SOCIAL STUPIDITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 840, 11 June 1910, Page 14

SOCIAL STUPIDITY.

A 'striking article. SOME OPINIONS OF DR. F. C. S. SCHILLER. ''APPARATUS FOE FOOL-KILLING." Dr. F. C. S. Schiller," MX, . D.Sc., has a striking articlo in the. "Eugenics Review," in which he points out our collective stupidity .and the.need for a rational policy of society. "For all her 'uniformity,'" ho says, "Nature never repeats herself, and :t seems that somowhero at her coro there must bo an exuberant well-spring of novelty that irrigates' tho dull expanses of routine." • He quotes Professor Wm. James's saying that: "Everything is smothered iu the litter that is fated to accompany it.' AVithout too much, you cannot have enough of anything. Lots of inferior books, lots of bad statues, .lots of dull speeches, of tenth-rate men and women, as a condition of tho few precious specimens in cither kind, . being realised. Tho gold dust comes to birth with tho quartz sand all round it." "True,.; most; true:'' comments Dr. Schiller"but• is'-!t'.'arij ; £Bing even a philosopher could call rational? Surely tho world must contain also contrivances for ridding itself of tho superfluity of rubbish It must contain apparatus for fool-killing, scavenging and purifying itself; for discerning tho precious and preferring it. And of course it does, if, wo will, but see it. What Societies Can Do. "Societies aro surely subject'* to the Law'' of "Natural" SolectimV'as wholes, just as are their individual members," continues Dr. Schiller. "By pursuing a policy, a society,-liko an individual, can savo or destroy itself, and in either case the dift'ernce will depend on tho ends it chooses and tho intelligent ad-, justment of means,thereto. Why. should it not bo possible', therefore, for a society to. operate-similarly upon its own' constituents? Why should it not determine its own composition, the sort of members it considers good and the menus'- by which it may obtain them, and -then • take -steps: to assure their production h / '.'We are not advocating any new and unheard-of principle in demanding that this .social selection. should. be more .efficient,' systematic, and intelligent than, it actually , is. For at present nations aro so imperfectly organised that tho process ot social selection is as a whole unsystematic and haphazard. Tho selection is. largely left to individuals, with tho idea, - presumably, that tho interplay of individual egoisms will -issue in social benefits. But the individuals are not taught _ that by their private choices of. what is pleasant of conducive to their personal purposes they aro moulding altering the nature'of the nation which supports them.' They have not in consequence any consciousness of social responsibility in the exerciso of their tastes. Effect of Coif instead of Sermon. "The London business man who prefers Sunday golf to a sermon is not aware that lie is thereby contributing to the survival of tho caddy as against tho preacher, nor does tho. man who buys a ticket for musical comedy instead of for a play of Shakespeare, realise that he is aiding tho degradation of artistic, taste, nor is the ordinary citizen conscious that by attending race, meetings he may accelerate, and by attending meetings, of '. the Eugenics ;So,ciet-y he may.'iaffest, tho decadence of ■ His country. There is, in' short, very littlo reflection on the social , consequences of individual preferences. ".Yet individual thoughtfulness is far greater than collective. ; Collectively the nation, and those who profess to consider its interests, do- riot seem to think, at all. Else-it 'would hardly happcii that tho ■ ends aimed at in tho national self-selection should bo so often incapable of withstanding the least reflection, and that tho mqahs adopted should so oftcn -defcat tho ends' in view. The collective stupidity even of ■ the most intelligent.and- civilised -societies is stupendous. They, seem,habitually to 'organise themselves so as to foster what they detest, and to destroy that-they admire. ' "A society will profess to. believe; in - human -and- yet maintain enormous differences of ■ social position. It >vill destroy distinctions of rank and thereby, leave the field open, for tho most insidious and irresponsible form of power, that of plutocracy. Its democratic jealousy will debar the upper ,classes from all access to honourable and useful careers of social service, and it will thereupon complain of tho idlo rich. It will try to cure poverty by almsgiving, arid to restrain animalism by preaching celibacy. Supreme Social Fatuity. "Tho. supremeinstauco of social fatuity is the faefr that- in all civilised societies the rate of-'reproduction is lowest in the highest and highest in tho lower (though not always in the very lowest) classes. For what does this mean but that the social order operates so as to discriminate against the very qualities which it deems most valuable? "Are we .still collectively too stupid and too ignorant to think out a consistent st: he mo of-a good life which a nation- can- safely-• enjoin on its members?; .If so, it migljticcrfainly bo better to' let 'nature,' meaning thereby the existing habits of things, blindly- to take its course, than to attempt to direct it. ' "It is true, no doubt, that the world is mado for the'average man; but the average man should never bo allowed, to forget-that it-nvas-not- maJe by him, and that if left '.to' liis'.'oSvn". devices he would rot 'ill' 1 the i'uts-of" iOutine. 1 "Theoretically, therefore, it is an ideal, which every society should set before itself and inculcate into its members, to conceivo a social order which will ever be intent to maximiso tho good and to minimise the had in the conditions' of"' Tinman- existence. And,!'having conceived this ideal, it should consciously strive to realise it, ordering all its institutions and selecting all its types so as to provide it. Essence of the Social Idea. "To bo of practical value a social ideal must differ from thoso of nearly all Utopians in two essential particulars: (1) It must bo from tho outset intended for a progressive world, and so must itself lie capablo of progressive self-correction and improvement, and (2). it must bo applicablo to tho existing order, and must not\postulate a revolution in human nature and institutions as a preliminary to its exercising any influence. For tho operation of any ideal must necessarily bo 011 tho actual order; hence its application to the actual will havo to bo gradual and discreet. For it is folly to ignore the potency of Habit-; tho inertia of agos cannot lio underdono in tho day of reckoning. "Tho answer to tho objeotion that there would be no place for individual initiative in tho Eugenical State is simply, that tho social ideal can and should'work through and on individuals, and that a reasonably organised society would leave far more to them than' does the existing order, and would utilise individuals of exceptional ability far sooner and far better. In the Eugenical State. "It would contemplate the selection of the fit, not as tho prematura promotion of youngsters, who can wait, but

