Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



But now, roughly speaking, there is a third 

 region of human observation — a region which 

 does not, like Astronomy (and Geology), lie so far 

 beyond and above us that we only see a very small 

 portion of it ; nor, like Chemistry and Physics, so 

 far below us and under such minute conditions of 

 space and time that we can only catch its general 

 effects ; but which lies more on a level with man 

 himself — the so-called organic world — the study 

 of man, as an individual and in society, his history, 

 his development, the" study of the animals, the 

 plants even, and the laws of life — the sciences of 

 Biology, Sociology, History, Psychology, and the 

 rest. Now this region is obviously that which 

 man knows most of. I don't say that he genera- 

 lises most about it, but he knows the facts best. 

 For one observation that he makes of the habits 

 and behaviour of the stars, or of chemical solutions 

 — for one observation in the remote regions of 

 Astronomy or Chemistry — he makes thousands 

 and millions of the habits and behaviour of his 

 fellowmen, and hundreds and thousands of those 

 of the animals and plants. Is it not curious then 

 that in this region he is least sure, least dogmatic, 

 most doubtful whether there be a law or no ? 

 Or, rather, is it not quite in accord with our con- 

 tention, namely that Science, like an uninformed 

 boy, is most definite and dogmatic just where 

 actual knowledge is least. 



It will however be replied that the phenomena 

 of living beings are far more complex than the 

 phenomena of Astronomy or Physics — and that 



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