PLACE OF INSTINCTS IN OUR SOCIAL LIFE 651 



others. Though the working of this instinct is not so obvious in the life of 

 human beings, it can nevertheless be easily traced. Cities like London 

 and New York have not grown to what they are, merely because of economic 

 and geographical factors. Men do not by intelligent choice live amid 

 squalor and dense packing, and unhealthy conditions generally. One factor 

 which goes to explain the conditions we find in those cities is, that men 

 get a peculiar satisfaction in being together in crowds. Even in aimless 

 street-walking there is a certain enjoyment from the feeling that one is not 

 alone, but surrounded by one's fellow-men. In the case of such sports as 

 horse-racing and football, the working of this instinct is even more obvious. 

 How much enjoyment would a man derive from a race or a football match 

 if he had to watch it alone ? Here, indeed, the fact of being in a crowd 

 evidently accounts for the greater part of the enjoyment. It is no doubt 

 in virtue of the possession of this instinct that man has been called a social 

 animal. 



The instinct which corresponds to the emotion of fear has been called 

 the instinct of flight. That is perhaps the most convenient way of naming 

 it. For when the emotion is experienced in an acute degree, the predominant 

 impulse is to flee. Fear is undoubtedly the most terrible of all the emotions 

 that man may have. The range of its intensity is very great : from what 

 is no more than a shadow of fear to the other extreme when it actually 

 paralyses the individual. Then he becomes incapable of thought or action, 

 and is aware only of the terrifying object. Literature abounds with descrip- 

 tions of persons seized with this emotion in all shades of circumstances. 

 Later on, we shall have to examine the great influence fear has had on man's 

 general moral conduct. In that connection, too, we shall mention the 

 instinct of subjection. It is somewhat analogous to fear because it comes 

 into play when we find ourselves in the presence of superior powers, but of 

 course in the case of subjection there is nothing of the element of terror. It 

 is merely an impulse to hide our own personality in the face of something 

 greater. It is often found in a very marked degree in children and in adults 

 of mild, timid disposition. 



From subjection we may pass to its opposite — ^the instinct of self -display, 

 or self-assertion. That it is an instinct in the real sense of the word is 

 undeniable. Children give evidence of it very early ; they are anxious, 

 sometimes to the point of tears, that we should see what they have done. 

 It is also recognisable among animals, if we recollect the strutting behaviour 

 of a big dog in the presence of smaller ones. Right through our own life, 

 however, we can trace its workings : in the boasts of boys and the vanity 

 of girls, and in adults, where it plays an important part in one's idea of 

 oneself. Unlike subjection, which is accompanied by slow movements, and 

 drooping of the head, self-assertion brings along with it an increase in 

 strength, and a greater confidence born of the feeling of physical vitality. 



Curiosity must be given a high place among the principal instincts. Its 

 corresponding emotion of wonder is expressed in the attitude of keen and 

 questioning approach to the object which inspires it. Considering this 

 impulse to approach and examine, we can understand how those who possess 

 the instinct of curiosity to a highly developed extent have been the dis- 

 coverers of history. In fact, the instinct takes us further ; for when we 

 remember that in primitive society the bonds of custom were extremely 

 rigid, we must thank the individuals who pushed their curiosity far enough 

 to break these bonds and make progress possible. Or, again, we may say 

 that it is because men possess this instinct in a marked degree that science 

 has been able to reach the point it is at to-day. It is also true to say that 

 the conflict of science and religion springs from the difference in the strength 

 in which men possess this instinct. 



Disgust is an emotion which is very commonly experienced. It occurs 



