INTRODUCTION 5 



overcome. It is the particular world into which he 

 comes, the measure of opportunity given to his par- 

 ticular heritage. 



Response, on the other hand, represents what the 

 individual does with his heritage and environment. It 

 is what may be described as the training or educa- 

 tional factor. Lacking a suitable environment a good 

 heritage may come to naught like good seed sown upon 

 stony ground, but it is nevertheless true that the best 

 environment cannot make up for defective heritage 

 or develop wheat from tares. 



The absence of sufficient response even when the 

 environment is suitable and the endowment of inherit- 

 ance is ample will result in an individual who falls short 

 of his possibilities, while no amount of response or edu- 

 cation can develop a man out of the heritage of a beast. 

 Consequently the biologist holds that, although what 

 an individual has and does is unquestionably of great 

 importance, particularly to the individual himself, 

 what he is, is in the long run far more important. 

 Improved environment and training may better the 

 generation already born. Improved blood will better 

 every generation to come. The "triangle of life," when 

 applied to man, shows that there are theoretically at 

 least twenty-seven possible kinds of human beings as 

 shown in Figure . Climbing up this "scale of success'* 

 is what makes life worth living. It is illuminating 

 for any one to determine judiciously where he him- 

 self stands at present or to assign places mentally to 

 various other people, historical and contemporary, in 

 this scale. 



The left-hand factor does not change throughout 



