Manhood of Humanity Part 12

The outlook for those who live and profess selfish, greedy, "s.p.a.ce-binding animal standards" is not very promising as disclosed by the "spiral," but unhappily we cannot help them; only time-binding-only fulfilling the natural laws for humans-can give them the full benefit of their natural capacities by which they will be able to raise themselves above animals and their fate.

The results obtained in scientific biological researches are growing very rapidly and every advance in their knowledge proves this theory to be true. If they differ in a few instances it is not because the principles of this theory are wrong, but because they intermix dimensions and use words not sufficiently defined which always results in confusion and the checking of the progress of science.

Most of the problems touched upon in this appendix from a mathematical point of view are based upon laboratory facts. We have only to collect them and there is little need of imagination to see their general bearing.

Since we have discovered the fact that Man is a time-binder (no matter what time is) and have introduced the sense of dimensionality into the study of life phenomena in general, a great many facts which were not clear before become very clear now.

I wrote this book on a farm without any books at hand and I had been out of touch with the progress of science for the five years spent in the war service and war duties. My friend Dr. Grove-Korski, formerly at Berkeley University, drew my attention particularly to the books of Dr. Jacques Loeb. I found there a treasury of laboratory facts which ill.u.s.trate as nothing better could, the correctness of my theory. I found with deep satisfaction that the new "scientific biology" is scientific because it has used mathematical methods with notable regard to dimensionality-they do not "milk an automobile."

For the mathematician and the engineer, the "tropism theory of animal conduct," founded by Dr. J. Loeb, is of the greatest interest, because this is a theory which a.n.a.lyses the functions and reactions of an organism _as a whole_ and therefore there is no chance for confusion of ideas or the intermixing of dimensions.

"Physiologists have long been in the habit of studying not the reactions of the whole organism but the reactions of isolated segments; the so-called reflexes. While it may seem justifiable to construct the reactions of the organism as a whole from the individual reflexes, such an attempt is in reality doomed to failure, since the reactions produced in an isolated element cannot be counted upon to occur when the same element is part of the whole, on account of the mutual inhibitions which the different parts of the organism produce upon each other when in organic connection; and it is, therefore, impossible to express the conduct of a whole animal as the algebraic sum of the reflexes of its isolated segments.... It would, therefore, be a misconception to speak of tropism as of reflexes, since tropisms are reactions of the organism as a whole, while reflexes are reactions of isolated segments. Reflexes and tropisms agree, however, in one respect, inasmuch as both are obviously of a purely physico-chemical character." _Forced Movements-Tropism and Animal Conduct._ By Jacques Loeb.

I will quote here only a very few pa.s.sages, but these books are of such importance that every mathematician and engineer should read them. They are, if I may say so, a "mathematical biology"-the survey of a life long study of "tropisms," which is the name given to express "forced movements"

in organisms. They give the quintessence of laboratory experiments as to what are the effects of different energies such as light (heliotropism), electricity (galvanotropism), gravity (geotropism), etc., in their reaction and influence upon the movements and actions of living organisms.

These experiments are conclusive and the conclusions arrived at cannot be overlooked or evaded. The tremendous practical results of such scientific methods are based upon two principles, namely: that, (1) the scientists must think mathematically, their studies of the phenomena must be in "systems" as a complex whole, and they must not intermix dimensions; (2) they must see the danger and not be afraid of old words with wrong meanings, but must use clear and rigorous thinking to eliminate the prejudices in science-the poison of metaphysical speculating with words, or verbalism. These books give ample proofs of how misleading and obscuring are the words used and how basically wrong are the conclusions arrived at by such scientists as still persist in using the anthropomorphic or teleological methods of a.n.a.lysis. If a sceptical or doubtful reader is interested to see an ample proof of how deadly is the effect which an incorrect or unmathematical manner of thinking brings into science and life-he also may be referred to these books. The following quotations prove biologically that man is of a totally different dimension-a totally different being than an animal. From Dr. Conklin I quote only from his _Heredity and Environment_ and to save a repet.i.tion of the t.i.tle of the book, I will indicate the quotations by using only his name. (All italics are indicated by A. K.)

"It would be of the greatest importance to show directly that the _h.o.m.ologous proteins of different species are different_. _This has been done_ for hemoglobins of the blood by Reichert and Brown, who have shown by crystallographic measurements that the hemoglobins of any species are definite substances for that species.... The following sentences by Reichert and Brown seem to indicate that this may be true for the crystals of hemoglobin.

