THE NEW LEVIATHAN 401 



The mental feelers of society, like the tentacles of a 

 crawling animal, must be fully extended to the outer 

 world, coming into intelligent contact with nature at 

 every possible point, in order that man may rightly find 

 his way through her mazes of constructive and destruc- 

 tive agencies. Like visceral nerves, the sympathetic 

 agencies of social life must extend their observant com- 

 municating lines into the very vitals of the social body, 

 in order to receive and distribute the reassuring mes- 

 sages of well being, and the warning pangs of social 

 maladies. In this way only can society acquire the 

 vision adequately to foresee impending evils, and the 

 saving motive rightly to readjust itself to new condi- 

 tions. For the insane spasm of pain, the red flag of 

 revolt, and the leaden pallor of inaction, are symptoms 

 of some local disturbance in the flow of cooperative 

 action ; the outcries of outraged constituents demanding 

 vital aid; the warning signals of approaching social 

 death and dissolution. 



The motive behind all these demands for aid, and 

 the "right to exist," is the lure of service. The root of 

 the lure, expressing in vital terms the tendency of every 

 physical body to modify every other body, is the desire 

 to accomplish something; to exercise one's influence 

 creatively over other things and thereby gain self- 

 approval, merit in the eyes of others, and added influ- 

 ence. The growth-motive is always there, even though 

 the purpose may be narrowly limited or misdirected. 

 Only in the freedom of self-expression can that desire 

 be gratified. To capitalize this creative power, to 

 awaken the service-motive into consciousness, and to 

 give it wider opportunity for constructive action, is the 

 function of education. 



