Itmaythereforebeobjectedthattherecanhavebeennosuchinitialstageofpeaceablelifeasishereassumed。Thereisnopointinculturalevolutionpriortowhichfightingdoesnotoccur。Butthepointinquestionisnotastotheoccurrenceofcombat，occasionalorsporadic，orevenmoreorlessfrequentandhabitual；itisaquestionastotheoccurrenceofanhabitual；
itisaquestionastotheoccurrenceofanhabitualbellicosefromofmind——aprevalenthabitofjudgingfactsandeventsfromthepointofviewofthefight。Thepredatoryphaseofcultureisattainedonlywhenthepredatoryattitudehasbecomethehabitualandaccreditedspiritualattitudeforthemembersofthegroup；whenthefighthasbecomethedominantnoteinthecurrenttheoryoflife；whenthecommon-senseappreciationofmenandthingshascometobeanappreciationwithaviewtocombat。
Thesubstantialdifferencebetweenthepeaceableandthepredatoryphaseofculture，therefore，isaspiritualdifference，notamechanicalone。Thechangeinspiritualattitudeistheoutgrowthofachangeinthematerialfactsofthelifeofthegroup，anditcomesongraduallyasthematerialcircumstancesfavourabletoapredatoryattitudesupervene。Theinferiorlimitofthepredatorycultureisanindustriallimit。Predationcannotbecomethehabitual，conventionalresourceofanygrouporanyclassuntilindustrialmethodshavebeendevelopedtosuchadegreeofefficiencyastoleaveamarginworthfightingfor，abovethesubsistenceofthoseengagedingettingaliving。Thetransitionfrompeacetopredationthereforedependsonthegrowthoftechnicalknowledgeandtheuseoftools。Apredatorycultureissimilarlyimpracticableinearlytimes，untilweaponshavebeendevelopedtosuchapointastomakemanaformidableanimal。Theearlydevelopmentoftoolsandofweaponsisofcoursethesamefactseenfromtwodifferentpointsofview。
Thelifeofagivengroupwouldbecharacterisedaspeaceablesolongashabitualrecoursetocombathasnotbroughtthefightintotheforegroundinmen’severydaythoughts，asadominantfeatureofthelifeofman。Agroupmayevidentlyattainsuchapredatoryattitudewithagreaterorlessdegreeofcompleteness，sothatitsschemeoflifeandcanonsofconductmaybecontrolledtoagreaterorlessextentbythepredatoryanimus。Thepredatoryphaseofcultureisthereforeconceivedtocomeongradually，throughacumulativegrowthofpredatoryaptitudeshabits，andtraditionsthisgrowthbeingduetoachangeinthecircumstancesofthegroup’slife，ofsuchakindastodevelopandconservethosetraitsofhumannatureandthosetraditionsandnormsofconductthatmakeforapredatoryratherthanapeaceablelife。
Theevidenceforthehypothesisthattherehasbeensuchapeaceablestageofprimitivecultureisingreatpartdrawnfrompsychologyratherthanfromethnology，andcannotbedetailedhere。Itwillberecitedinpartinalaterchapter，indiscussingthesurvivalofarchaictraitsofhumannatureunderthemodernculture。