'_The hemoglobins of any species are different substances for that species._ But upon comparing the corresponding substances hemoglobins in different species of a genus it is generally found that they differ the one from the other to a greater or less degree; the differences being such that when complete crystallographic data are available the different _species can be distinguished_ by these _differences in their hemoglobins_'....

The facts thus far reported imply the suggestion that heredity of the genus is determined by the proteins of a definite const.i.tution differing from the proteins of other genera. This const.i.tution of the proteins would therefore be responsible for the genus heredity. The different species of a genus have all the same genus proteins, but the proteins of each species of the same genus are apparently different again in chemical const.i.tution and hence they may give rise to the specific biological or immunity reactions."

_The Organism as a Whole_, by Jacques Loeb.

"_All peculiarities which are characteristic of a race, species, genus, order, cla.s.s and phylum are of course inherited_, otherwise there would be no constant characteristics of these groups and no possibility of cla.s.sifying organisms. The chief characters of every living thing are unalterably fixed by heredity. Men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles. Every living thing produces off-spring after its own kind, Men, horses, cattle; birds, reptiles, fishes; insects, mollusks, worms; polyps, sponges, micro-organisms,-all of the million known species of animals and plants differ from one another because of inherited peculiarities, _because they have come from different kinds of germ cells_." Conklin.

"The entire organism consisting of structures and functions, body and mind, develops out of the germ, and the organization of the germ determines all the possibilities of development of the mind no less than of the body, though the actual realization of any possibility is dependent also upon environmental stimuli."...

Conklin.

"The development of the mind _parallels that of the body_; whatever the ultimate relation of the mind and body may be, there can be _no_ reasonable _doubt_ that the two develop together from the germ. It is a curious fact that many people who are seriously disturbed by scientific teaching as to the evolution or gradual development of the human race accept with equanimity the universal observation as to the development of the human individual,-mind as well as body. The animal ancestry of the race is surely no more disturbing to philosophical or religious beliefs than the germinal origin of the individual, and yet the latter is a fact of universal observation which cannot be relegated to the domain of hypothesis or theory, and which can not be successfully denied....

Now we know that the child comes from the germ cells which are not made by the bodies of the parents but have arisen by the division of the antecedent germ cell. _Every cell comes from a pre-existing cell_ by a process of division, and _every germ cell comes from a pre-existing germ cell_. Consequently it is not possible to hold, that the body generates germ cells, nor that the soul generates souls. The only possible scientific position is that the _mind_ or soul as well as the body develops from the _germ_.

"No fact in human experience is more certain than that the mind develops by gradual and natural processes from a simple condition which can scarcely be called mind at all; no fact in human experience is fraught with greater practical and philosophical significance than this, and yet no fact is more generally disregarded." Conklin.

"Doubtless the elements of which _consciousness_ develops are _present in the germ cells_, in the same sense that the elements of the other psychic processes or of the organs of the body are there present; not as a miniature of the adult condition, but rather in the form of elements or factors, which by long series of combinations and transformations, due to interactions with one another and with the environment, give rise to the fully developed condition.... It is an interesting fact that in man, and in several other animals which may be a.s.sumed to have a sense of ident.i.ty, the nerve cells, especially those of the _brain_, _cease dividing_ at an early age, and these identical cells persist throughout the remainder of life."...

"The hen does not produce the egg, but the egg produces the hen and also other eggs. Individual traits are not transmitted from the hen to the egg, but they develop out of germinal factors which are carried along from _cell to cell, and from generation to generation_...."

"The germ is the undeveloped organism which forms the bond between successive generations; the person is the developed organism which arises from the germ under the influence of environmental conditions, the person develops and dies in each generation; the germ-plasm is the continuous stream of living substance which connects all generations. The person nourishes and protects the germ, and in this sense the person is merely the carrier of the germ-plasm, the _mortal trustee_ of an immortal substance."

Conklin.

This is what I call "time-linking." (Author.)

"Through intelligence and social cooperation he is able to control environment for particular ends, in a manner quite impossible in other organisms.... Other animals develop much more rapidly than man but that development sooner comes to an end. The children of lower races of man develop more rapidly than those of higher races but in such cases they also cease to develop at an earlier age.

The prolongation of the period of infancy and of immaturity in the human race greatly increases the importance of environment and training as _factors of development_." Conklin.

