Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard.

  • Graubard, Mark, 1904-1992.
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    54/388 (page 38)
    For example, by virtue of having a stomach and neural connections feelings of hunger are produced in us. This reaction may be controlled if we eat at regular hours. It is possible to modify our manner and rate of eating. Essen tially, however, primitive man who ate raw meat, the cannibal who feasts on human flesh, and modern man whose table manners are beyond reproach, all respond to the same urge. This is also true of the sexual impulse, desire for amuse ment, artistic satisfaction, humour, and so on. In each case identical impulses are involved, but their mode of satisfaction may be almost infinitely varied. However, it is the observed behaviour or finished pattern of conduct from which deductions are made about the nature of man. We have seen that precisely this behaviour is never the true or unadulterated human response, but is invariably modified by a specific environment. Hence a unique responsibility is placed upon the student of human nature. He must study the social, economic, and cultural histories of as many groups as possible in order to observe modifications of basic human impulses. Just as a physi ologist studies the function of a given organ by observing it under different conditions, or a chemist the properties of salts by their various reactions, so must the student of conduct study man in a variety of conditions. Only by integrating such knowledge with the biological organism can human nature be truly understood. At first glance the fact that the environment exerts so much power over our behaviour conveys a feeling of encouragement. After all, social institutions are man- made, and reflect ideas and beliefs accumulated over the ages. While tradition decides which language we should speak and which customs we must adhere to, it is a complex of custom, economic and political factors, social organiza tion, and other incidental forces which determines whether