20 BRAINS OF RATS AND MEN 



function of the distinctive human kind of cortical 

 association centers, marks off human behavior from 

 that of brutes — a distinction of far-reaching signifi- 

 cance. For I can foresee the road which I expect to 

 travel; I can prepare it in advance and so facilitate 

 the going; and I can train myself in advance to endure 

 the hardships of the journey. 



The first two of these three sorts of foresight form 

 the intellectual and material basis of human civiliza- 

 tion; the third lies at the basis of self-culture, self- 

 realization, and character-building through the fab- 

 rication of personal ideals. Meanwhile, the social 

 factors have entered and the self is broadened to 

 include in its interests the family, clan, state, and in 

 the end (let us hope) the community of nations. 



In answer to the question with which we started, 

 we can now say that the human cerebral cortex is 

 the specific organ of civilization, and whether this 

 civilization is beneficent or malevolent is deter- 

 mined (in part) by the bodily organization of its 

 component individuals, and in particular by their 

 cortical organization. Foresight, purpose, and the 

 ideals toward which we strive as individuals and as 

 nations are functions of this same cortical gray 

 matter. These are noble functions. And the nobility 

 of man at his best inheres in his total organization; 

 it is no detached aura to be laid aside like a Sabbath 

 vesture when we turn to the routine of everyday 

 living. 



