THE INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL 107 



be destructive as well as constructive. In the hands 

 of the ignorant and the undisciplined, it is more 

 likely to prove injurious than helpful. The reason 

 for this is plain. The unrestrained and sensual 

 man is unable to control the energy which can be 

 liberated from capital. He permits it to be released 

 in currents that run counter to the preservation of 

 that which is best in him. The result is exactly 

 comparable to that which comes from the reckless 

 use of dynamite, with the single difference that here 

 the destructive consequences of the uncontrolled 

 liberation of energy are sudden and obtrusive, in- 

 stead of gradual and interwoven with other injurious 

 influences. 



One of the most noteworthy features of elementary 

 instincts is their definite tendency to exaggeration. 

 The instinctive reactions to stimuli are seldom at 

 first nicely proportioned to the stimuli which invite 

 these reactions, but are, in general, excessive. This 

 tendency obtrudes itself both in the self -preservative 

 instinct and in the instinct of sex. The exaggera- 

 tions of the self-preservative instinct are the basis 

 of a large part of the miseries of human life. They 

 appear before us in daily life in many guises, but 

 mainly as the intemperate eagerness to gain recog- 

 nition and power in one form or another an eager- 

 ness finding expression in greed, cruelty, and deceit. 

 It is clearly observable that in the struggle for 

 wealth men seldom stop at the points of gain which 

 would satisfy reasonable needs. So, also, in a phys- 