Another sidelight given on the "Spiral theory." (Author.)

"In education also we are strangely blind to proper aims and methods. Any education is bad which leads to the formation of habits of idleness, carelessness, failure, instead of habits of industry, thoroughness and success. Any religious or social inst.i.tution is bad which leads to habits of pious make-believe, insincerity, slavish regard for authority and disregard for evidence, instead of habits of sincerity, open-mindedness and independence...."

"All that man now is he has come to be without conscious human guidance. If evolution has progressed from the am[oe]ba to man without human interference, if the great progress from ape-like men to the most highly civilized races has taken place without conscious human control, the question may well be asked: Is it possible to improve on the natural method of evolution? It may not be possible to improve on the method of evolution and yet by intelligent action it may be possible to facilitate that method.

_Man can not change a single law of nature but he can put himself into such relations to natural laws that he can profit by them._"

Conklin.

This proves the great importance of KNOWING THE NATURAL LAWS for the human cla.s.s of life, and making natural time-binding impulses conscious, for then only will the spiral give a logarithmical acc.u.mulation of the right kind, otherwise the biolyte will be "animal" in substance as well as in effect. Here it is immaterial how the first "time-binder" was produced; the fact that he is of another dimension is of the greatest importance.

"From sands to stars, from the immensity of the universe to the minuteness of the electron, in living things no less than in lifeless ones, science recognizes everywhere the inevitable sequence of cause and effect, the universality of natural processes, the reign of natural law. _Man also is a part of Nature, a part of the great mechanism of the_ universe, and all that he is and _does is limited and prescribed by laws of nature_.

Every human being comes into existence by a process of development, every step of which is determined by antecedent causes.... Our anatomical, physiological, psychological possibilities were predetermined in the _germ cells_ from which we came...." Conklin.

This shows the importance of keeping the study of humans in their own dimensionality, and also the importance of finding the IMPERSONAL NATURAL LAWS for the human cla.s.s of life. Now it can be realized that all the so-called human ideals are none else than the ever growing fulfillment of the NATURAL "TIME-BINDING" LAWS. This understanding will enable man to discover new "time-binding" laws for their conduct, their business relations, their state, which will not be a contradiction of the real, NATURAL LAWS but will be in accord with them; then and only then human progress will have a chance to develop peacefully.

"Adult characteristics are potential and not actual in the germ, and their actual appearance depends upon many complicated reactions of the germinal units with one another and with the environment. In short, our actual personalities are not predetermined in the germ cells, but our possible personalities are.... The influence of environment upon the minds and morals of men is especially great. To a large extent our habits, words, thoughts; our aspirations, ideals, satisfactions; our responsibility, morality, religion are the results of the environment and education of our early years...."

"Owing to this vastly greater power of memory, reflection and inhibition man is much freer than any other animal. Animals which learn little from experience have little freedom and the more they learn the freer they become...." Conklin.

It may be added here that the "spiral theory" explains how our reactions can be accelerated and elaborated by ourselves, and how truly we are the masters of our destinies.

"Because we can find no place in our philosophy and logic for self determination shall we cease to be scientists and close our eyes to the evidence? The first duty of science is to appeal to fact and to settle later with logic and philosophy...." Conklin.

There will be no difficulty in the settlement of facts with the new philosophy of "Human Engineering."

