CHAPTER X 



THE PRACTICAL PROBLEM OF HUMAN 

 HEREDITY 



Primitive man sees his world ruled by 

 capricious gods, whose whims and fancies can 

 seldom be accurately anticipated, whose wrath 

 must be appeased, whose favor must be won. 

 Life is a bagatelle, a game of chance, since 

 so many incalculable personalities, gods and 

 demons, fairies and goblins, unexpectedly enter 

 as determining factors. Science has largely 

 relieved man of this dread uncertainty and 

 replaced chance by law and order. Yet we are 

 slow to apprehend this revelation. Instead of 

 inquiring beforehand as to what factors are 

 involved in an undertaking, and as to what the 

 resultant of their orderly interplay is bound to 

 be, we act on sudden impulse, react to uncon- 

 trolled desire, and then vainly hope that 

 things win in some way chance to come out 

 right. 



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