184 THE GROWTH OF GROUPS 



affairs have changed somewhat. Ingenuity is still among 

 us, stronger than ever. Autocracy also remains, but it is 

 less evident than before. The spectacle of an individual 

 compelling the multitude to do his bidding, without 

 question, is less common now than in the Middle Ages. 



But a new influence has appeared which seems to 

 urge and guide our activity. It is our custom to speak 

 of this influence as competition. The events, embraced 

 in the term competition, are not of course new nor are 

 they confined to mankind among living things. But 

 competition has become the mainspring of human 

 activity in many parts of the world. From our first day 

 at school are we not urged to compete ? Can we not 

 point to a hundred institutions whose arrival was accom- 

 panied by the disappearance of others ? Is it not our 

 custom to say that such institutions were brought into 

 being by competition ? 



To a world permeated with the spirit of competition 

 the theory of Natural Selection appears as an axiom. 

 Natural Selection, the survival of the fittest, the struggle 

 for existence, open competition, all express the same 

 idea which may well be called the spirit of the age, just 

 as the unquestioned domination of individuals was the 

 spirit of the Middle Ages. 



Thus the source of the theory of Natural Selection, 

 like the source of Anthropomorphism, seems to be in 

 human affairs. These theories do not teach us anything 

 concerning the Unknown Cause. They appear to be 

 temporary phases in mental evolution rather than final 

 truths. 



It may seem that, by my own showing, the theory 

 of Natural Selection should not be opposed. It is 



