Asceticism and abstinence both prove that the sex instincts can be given a different expression, and that a permanent, if not always deep, mental satisfaction can come from the formation of ascetic habits. But the effect of these, however spectacular it may be in the accomplishment of egoistic or social ends, is always a bad one on the body. Indeed, this bad effect on the body was even desired by the early religious ascetics who thought that by mortifying the flesh (making the body as dead as possible), they could immortalize the soul or mind; a view which modern science has shown to be erroneous, dependent as it is on merely verbal reasoning. § 43 The instincts whose gratifications are sought primarily in the physical satisfactions of food, clothing and shelter, and secondarily in all other forms of self-magnification, by means of which the individual may take precedence over other individuals, such as wealth and social position, or distinction of any kind, are called in this book _egoistic-social instincts_. The egoistic-social impulses are measured by the so-called “intelligence tests.” They test that quality by which a person through shrewdness and acuteness of perception of external relations facilitates his passing ahead of others, always considered as his rivals. Persons with the highest intelligence are likely to subordinate their emotions to the intellect, and to reduce them to a gentle glow experienced while performing complicated and long sustained mental work. Such people look down on emotional people as being less intelligent than they. § 44 The direct expression of the egoistic-social impulse is the inevitable comparison made by himself between the individual and others. He compares himself unconsciously, if not consciously, with other men in health, strength, wealth, position, and in every other respect; and whether he voices these comparisons to himself or not, he unwittingly acts in accordance with them. He compares himself with women too. It may safely be said that while there is no possibility of avoiding comparison with members of the same sex, a comparison of oneself with a member of the other sex is the one comparison that ought to be avoided, particularly when sex relations themselves are in question. By this is meant that if a man compares his wealth with a woman’s he can say either that she has inherited the wealth of another man or, if she has made it herself, which is a comparatively rare instance, though growing less so each day, that she has done so simply by competing with men in egoistic-social activities. A man generally avoids this comparison if he thinks at all. Children quarrel on egoistic lines regardless of sex. Comparisons thus begin at an age before the erotism in the complete and synthetized state is possible.