340 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



comparatively rapid evolution of civilization. This 

 latter phase of the great sweep of the evolutionary 

 processes of nature belongs to man alone, and has 

 made him the unquestioned master of nature, the 

 mastery having been given him by his own unique 

 evolution, made possible by the utilization of the new 

 phase of inheritance which has been called Social 

 Heredity. 



General Conclusions 



It may be instructive to ask a final question : Are 

 there any great lessons which may be learned from 

 social evolution of the past, that can guide us in our 

 endeavor to direct that evolution in the future? 

 While man cannot stem the tide of advance, he may, 

 in a measure, guide it, and may, at all events, adapt 

 his life and his laws to it. It is well to bear in mind 

 a few general facts. 



1. We may with absolute certainty expect in the 

 future that social evolution will i^rogress in the direc- 

 tion of greater concentration and greater organiza- 

 tion. This is the law of the greatest achievement 

 with the least expenditure, and is absolutely irresist- 

 ible. All attempts to stop increasing centralization, 

 like those of anarchism or democracy, and all laws 

 devised to prevent organization will be futile. They 

 may be useful in preventing too precipitous an ad- 

 vance, but they cannot stem the rising tide. 



2. With the growing centralization there will be a 

 parallel development of the worth of the individual. 

 This will be brought about, however, not by giving 

 man back his original freedom. Such a course would 

 deprive him absolutely of the advantages accruing 

 from civilization. The worth of the individual will 



