Essays On Education And Kindred Subjects (Fiscle Part- 11) by Herbert Spencer (best fiction novels to read TXT) 📕

Consisting In The   Greater Number Of    Facts Known And Laws Understood:

Whereas The   Actual Progress Consists In Those Internal Modifications Of

Which This Increased Knowledge Is The   Expression. Social Progress Is

Supposed To Consist In The   Produce Of    A Greater Quantity And Variety Of

The Articles Required For Satisfying Men's Wants; In The   Increasing

Security Of    Person And Property; In Widening Freedom Of    Action: Whereas,

Rightly Understood, Social Progress Consists In Those Changes Of

Structure In The   Social Organism Which Have Entailed These Consequences.

The Current Conception Is A Teleological One. The   Phenomena Are

Contemplated Solely As Bearing On Human Happiness. Only Those Changes

Are Held To Constitute Progress Which Directly Or Indirectly Tend To

Heighten Human Happiness. And They Are Thought To Constitute Progress

Simply _Because_ They Tend To Heighten Human Happiness. But Rightly To

Understand Progress, We Must Inquire What Is The   Nature Of    These

Changes, Considered Apart From Our Interests. Ceasing, For Example, To

Regard The   Successive Geological Modifications That Have Taken Place In

The Earth, As Modifications That Have Gradually Fitted It For The

Habitation Of    Man, And As _Therefore_ A Geological Progress, We Must

Seek To Determine The   Character Common To The   Modifications--The Law To

Which They All Conform. And Similarly In Every Other Case. Leaving Out

Of Sight Concomitants And Beneficial Consequences, Let Us Ask What

Progress Is In Itself.

In Respect To That Progress Which Individual Organisms Display In The

Course Of    Their Evolution, This Question Has Been Answered By The

Germans. The   Investigations Of    Wolff, Goethe, And Von Baer, Have

Established The   Truth That The   Series Of    Changes Gone Through During The

Development Of    A Seed Into A Tree, Or An Ovum Into An Animal, Constitute

An Advance From Homogeneity Of    Structure To Heterogeneity Of    Structure.

In Its Primary Stage, Every Germ Consists Of    A Substance That Is Uniform

Throughout, Both In Texture And Chemical Composition. The   First Step Is

The Appearance Of    A Difference Between Two Parts Of    This Substance; Or,

As The   Phenomenon Is Called In Physiological Language, A

Differentiation. Each Of    These Differentiated Divisions Presently Begins

Itself To Exhibit Some Contrast Of    Parts; And By And By These Secondary

Differentiations Become As Definite As The   Original One. This Process Is

Continuously Repeated--Is Simultaneously Going On In All Parts Of    The

Growing Embryo; And By Endless Such Differentiations There Is Finally

Produced That Complex Combination Of    Tissues And Organs Constituting The

Adult Animal Or Plant. This Is The   History Of    All Organisms Whatever. It

Is Settled Beyond Dispute That Organic Progress Consists In A Change

From The   Homogeneous To The   Heterogeneous.

Now, We Propose In The   First Place To Show, That This Law Of    Organic

Progress Is The   Law Of    All Progress. Whether It Be In The   Development Of

The Earth, In The   Development Of    Life Upon Its Surface, In The

Development Of    Society, Of    Government, Of    Manufactures, Of    Commerce, Of

Language, Literature, Science, Art, This Same Evolution Of    The   Simple

Into The   Complex, Through Successive Differentiations, Holds Throughout.

From The   Earliest Traceable Cosmical Changes Down To The   Latest Results

Of Civilisation, We Shall Find That The   Transformation Of    The

Homogeneous Into The   Heterogeneous, Is That In Which Progress

Essentially Consists.

