The Science of the Mind 553 



he first developed the gregarious instinct. It must have been quite 

 early, however, that man began to live in association with his 

 fellows. The advantages bestowed by gregariousness are obvious. 

 But the instinct of gregariousness brings with it certain con- 

 sequences which are of the utmost importance in the psychic life 

 of man. This instinct brings with it great suggestibility. The 

 individual, as a member of the herd, must be very suggestible to 

 impulses coming from the herd, in order to act in harmony with 

 it. He must be able to yield unquestioning obedience to the voice 

 of the herd. In the case of man his rational faculty, combined 

 with his suggestibility as a gregarious animal, leads to the most 

 diversified manifestations. The great bulk of man's opinions are 

 in reality strictly non-rational, and are products purely of herd- 

 suggestion; but that does not prevent him rationalising them. 

 Many of them he does not trouble to rationalise. They appear to 

 him "obivous" as obvious as that good food is desirable; they 

 come with instinctive force. The moral code in force in a com- 

 munity furnishes a set of beliefs of this kind. This set of beliefs 

 changes from time to time and from country to country, but what- 

 ever set of beliefs may be in vogue in any particular community 

 at any particular time is "obviously" right. 



Two Main Types 



We cannot consider in detail the manifestations of the three 

 great groups of primary instincts, but we may discuss, for a 

 moment, two types, in one or other of which nearly every human 

 being can be classed. These two types of human beings are 

 called by Mr. Trotter the stable and unstable types. 



The stable type is the type which is often described as form- 

 ing the backbone of the country. A man of this kind is energetic, 

 strong-willed, and full of settled convictions. He is perfectly at 

 home with the laws and traditions of the community of which 

 he is a member. His aims are of the kind that the community as 

 a whole can understand and approve, and he is steadfast in his 



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