Physical environment, moreover, determines in some measure the relations of the various races with their neighbors. Men will be influenced by neighboring groups of men in so far as physical features make intercourse easy or difficult. A race of men who live on a distant island, or in any other shut-off region, will not be so easily influenced by neighboring races as if they dwelt in the midst of a fertile plain. To some extent, as has been said, man is able to overcome the difficulties which physical environment sets in the face of progress. If there is inadequate rainfall, he may devise a system of irrigation and carry on certain forms of agriculture as successfully as though rainfall were abundant. By means of railroads, steamships, and electric or radio communication he can be in constant contact with other men who are separated from him by physical obstructions. But however much the conditions of nature may be controlled, they still exert a great influence upon human progress.
(b) Social.
The social environment is quite a different thing. By it we mean the conditions altogether apart from geographic or natural features, which influence the daily life of mankind. We include within social environment such things as family life, the schools, the churches, the organization and methods of industry, the form of government—everything that society develops in the way of institutions. Many of these, as has been pointed out, are natural growths, but the mind of man has also had a large part in shaping their course.
How customs and laws create a social environment.
Most of the things we do, whether as a body of people or as individuals, are merely the result of custom or general habit. Why do men have their hair cut short while women let their hair grow long? Why do people wear black when they are in mourning? In some countries they wear white. The answer is merely that every nation, through long-continued habit, develops its own ways of doing things and keeps on doing things in that way regardless of any present reason. Orientals, when they eat their meals, squat on the floor; Europeans and Americans seat themselves at the table. Aryans shake hands when they meet; the Esquimos hold their hands high above their heads as a token of greeting. The gentleman of today, when he greets a lady on the street, raises his hat. This is not a particularly graceful custom, nor is it in rainy weather an altogether hygienic one; but it has been in vogue among the people of western Europe for many centuries. It goes back to the days of chivalry when the armored knight raised his visor to show his countenance and disclose his identity.
Primitive races are governed largely by customs, and not until a race has shown itself amenable to the influence of custom is it prepared to be governed by laws. Laws differ from customs in that they have a definite sanction, in other words are enforced by some official authority. The institutions and practices which make up the social environment may be the outcome of long-standing custom, like the system of trial by jury, for example; or they may be brought into existence by law, as, for instance, the admission of women to suffrage or the establishment of national prohibition. The avowed purpose of all human institutions is to promote the greatest good of the greatest number, in other words to provide the best social environment.
Some Important Social Forces.—The basis of custom is habit. Customs, in other words, are habits which extend |Two important social forces: habit and imitation.| to the whole community and receive its approval. We do not always realize how great a part habit plays in our daily lives.[[6]] Without it the day’s work could not be done. By habit we walk, eat, dress ourselves, and perform many other common acts. Just think how long it would take a novice to put the various parts of a watch together; but the watchmaker, being habituated to the task, can do it in an hour. The foundation of habit is imitation. One man does a thing successfully; others follow his lead; a habit develops and a general practice or custom may be the ultimate outcome. The influence of custom is usually conservative, for when a custom is once firmly established it does not easily give way. Take the custom of smoking tobacco, for example. Europeans found it in vogue among the Indians when they first came to America; they adopted it and have kept it up for more than four hundred years. Sometimes, however, the habit or custom is only of short duration, in which case we commonly call it a fashion. Fashions come and go. A century ago men used snuff and women powdered their hair; but these things have wholly passed out of fashion today.
The Course of Social Progress.—Having considered the various social factors and forces (development, inheritance, environment, custom, and so on) we are now in a position to ask and to answer the following question: In accordance with what principle has human society developed?
There was a time when even educated people imagined that such organizations as the state were planned in advance, that individuals merely came together in prehistoric days and agreed after calm deliberation to establish a civil government. That, of course, was an absurd idea. Today we realize that one step in social organization led gradually to another, that institutions were not created but evolved, that various social factors and forces exerted an influence upon their development, and that the strongest institutions survived while the weaker disappeared.
Institutions that have succumbed in the struggle for existence.