2IO THE METAPHYSICS OF EVOLUTION. 



perceive that It would render meaningless the 

 question they ask. And so It seems easier to say — 

 " Oh, when heterogeneity has reached Its maximum, 

 a return to homogeneity will set In," or " the systole 

 will follow on the diastole of the world," or " the 

 night of Brahma, In which all worlds are re-absorbed 

 Into the Absolute, recurs after each cycle of creation" 

 (jnanvantara). 



But really this belief In cycles of progression and 

 regression Is based upon a mere prejudice. Inde- 

 fensible alike on philosophic and on scientific 

 grounds. Philosophically It is to be execrated ; for 

 It would be difficult to Imagine any theory that 

 rendered the world more meaningless than this 

 pointless and futile fluctuation of things : the cease- 

 less play of systole and diastole may be the amuse- 

 ment of an insane Absolute, but It Is not an end the 

 human reason can ever hope to appreciate. Scienti- 

 fically It is gratuitous : for, ex hypothesis if all things 

 In the universe are evolving heterogeneity, there 

 cannot possibly be any evidence In favour of a reverse 

 process towards homogeneity. The assertion, 

 therefore, that process of dissolution will again re- 

 duce the world to homogeneity Is an entirely base- 

 less speculation, necessarily unsupported by evidence. 

 It is an arbitrary assumption, devised "for thcj 

 pastime of eternity," by systems which mistake its 

 nature. Neither our science nor our philosophy hai 

 any valid reason to stray beyond the limits of th( 

 world-process and the states which are directly In- 

 ferred from Its character. 



§ 25. We may sum up, then, the results of th( 

 investigation of the metaphysics of Evolution as 

 being that if our theories of Evolution are true, (i)j 

 the Becoming of the world is a process: {2) a reai 



