process is the same. There is the 

 analyzing of the things we observe into the different components or quali- 

 ties. These elements are abstracted, or taken away, from the objects by our 

 own thinking — the shapes, colors, dimensions, roughness, conductivity, hard- 

 ness and so on. These qualities are "abstract", they do not exist by them- 

 selves; but, with our imagination and our language, we can both "think" 

 about them and tell others about them. In a particular situation, to meet a 

 particular need or mood, we make up a new combination of these "abstrac- 

 tions" — in our minds. To be able to produce something real with the new 

 combination of qualities takes more time and more than merely thinking. 

 But while such imagining and thinking are not sufficient, they are necessary 

 conditions for "creating" new plants and animals. 



Another creative use of biology is seen in the transformation of a cretin 

 into a more nearly normal human being. This was made possible by analyz- 

 ing certain organic processes, structures and relationships. We check on the 

 "ideas" that go into explaining the facts by experimenting — by performing 

 certain planned acts under controlled conditions. The test of an idea is in the 

 answer to the question How does it work out ? Later we use our knowledge 

 to prevent the appearance of cretins. Similarly we have cured rickets and 

 then prevented rickets. Getting rid of communicable diseases over larger and 

 larger areas means the creating of new living conditions; but in time it may 

 mean creating a new population. 



We are now creating such a new population. Here and there in various 

 civilized communities men and v/omen are growing up undisturbed by the 

 fears and anxieties that destroy the mental health of those who are ignorant 

 and superstitious. They do not fear lightning and thunder, for they do not 

 associate these phenomena with evil spirits or mysterious powers seeking to 

 destroy human beings. They do not fear an eclipse of the sun, or the witches 



680 



