882 Dynamic Theory. 



The instincts of the lower mammals are much more mature at birth 

 than ours. A calf six hours old can walk without teaching, and is 

 from one to two years ahead of the human infant in that respect. If 

 the latter were prevented from trying to walk till three or four years 

 old, it would probably be able to do it in one or two lessons, like the 

 calf. That is, an instinct under construction at birth is sufficiently fin- 

 ished to be operative three or four years after. The instincts of the 

 other animals are like those of men, in the fact that some are mature 

 and operative at birth, and others come into operation later in life. This 

 is simply that the reactions from the stimulating forces of the environ- 

 ment are different, as the organs become different in the course of growth. 



We are accustomed to speak of the actions of the lower animals as 

 instinctive, and our own as governed by reason. It is no doubt true 

 that a greater proportion of theirs is instinctive than ours, but it is a 

 minority in either case that is directly reasoned out. If a farmer ap- 

 pears at the gate of the pasture with a measure of oats, and calls his 

 horse grazing within, a conscious reasoning process is set up in the 

 brain of the horse, in which the oats on one side are weighed against 

 contrary inducements. If he concludes to obey the call, the stimula- 

 tion sets up the instinctive motions of the legs required to take him. 

 Analyze all the actions of horse or man and we find them composite 

 like this. The turning or governing points are apt to be reasoned ; that 

 is, determined by the strongest of antagonistic motives after a struggle 

 between them, which takes time, and commonly arouses consciousness. 

 The filling in between these governing corners is performed by the in- 

 stincts, which may be defined as so many questions settled, which, there- 

 fore, are no longer open to argument, and which may proceed to action 

 without arousing consciousness of themselves. 



We are apt to overrate the amount of reasoning which enters into hu- 

 man action, because we are liable to think of the works of man as the 

 works of a man, or as the ordinary functions of any human brain. Of 

 course we know better the moment we reflect. The small contribution 

 which any one person makes to the common stock of ideas, is not 

 enough to make him an exception to the rule that a large part of both 

 ideas and actions are instinctive. The greater part of the ideas which 

 finally become instinctive with us, are not reasoned out by us in the 

 first place, but are imparted to us as part of our education. A great 

 many are drilled into us in youth, and often become so firmly fixed as 

 never to be questioned or questionable in after life. The possibility of 

 doing this is at the bottom of the struggle for the control of the educa- 

 tion of the youth in this country and Europe. Where these introduced 

 instincts relate to duty and obligation, they constitute our conscience, and 

 their occasional violation causes that uneasiness called remorse, while 



