BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



are wholly realized or not depends upon circumstances. 

 These facts are significant in two ways. The fundamental 

 requirement for success in life is a satisfactory genetic 

 constitution; this much is clear. But the old arrogant pride 

 in blood which, at the worst, risked only a slight dilution 

 of its powers by an ignoble union, has had to be abandoned. 

 Dilution, whether of power or quality, is not an attribute 

 of a gene. The geneticist yields to no one in his regard for 

 good breeding; yet no one knows better than he the fallacies 

 of ancestor worship. One out-cross can ruin an otherwise 

 irreproachable lineage; one proper mating is all that is 

 necessary to produce the true aristocrat. The genetic con- 

 stitution of a distinguished family is likely to be com- 

 pounded largely of good genes; hence the high probability 

 of worth among its members; but the degenerate product 

 of a bad genetic combination is not saved by the personal 

 record of his ancestors. Nor, by the same token, is the 

 genetically great to be condemned because his endowments 

 are choice gifts from a scanty store. In the second place, a 

 real appreciation of the great innate diversity of human 

 beings leads to a proper conception of the tremendous 

 importance of training. Sociologists appear to feel that 

 education is of no consequence if this point of view is 

 adopted. Quite the contrary. If all persons were products 

 of the same mould, pedagogy would be a simple matter. 

 It would merely be necessary to find out how best to polish 

 up a single pattern. With all sorts of special aptitudes and 

 tendencies, our instructors of youth have a more difficult 

 task to perform. 



Suppose we accept this genetic philosophy; to what 

 practical conclusions does it drive us? 



In the first place, it seems to me, must come the relin- 

 quishment of our professional acceptance of JefFersonian 

 democracy. Men are not created equally free or essentially 

 equivalent. It is true, the governmental policies of the 



[188] 



