364 GRAND STRATEGY OF EVOLUTION 



of his fellow-man, or that his co-workers will suddenly 

 let go, or change their purpose, and leave him helpless 

 on the brink of disaster. For he now knows that he 

 and his fellow-man have long since embarked on a com- 

 mon enterprise; mutiny and incompetency, no longer 

 mean mere disbandment and a return to the independ- 

 ent life of primitive man, but a terrible common dis- 

 aster. 



The industrial life of to-day is in very truth a 

 perilous voyage of romantic adventurers; a motley 

 company of Ulysses, Jasons, and Sir Galahads, seeking 

 in untried worlds the golden fleece of some new experi- 

 ence, the fountains of perpetual youth, or the sources 

 of creative power. It has ventured far into unsus- 

 taining realms, trusting to a slender thread of relays 

 for its support. It can neither move forward, nor stay 

 where it is, nor yet retreat to its base of supplies, if any 

 one of the sustaining links of its support breaks down 

 through stupidity, or treachery, or physical incapacity. 



No physical force, or dictator-ship, can preserve 

 the coherency of this social system. Its constituents 

 are held to their services solely by established habits; 

 by satisfaction in the right performance of social func- 

 tions; by a common understanding of social purposes; 

 and by that compelling sense of responsibility which 

 comes with the knowledge that failure on their part 

 means immeasurable disaster to one and all. 



This social cohesion can be no greater than the 

 moral compulsion of intelligence, and the physical abil- 

 ity to obey its dictates. 



It will not be denied, for example, that the force 

 of gravity compels more respect, more unqualified 

 obedience in one who is up a tree than in one whose 



