“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 [pg 241] of habits of idleness, carelessness, failure, instead of habits of industry, thoroughness and success. Any religious or social institution 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 class of life, and making natural time-binding impulses conscious, for then only will the spiral give a logarithmical accumulation 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 [pg 242] the impersonal natural laws for the human class 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....”