With The   View Of    Showing That _If_ The   Nebular Hypothesis Be True, The

Genesis Of    The   Solar System Supplies One Illustration Of    This Law, Let

Us Assume That The   Matter Of    Which The   Sun And Planets Consist Was Once

In A Diffused Form; And That From The   Gravitation Of    Its Atoms There

Resulted A Gradual Concentration. By The   Hypothesis, The   Solar System In

Its Nascent State Existed As An Indefinitely Extended And Nearly

Homogeneous Medium--A Medium Almost Homogeneous In Density, In

Temperature, And In Other Physical Attributes. The   First Advance Towards

Consolidation Resulted In A Differentiation Between The   Occupied Space

Which The   Nebulous Mass Still Filled, And The   Unoccupied Space Which It

Previously Filled. There Simultaneously Resulted A Contrast In Density

And A Contrast In Temperature, Between The   Interior And The   Exterior Of

This Mass. And At The   Same Time There Arose Throughout It Rotatory

Movements, Whose Velocities Varied According To Their Distances From Its

Centre. These Differentiations Increased In Number And Degree Until

There Was The   Organised Group Of    Sun, Planets, And Satellites, Which We

Now Know--A Group Which Represents Numerous Contrasts Of    Structure And

Action Among Its Members. There Are The   Immense Contrasts Between The

Sun And Planets, In Bulk And In Weight; As Well As The   Subordinate

Contrasts Between One Planet And Another, And Between The   Planets And

Their Satellites. There Is The   Similarly Marked Contrast Between The   Sun

As Almost Stationary, And The   Planets As Moving Round Him With Great

Velocity; While There Are The   Secondary Contrasts Between The   Velocities

And Periods Of    The   Several Planets, And Between Their Simple Revolutions

And The   Double Ones Of    Their Satellites, Which Have To Move Round Their

Primaries While Moving Round The   Sun. There Is The   Yet Further Strong

Contrast Between The   Sun And The   Planets In Respect Of    Temperature; And

There Is Reason To Suppose That The   Planets And Satellites Differ From

Each Other In Their Proper Heat, As Well As In The   Heat They Receive

From The   Sun.

When We Bear In Mind That, In Addition To These Various Contrasts, The

Planets And Satellites Also Differ In Respect To Their Distances From

Each Other And Their Primary; In Respect To The   Inclinations Of    Their

Orbits, The   Inclinations Of    Their Axes, Their Times Of    Rotation On Their

Axes, Their Specific Gravities, And Their Physical Constitutions; We See

What A High Degree Of    Heterogeneity The   Solar System Exhibits, When

Compared With The   Almost Complete Homogeneity Of    The   Nebulous Mass Out

Of Which It Is Supposed To Have Originated.

Passing From This Hypothetical Illustration, Which Must Be Taken For

What It Is Worth, Without Prejudice To The   General Argument, Let Us

Descend To A More Certain Order Of    Evidence. It Is Now Generally Agreed

Among Geologists That The   Earth Was At First A Mass Of    Molten Matter;

And That It Is Still Fluid And Incandescent At The   Distance Of    A Few

Miles Beneath Its Surface. Originally, Then, It Was Homogeneous In

Consistence, And, In Virtue Of    The   Circulation That Takes Place In

Heated Fluids, Must Have Been Comparatively Homogeneous In Temperature;

And It Must Have Been Surrounded By An Atmosphere Consisting Partly Of

The Elements Of    Air And Water, And Partly Of    Those Various Other

Elements Which Assume A Gaseous Form At High Temperatures. That Slow

Cooling By Radiation Which Is Still Going On At An Inappreciable Rate,

And Which, Though Originally Far More Rapid Than Now, Necessarily

Required An Immense Time To Produce Any Decided Change, Must Ultimately

Have Resulted In The   Solidification Of    The   Portion Most Able To Part

With Its Heat--Namely, The   Surface. In The   Thin Crust Thus Formed We

Have The   First Marked Differentiation. A Still Further Cooling, A

Consequent Thickening Of    This Crust, And An Accompanying Deposition Of

All Solidifiable Elements Contained In The   Atmosphere, Must Finally Have

Been Followed By The   Condensation Of    The   Water Previously Existing As

Vapour. A Second Marked Differentiation Must Thus Have Arisen: And As

The Condensation Must Have Taken Place On The   Coolest Parts Of    The

Surface--Namely, About The   Poles--There Must Thus Have Resulted The

First Geographical Distinction Of    Parts. To These Illustrations Of

Growing Heterogeneity, Which, Though Deduced From The   Known Laws Of

Matter, May Be Regarded As More Or Less Hypothetical, Geology Adds An

Extensive Series That Have Been Inductively Established. Its

Investigations Show That The   Earth Has Been Continually Becoming More

Heterogeneous In Virtue Of    The   Multiplication Of    The   Strata Which Form

Its Crust; Further, That It Has Been Becoming More Heterogeneous In

Respect Of    The   Composition Of    These Strata, The   Latter Of    Which, Being

Made From The   Detritus Of    The   Older Ones, Are Many Of    Them Rendered

Highly Complex By The   Mixture Of    Materials They Contain; And That This

Heterogeneity Has Been Vastly Increased By The   Action Of    The   Earth's

Still Molten Nucleus Upon Its Envelope, Whence Have Resulted Not Only A

Great Variety Of    Igneous Rocks, But The   Tilting Up Of    Sedimentary Strata

At All Angles, The   Formation Of    Faults And Metallic Veins, The

Production Of    Endless Dislocations And Irregularities. Yet Again,

Geologists Teach Us That The   Earth's Surface Has Been Growing More

Varied In Elevation--That The   Most Ancient Mountain Systems Are The

Smallest, And The   Andes And Himalayas The   Most Modern; While In All

Probability There Have Been Corresponding Changes In The   Bed Of    The

Ocean. As A Consequence Of    These Ceaseless Differentiations, We Now Find

That No Considerable Portion Of    The   Earth's Exposed Surface Is Like Any

Other Portion, Either In Contour, In Geologic Structure, Or In Chemical

Composition; And That In Most Parts It Changes From Mile To Mile In All

These Characteristics.

