How completely this applies to man, the latest product of organic
evolution. The brain is that part or organ in him which has been
developed "in an extraordinary degree, in comparison with the same part"
in other Primates, and which has become _highly variable_. Whatever may
have been the favouring causes which secured his immediate progenitors
such modification of brain as advanced him in intelligence over "allied
species," the fact abides that in this lies the explanation of their
after-history; the arrest of the one, the unlimited progress of the
other. Increasing intelligence at work through vast periods of time
originated and developed those social conditions which alone made
possible that progress which, in its most advanced degree, but a small
proportion of the race has reached. For in this question of mental
differences the contrast is not between man and ape, but between man
savage and civilized; between the incapacity of the one to count beyond
his fingers, and the capacity of the other to calculate an eclipse of
the sun or a transit of Venus. It would therefore seem that Mr.
Wallace should introduce his "spiritual essence, or nature," in the
intermediate, and not in the initial stage.
As answer to Mr. Wallace's argument that in their large and
well-developed brains, savages "possess an organ quite disproportioned
to their requirements," Huxley cites Wallace's own remarks in his paper
on Instinct in Man and Animals as to the considerable demands made by
the needs of the lower races on their observing faculties which call
into play no mean exercise of brain function.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account