338 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



their constituents (e.g. the healing of wounds). 

 Such energy complexes may be answerable for the 

 obscure behavior of protoplasm. 



This mechanistic mode of thought cannot except 

 the human mind from the sphere of dynamical opera- 

 tion. It looks on mind as the complex product of 

 consciousness, and it looks on consciousness as a 

 general function of cerebral neural action espe- 

 cially such as is concerned with associative memory. 

 The active, simultaneous, coordinated association 

 of large numbers of cerebral cells is regarded as essen- 

 tial to the intense revival of memories of the outer 

 world or that intense immediate reflection of the outer 

 world which brings awareness of self. When once 

 there has been attained the degree of awareness of 

 self which enables the individual to separate himself 

 distinctly from the rest of the world, the basis of 

 thought has been laid and psychical progress in many 

 directions is possible for the mechanism capable of 

 effecting this distinction of self. Through the in- 

 creasing practice and coordination of the neural 

 elements of the brain more and more elaborated 

 memories are stored and revived, and these memories 

 are treated as the subject matter of thought and 

 reflection. The fact that the dynamical nature of 

 the physical and chemical changes that go on in the 

 nerve elements in the processes built on conscious- 

 ness is not understood need not disturb the belief 

 that such changes, extremely subtle in kind, do 

 actually occur. What especially concerns the biolo- 



