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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1156 



fectively as compared with the special 

 preparations we have thought essential for 

 dying in proper fashion. Prophet, priest 

 and mystic philosopher have urged men to 

 prepare to die, while science has only re- 

 cently directed attention to the larger duty 

 of preparing to live more efficiently, 

 happily and successfully. We are just 

 beginning to realize that if to-morrow we 

 die, to-day we m\ist live. 



The mental attitude necessary to appre- 

 ciate the full significance of the present as- 

 sociations between the words "biology" 

 and "preparedness" also calls for the for- 

 mulation of a new philosophy of living 

 — a philosophy that will be of more di- 

 rect assistance in enabling us to face the 

 present with a greater display of intelli- 

 gence and courage than has hitherto been 

 expended. This is not the time to make 

 a mistake in the choice of the path we are 

 to follow. If civilization is truly sjrmbol- 

 ized by the figure of a caravan crossing a 

 desert, we can not permit any false prophet 

 to act as our leader. Far better to endure 

 patiently the dangers and trials of our 

 present situation than to incur any addi- 

 tional risk. 



In order to comprehend both the scope 

 and spirit of the Preparedness Campaign 

 the character of the forces that have 

 shaped it must be given due consideration. 

 A few of these are obvious, but many are 

 not generally recognized. As a people the 

 majority of us would not admit until 

 forced by circumstances, the truth of the 

 allegation that a vague though compelling 

 sense of unrest and an ill-defined conscious- 

 ness of lack of preparation for dealing with 

 the critical situations in life, have created 

 at this moment of world-wide crisis a desire 

 both to reorganize our ways of living and to 

 secure protection from invasion of our terri- 

 tory. 



The campaign for preparedness, as we 

 see it, has two distinct objects in view, rep- 



resenting double aspects of the same prob- 

 lem: personal and national preparedness. 

 To discuss these two kinds of preparation 

 as unrelated, is both impractical and illog- 

 ical, because the personal can not be wholly 

 separated from the national aspect. Per- 

 sonally we accept the reality of the pres- 

 ence of disease and face it, because most of 

 us with our backs to the wall must do so. 

 But in case of war, because there is time 

 and opportunity for mystics living with 

 their heads in the clouds to dream of a 

 transformed humanity, some of us still be- 

 lieve that entirely unrelated problems are 

 under discussion. 



Preparations for war must be made be- 

 cause the sudden disappearance of its 

 threatening specter could only be brought 

 about by some miraculous metamorphosis in 

 humanity; and the consideration of the 

 probability of this should be left to those 

 who assume the possession of prophetic 

 ability. The extreme superficiality of any 

 thinking that takes for granted the possi- 

 bility of being able to recommend a method 

 for the great and immediate reduction in 

 the frequency of wars, is revealed in the 

 mere supposition that the roar of guns and 

 clatter of swords are the only sign of war. 

 "When both are silent," said John Bige- 

 low, "war may go on even more fiercely 

 than ever before. Hate, vengeance, jeal- 

 ousj', covetousness, ambition, treachery, 

 cowardice, survive." These conditions no 

 magic touch can remove. When we re- 

 member these facts, and consider how few 

 have been the efforts to analyze the gene- 

 sis of impulses, to ferret out the causes of 

 obsessions, to trace the origin of hatreds, or, 

 to discover rjiethods of controlling emotions 

 without the formation of dangerous repres- 

 sions, the boast that we can prevent war by 

 the introduction of a change here and there 

 in our social and political systems, has a 

 very hollow sound. Before the outbreak of 