"The a.n.a.lysis of instinct from a purely physiological point of view ultimately furnishes the data for a scientific ethics. Human happiness is based upon the possibility of a natural and harmonious satisfaction of the instincts.... It is rather remarkable that we should still be under the influence of an ethics which considers the human instincts in themselves low and their gratification vicious. That such an ethics must have had a comforting effect upon the orientals, whose instincts were inhibited or warped through the combined effects of an enervating climate, despotism and miserable economic conditions is intelligible, and it is perhaps due to a continuation of the unsatisfactory economic conditions that this ethics still prevails to some extent.... Lawyers, criminologists and philosophers frequently imagine that only want makes man work. This is an erroneous view. We are instinctively forced to be active in the same way as ants or bees. The instinct of workmanship would be the greatest source of happiness if it were not for the fact that our present social and economic organization allows only a few to satisfy this instinct. Robert Mayer has pointed out that any successful display or setting free of energy is a source of pleasure to us. This is the reason why the satisfaction of the instinct of workmanship is of such importance in the economy of life, for the play and learning of the child, as well as for the scientists or commercial work of the man.... We can vary at will the instincts of animals. A number of marine animals ... go away from the light, can be forced to go to light in two ways, first by lowering the temperature and second by increasing the concentration of the sea water, whereby the cells of the animals lose water. This instinct can be again reversed by raising the temperature or by lowering the concentration of the sea water. I have found repeatedly that by the same conditions by which phenomena of growth and organization can be controlled the instincts are controlled also. This indicates that there is a common basis for both cla.s.ses of life phenomena. This common base is the physical and chemical character of the mixture of substances which we call protoplasm.... _The greatest happiness in life_ can be obtained only if _all instincts_, that of workmanship included, can be maintained at a certain _optimal intensity_. But while it is certain that the individual can ruin or diminish the value of its life by a onesided development of its instincts, e.g., dissipation, it is at the same time true that the _economic and social conditions can ruin or diminish the value of life for a great number of individuals_. It is no doubt true that in our present social and economic conditions more than ninety per cent of human beings lead an existence whose value is far below what it should be. They are compelled by want to sacrifice a number of instincts especially the most valuable among them, that of workmanship, in order to save the lowest and most imperative, that of eating. If those who ama.s.s immense fortunes could possibly intensify their lives with their abundance, it might perhaps be rational to let many suffer in order to have a few cases of true happiness. But for an increase of happiness only that amount of money is of service which can be used for the harmonious development and satisfaction of inherited instincts. For this, comparatively little is necessary. The rest is of no more use to a man than the surplus of oxygen in the atmosphere. As a matter of fact, the only true satisfaction a multimillionaire can possibly get from increasing his fortunes, is the satisfaction of the instinct of workmanship or the pleasure that is connected with a successful display of energy. The scientist gets this satisfaction without diminishing the value of life of his fellow being, and the same should be true for the business man.... Although we recognize no metaphysical free-will, we do not deny personal responsibility.

We can fill the memory of the young generation with such a.s.sociations as will prevent wrong doing or dissipation....

Cruelty in the penal code and the tendency to exaggerate punishment are sure signs of a low civilization and of an imperfect educational system.... It seems to me that we can no more expect to unravel the mechanism of a.s.sociative memory by histological or morphological methods than we can expect to unravel the dynamics of electrical phenomena by microscopic study of cross-sections through a telegraph wire or by counting and locating the telephone connections in a big city. If we are anxious to develop a dynamic of the various life-phenomena, we must remember that the colloidal substances are the machines which produce the life phenomena, but the physics of these substances is still a science of the future.... Physiology gives us no answer to the latter question. The idea of specific energy has always been regarded as the terminus for the investigation of the sense organs. Mach expressed the opinion that chemical conditions lie at the foundation of sensation in general...." _Comparative Physiology of the Brain_, by Jacques Loeb.

Here it may be added that the "Instinct of Workmanship" in the animal cla.s.s, becomes in the time-binding cla.s.s of life the instinct of _creation_, and is nothing else than the expression of the natural impulse of the "Time-binding" energy. In the present social and economic system very few have a possibility to satisfy this instinct; scientific management is or may be satisfying the animal instinct of workmanship, but it is not satisfactory to the instinct of creation. "Time-binding" in its last a.n.a.lysis is creation and only such a social and economic system as will satisfy this want-this natural impulse-will satisfy Humans-the "Time-binders"-and will bring about their fullest growth in work and happiness.

"LAWS OF GROWTH" (from _Unified Mathematics_, by Louis C. Karpinski, Ph.D.). "_Compound interest function_.-The function _S_ = _P_(1 + _i_)_n_ is of fundamental importance in other fields than in finance. Thus the growth of timber of a large forest tract may be expressed as a function of this kind, the a.s.sumption being that in a large tract the rate of growth may be taken as uniform from year to year. In the case of bacteria growing under ideal conditions in a culture, _i.e._ with unlimited food supplied, the increase in the number of bacteria per second is proportional to the number of bacteria present at the beginning of that second. Any function in which the rate of change or rate of growth at any instant _t_ is directly proportional to the value of the function at the instant _t_ obeys what has been termed the 'law of organic growth,' and may be expressed by the equation,

_y = ce__kt_,

wherein _c_ and _k_ are constants determined by the physical facts involved, and _e_ is a constant of nature a.n.a.logous to p. The constant _k_ is the proportionality constant and is negative when the quant.i.ty in question decreases; _c_ is commonly positive;

_e_ = 2.178....