Euthenics, the science of controllable environment: A plea for better living conditions as a first step toward higher human efficiency — John Shaqi
Euthenics, the science of controllable environment: A plea for better living conditions as a first step toward higher human efficiencyRichards, Ellen H. (Ellen Henrietta)
Science
Euthenics, the science of controllable environment: A plea for better living conditions as a first step toward higher human efficiency
Richards, Ellen H. (Ellen Henrietta)
Euthenics
The real significance of biological evolution has not been grasped by
the people in general. It is that man is a part of organic nature,
subject to laws of development and growth, laws which he cannot break
with impunity. It is his business to study the forces of Nature and to
conquer his environment by submitting to the inevitable. Only then
will man gain control of the conditions which affect his own
well-being.
Sickness, we know, is the result of breaking some law of universal
nature. What that law may be, investigators in scores of laboratories
are endeavoring to determine. In most diseases they have been
successful. Those remaining are being attacked on all sides, and it
may be confidently predicted that a few years will see success
assured.
Why, then, does sickness continue to be the greatest drain upon
individual and national resources? Because man, through ignorance or
unbelief, will not avail himself of this knowledge, or is behind the
times in his method. Where wisdom means effort and discomfort, many
feel it folly to be wise.
The individual may be wise as to his own needs, but powerless by
himself to secure the satisfaction of them. Certain concessions to
others’ needs are always made in family life. The community is only a
larger family group, and social consciousness must in time take into
account social welfare. Moreover, a neighbor may pollute the water
supply, foul the air, and adulterate the food. This is the penalty
paid for living in groups. Men band together, therefore, to protect a
common water supply, to suppress smoke, dust, and foul gases which
render the common air unfit to breathe. The State helps the group to
protect itself from bad food as it does from destruction of property.
The development of fire protection is a good example of community
effort. The isolated farmhouse may have buckets of water and blankets
in an accessible place with which to put out an incipient fire. Then
eight or ten families build close together. The danger of one becomes
the danger of all, and a fire brigade is organized that may protect
all. When hundreds of families crowd together in a small space the
danger becomes so much the greater that a paid department with
efficient apparatus is necessary. No one complains of the infraction
of individual rights. Each one is glad to pay his share of the
expense.
In securing protection from other dangers, the individual and the
family unit are fast relying on community regulations. In fact, in
many ways the individual, when he becomes one of a crowd, must go
whither the crowd goes and at the same rate of progress.
Failure to recognize that by coming into the community he has
forfeited his right to unrestrained individuality causes an irritation
as unreasonable as harmful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account