98 The Morality of Nature 



in the imperfection of the reasoning of humanity, there is 

 continued though lessening need of the methods of experi- 

 ment and survival; and therefore of selection by premature 

 death. All progress is change and much progress means 

 much change. In the need for much change there is need 

 of much selection, and therefore of much rejection; while 

 in conditions less disturbed there is less variation, less selec- 

 tion, and therefore less rejection in failure and death, and 

 consequently less change and progress. 



The chief effect of humanity's intelligent foresight upon 

 this general law is that there will be more of selective pur- 

 pose in conduct, and less of blind experiment. There will 

 be less of a wasteful exuberance of life, and less of the 

 corrective premature death after birth, which balances the 

 exuberance in experimental conduct. This difference is 

 visible in human selection. Each individual surviving be- 

 cause of fit qualities transmits them to descendants whose 

 kin strength is measured by this quality, as well as by num- 

 bers; and this strength is reached and declared more by 

 constructive than by destructive process. 



The fitness of a family or race measured by the prosperity 

 of its succession, in highly civilized life, is not always found 

 to be greatest where offspring are most numerous. It is 

 obvious first that reduction by mortality is heaviest where 

 reproduction is most prolific and that it is the number sur- 

 viving to fruitful maturity which counts rather than the 

 number born. And of those surviving it is the strength of 

 well educated, well trained and organizable units that counts 

 for power ; rather than the mere numerical strength of dis- 

 cordant and socially useless individuals. An aptitude for 



