544 HUMAN PROGRESS 



far from having achieved the ultimate of progress, this 

 same consideration of the environmental handicaps 

 should point the way to further progress. 



The Satisfaction of the Primary Needs and the 

 Enrichment of Life. — Throughout the discussion of 

 human progress the fundamental fact should not be 

 forgotten that the primary biological requirements of 

 food, security, and racial perpetuation form the ground- 

 work of human as well as of all animal behavior. 

 Progress concerns itself first with securing for the whole 

 race satisfaction of these fundamental needs; thereafter, 

 it may be devoted to less immediate although exceed- 

 ingly important demands which may be grouped under 

 the general head of enrichment of life. In contrasting 

 animal with human behavior, the total absence in animals 

 of anything that tends toward enrichment, and the in- 

 creasing presence of enriching factors as man becomes 

 more civilized, are the outstanding features of compari- 

 son. In striving to improve his environment man devotes 

 himself first to the satisfaction of his fundamental ne- 

 cessities, and thereafter to the enrichment of his life. In 

 the following paragraphs, some of the most important of 

 the environmental handicaps are mentioned, and the 

 ways in which mankind strives to overcome them are 

 considered. 



The Food Supply. — Every animal concerns itself 

 first with securing food. This is as true of human beings 

 as of any other kind of animal. If the human race 

 is to survive, food supplies must be adequate for its 

 nourishment. There are no efforts directed toward con- 

 trolling the environment more fundamental than those 

 which concern themselves with food resources. From the 

 rude beginnings of progress in which seeds were scattered 

 in soil that had been slightly loosened with the aid of a 

 sharp stick, mankind has seen advancement to the point 

 where costly schools of agriculture, experiment stations, 

 and research institutions are devoted wholly to the prob- 