as something vitally concerning its own welfare. And it would possess a definite ideal and standard of valuo whereby it would discriminate far better than ,at present between tho valuablo and tho noxious departures from tho current types. As things are, a large proportion of 'social reforms' are fraudulent or illusory or retrograde; and, as nobody has any clear idea as to whore wo aro going, or ought to go, tho social valuation of innovations usually goes wrong, .at least at first. Hence the best thing we can do is to let tho tares grow up with tho wheat, lest wo destroy 'them both together. But tho greater our ability to discriminate between them, the freer would bo tho field left open to tho wheat. • s "Our leading politicians are sure to bo the last persons to he converted to tho necessity for a eugenical policy," continues Dr. Schiller; but lio adds: "By stimulating reflection upon tho desirability and possibility of agreement', the Eugenical State may gradually attain all of it it requires, while the elasticity of its structure will always be ample to protect it against breaking strains in practice. "One of the chief needs of a society which desires to reconstitute itself on eugenical principles is a thorough revision of social status. It must bring tho • social position of various services into closer agreement with their' present value. And it must induce a greater feeling of responsibility about tho popular valuations and transvaluations of functions, which are constantly exalting tho position of the caterers to individual, pleasures abovo tho consolidators of man's permanent welfare. It is not good for a soqiety that a cricketer or a prizo-fightcr or a dancer should be esteemed more highly than tho man who discovers a cure for malaria or cancer." Dr. Schiller "concludes with considerable confidence that . National SelfSelection is not impossible beeauso it is actual, and that it is capable and deserving of being turned ,into a great instrument for good." .