10 PHENOMENA, ATOMS, AND MOLECULES 



Darwin, himself, however, recognized that the higher social, moral and 

 spiritual developments of mankind were factors which aided in survival. 

 This is often referred to loosely as the law of the survival of the fittest. 

 The concept of fitness seems, however, inherently rather fuzzy. Appar- 

 ently those individuals are fittest which possess characteristics that increase 

 the probability that they shall survive. 



We often hear realists deplore the effects of charity which tend to 

 keep the unfit alive. We are even told that the whole course of evolution 

 may be reversed in this way. Similar arguments could be used against the 

 surgeon who removes an appendix or a doctor who uses a sulfa drug to 

 cure pneumonia. 



But what is the need of developing a race immune to appendicitis or 

 pneumonia if we possess means for preventing their ill effects. The char- 

 acteristics that determine fitness merely change from those of immunity 

 to those which determine whether a race is able to provide good medical 

 treatment. 



The coming victory of the United Nations will prove that survival of 

 a nation may be prevented by an aggressive spirit, by a desire to conquer 

 or enslave the world, or by intolerance, ruthlessness and cruelty. In fact, 

 there is no scientific reason why decency and morality may not prove to be 

 vastly more important factors in survival than brute strength. 



In spite of the fact that we can no longer justify a belief in absolute 

 causation and must recognize the great importance of divergent phenomena 

 in human life we still have to deal with causes and effects. After all we 

 must plan for the future. We can do this, however, by estimating proba- 

 bilities even where we do not believe that definite results will inevitably 

 follow. When our army lands in North Africa its probable success depends 

 on the carefulness of the preparations and the quality of the strategy. But 

 no amount of foresight can render success absolutely certain. 



It does not seem to me that we need be discouraged if science is not 

 capable of solving all problems even in the distant future. I see no objec- 

 tions to recognizing that the field of science Is limited. 



In the complicated situations of life we have to solve numerous prob- 

 lems and make many decisions. It is absurd to think that reason should be 

 our guide in all cases. Reason is too slow and too difficult. We do not have 

 the necessary data or we can not simplify our problem sufficiently to apply 

 the methods of reasoning. What then must we do ? Why not do what the 

 human race always has done — use the abilities we have — use common 

 sense, judgment and experience. We under-rate the importance of intuition. 



In almost every scientific problem which I have succeeded in solving, 

 even after those that have taken days or months of work, the final solution 

 has come to my mind in a fraction of a second by a process which is not 



