548 HUMAN PROGRESS 



which mean most to mankind, and then to drive them 

 home in such fashion as to make them actual controlling 

 factors in behavior. That this task is imperfectly per- 

 formed everyone will admit. There remains, then, room 

 for great progress in this field. 



Isolation. — It is evident that since the achievements 

 of those who have the ability to accomplish must be 

 passed on to the general population if progress is to be 

 made, the extent to which members of the population 

 are isolated has great influence upon progress. In Chapter 

 XXXVIII the tendency of animals to spread through- 

 out regions to which they are adapted has been pointed 

 out. Man shares this tendency with the other animals; 

 in fact, he goes far beyond all others, since his control 

 over his environment enables him to establish himself in 

 situations in which otherwise he could not endure. The 

 inevitable effect of man's migrations is isolation, both 

 physical and intellectual. The first is being overcome 

 by improved means of transportation, the latter by 

 printing and the allied arts. 



Printing. — There can be no doubt that the greatest 

 single achievement by which isolation has been over- 

 come is the invention of means for multiplying records 

 on a large scale. Printing with movable type forms the 

 basis of this achievement, although — as has been 

 pointed out recently — the invention of paper-making 

 had probably almost as much to do with the actual 

 development of the book-maker's art. To the knowl- 

 edge of how to produce records had to be added the 

 knowledge of how to reproduce them. There is probably 

 no human environment w^hich is not susceptible of better- 

 ment through influences that can be brought to bear by 

 means of the printed page. It is almost impossible for 

 anyone now to live in such remoteness that his isolation 

 cannot in large measure be relieved through the agency 

 of the press. 



Telephone, Telegraph, and Radio. — A glance at 