Moreover, It Must Not Be Forgotten That There Has Been Simultaneously

Going On A Gradual Differentiation Of    Climates. As Fast As The   Earth

Cooled And Its Crust Solidified, There Arose Appreciable Differences In

Temperature Between Those Parts Of    Its Surface Most Exposed To The   Sun

And Those Less Exposed. Gradually, As The   Cooling Progressed, These

Differences Became More Pronounced; Until There Finally Resulted Those

Marked Contrasts Between Regions Of    Perpetual Ice And Snow, Regions

Where Winter And Summer Alternately Reign For Periods Varying According

To The   Latitude, And Regions Where Summer Follows Summer With Scarcely

An Appreciable Variation. At The   Same Time The   Successive Elevations And

Subsidences Of    Different Portions Of    The   Earth's Crust, Tending As They

Have Done To The   Present Irregular Distribution Of    Land And Sea, Have

Entailed Various Modifications Of    Climate Beyond Those Dependent On

Latitude; While A Yet Further Series Of    Such Modifications Have Been

Produced By Increasing Differences Of    Elevation In The   Land, Which Have

In Sundry Places Brought Arctic, Temperate, And Tropical Climates To

Within A Few Miles Of    Each Other. And The   General Result Of    These

Changes Is, That Not Only Has Every Extensive Region Its Own

Meteorologic Conditions, But That Every Locality In Each Region Differs

More Or Less From Others In Those Conditions, As In Its Structure, Its

Contour, Its Soil. Thus, Between Our Existing Earth, The   Phenomena Of

Whose Varied Crust Neither Geographers, Geologists, Mineralogists, Nor

Meteorologists Have Yet Enumerated, And The   Molten Globe Out Of    Which It

Was Evolved, The   Contrast In Heterogeneity Is Sufficiently Striking.

When From The   Earth Itself We Turn To The   Plants And Animals That Have

Lived, Or Still Live, Upon Its Surface, We Find Ourselves In Some

Difficulty From Lack Of    Facts. That Every Existing Organism Has Been

Developed Out Of    The   Simple Into The   Complex, Is Indeed The   First

Established Truth Of    All; And That Every Organism That Has Existed Was

Similarly Developed, Is An Inference Which No Physiologist Will Hesitate

To Draw. But When We Pass From Individual Forms Of    Life To Life In

General, And Inquire Whether The   Same Law Is Seen In The   _Ensemble_ Of

Its Manifestations,--Whether Modern Plants And Animals Are Of    More

Heterogeneous Structure Than Ancient Ones, And Whether The   Earth's

Present Flora And Fauna Are More Heterogeneous Than The   Flora And Fauna

Of The   Past,--We Find The   Evidence So Fragmentary, That Every Conclusion

Is Open To Dispute. Two-Thirds Of    The   Earth's Surface Being Covered By

Water; A Great Part Of    The   Exposed Land Being Inaccessible To, Or

Untravelled By, The   Geologist; The   Greater Part Of    The   Remainder Having

Been Scarcely More Than Glanced At; And Even The   Most Familiar Portions,

As England, Having Been So Imperfectly Explored That A New Series Of

Strata Has Been Added Within These Four Years,--It Is Manifestly

Impossible For Us To Say With Any Certainty What Creatures Have, And

What Have Not, Existed At Any Particular Period. Considering The

Perishable Nature Of    Many Of    The   Lower Organic Forms, The   Metamorphosis

Of Many Sedimentary Strata, And The   Gaps That Occur Among The   Rest, We

Shall See Further Reason For Distrusting Our Deductions. On The   One

Hand, The   Repeated Discovery Of    Vertebrate Remains In Strata Previously

Supposed To Contain None,--Of Reptiles Where Only Fish Were Thought To

Exist,--Of Mammals Where It Was Believed There Were No Creatures Higher

Than Reptiles,--Renders It Daily More Manifest How Small Is The   Value Of

Negative Evidence.

On The   Other Hand, The   Worthlessness Of    The   Assumption That We Have

Discovered The   Earliest, Or