ChapterNineTheConservationofArchaicTraitsTheinstitutionofaleisureclasshasaneffectnotonlyuponsocialstructurebutalsoupontheindividualcharacterofthemembersofsociety。Sosoonasagivenproclivityoragivenpointofviewhaswonacceptanceasanauthoritativestandardornormoflifeitwillreactuponthecharacterofthemembersofthesocietywhichhasaccepteditasanorm。Itwilltosomeextentshapetheirhabitsofthoughtandwillexerciseaselectivesurveillanceoverthedevelopmentofmen’saptitudesandinclinations。Thiseffectiswroughtpartlybyacoercive，educationaladaptationofthehabitsofallindividuals，partlybyaselectiveeliminationoftheunfitindividualsandlinesofdescent。Suchhumanmaterialasdoesnotlenditselftothemethodsoflifeimposedbytheacceptedschemesuffersmoreorlesseliminationaswellasrepression。Theprinciplesofpecuniaryemulationandofindustrialexemptionhaveinthiswaybeenerectedintocanonsoflife，andhavebecomecoercivefactorsofsomeimportanceinthesituationtowhichmenhavetoadaptthemselves。
Thesetwobroadprinciplesofconspicuouswasteandindustrialexemptionaffecttheculturaldevelopmentbothbyguidingmen’shabitsofthought，andsocontrollingthegrowthofinstitutions，andbyselectivelyconservingcertaintraitsofhumannaturethatconducetofacilityoflifeundertheleisure-classscheme，andsocontrollingtheeffectivetemperofthecommunity。Theproximatetendencyoftheinstitutionofaleisureclassinshapinghumancharacterrunsinthedirectionofspiritualsurvivalandreversion。Itseffectuponthetemperofacommunityisofthenatureofanarrestedspiritualdevelopment。
Inthelatercultureespecially，theinstitutionhas，onthewhole，aconservativetrend。Thispropositionisfamiliarenoughinsubstance，butitmaytomanyhavetheappearanceofnoveltyinitspresentapplication。Thereforeasummaryreviewofitslogicalgroundsmaynotbeuncalledfor，evenattheriskofsometediousrepetitionandformulationofcommonplaces。
Socialevolutionisaprocessofselectiveadaptationoftemperamentandhabitsofthoughtunderthestressofthecircumstancesofassociatedlife。Theadaptationofhabitsofthoughtisthegrowthofinstitutions。Butalongwiththegrowthofinstitutionshasgoneachangeofamoresubstantialcharacter。Notonlyhavethehabitsofmenchangedwiththechangingexigenciesofthesituation，butthesechangingexigencieshavealsobroughtaboutacorrelativechangeinhumannature。Thehumanmaterialofsocietyitselfvarieswiththechangingconditionsoflife。Thisvariationofhumannatureisheldbythelaterethnologiststobeaprocessofselectionbetweenseveralrelativelystableandpersistentethnictypesorethnicelements。Mentendtorevertortobreedtrue，moreorlessclosely，tooneoranotherofcertaintypesofhumannaturethathaveintheirmainfeaturesbeenfixedinapproximateconformitytoasituationinthepastwhichdifferedfromthesituationoftoday。ThereareseveraloftheserelativelystableethnictypesofmankindcomprisedinthepopulationsoftheWesternculture。Theseethnictypessurviveintheraceinheritancetoday，notasrigidandinvariablemoulds，eachofasinglepreciseandspecificpattern，butintheformofagreaterorsmallernumberofvariants。Somevariationoftheethnictypeshasresultedundertheprotractedselectiveprocesstowhichtheseveraltypesandtheirhybridshavebeensubjectedduringtheprehistoricandhistoricgrowthofculture。
Thisnecessaryvariationofthetypesthemselves，duetoaselectiveprocessofconsiderabledurationandofaconsistenttrend，hasnotbeensufficientlynoticedbythewriterswhohavediscussedethnicsurvival。Theargumentishereconcernedwithtwomaindivergentvariantsofhumannatureresultingfromthis，relativelylate，selectiveadaptationoftheethnictypescomprisedintheWesternculture；thepointofinterestbeingtheprobableeffectofthesituationoftodayinfurtheringvariationalongoneortheotherofthesetwodivergentlines。
Theethnologicalpositionmaybebrieflysummedup；andinordertoavoidanybutthemostindispensabledetailthescheduleoftypesandvariantsandtheschemeofreversionandsurvivalinwhichtheyareconcernedareherepresentedwithadiagrammaticmeagernessandsimplicitywhichwouldnotbeadmissibleforanyotherpurpose。Themanofourindustrialcommunitiestendstobreedtruetooneortheotherofthreemainethictypes；thedolichocephalic-blond，thebrachycephalic-brunette，andtheMediterranean——disregardingminorandoutlyingelementsofourculture。Butwithineachofthesemainethnictypesthereversiontendstooneortheotherofatleasttwomaindirectionsofvariation；thepeaceableorantepredatoryvariantandthepredatoryvariant。Theformerofthesetwocharacteristicvariantsisnearertothegenerictypeineachcase，beingthereversionalrepresentativeofitstypeasitstoodattheearlieststageofassociatedlifeofwhichthereisavailableevidence，eitherarchaeologicalorpsychological。Thisvariantistakentorepresenttheancestorsofexistingcivilizedmanatthepeaceable，savagephaseoflifewhichprecededthepredatoryculture，theregimeofstatus，andthegrowthofpecuniaryemulation。Thesecondorpredatoryvariantofthetypesistakentobeasurvivalofamorerecentmodificationofthemainethnictypesandtheirhybrids——ofthesetypesastheyweremodified，mainlybyaselectiveadaptation，underthedisciplineofthepredatorycultureandthelatteremulativecultureofthequasi-peaceablestage，orthepecuniarycultureproper。
Undertherecognizedlawsofhereditytheremaybeasurvivalfromamoreorlessremotepastphase。Intheordinary，average，ornormalcase，ifthetypehasvaried，thetraitsofthetypearetransmittedapproximatelyastheyhavestoodintherecentpast——whichmaybecalledthehereditarypresent。Forthepurposeinhandthishereditarypresentisrepresentedbythelaterpredatoryandthequasi-peaceableculture。
Itistothevariantofhumannaturewhichischaracteristicofthisrecent——hereditarilystillexisting——predatoryorquasipredatoryculturethatthemoderncivilizedmantendstobreedtrueinthecommonrunofcases。Thispropositionrequiressomequalificationsofarasconcernsthedescendantsoftheservileorrepressedclassesofbarbariantimes，butthequalificationnecessaryisprobablynotsogreatasmightatfirstthoughtappear。Takingthepopulationasawhole，thispredatory，emulativevariantdoesnotseemtohaveattainedahighdegreeofconsistencyorstability。Thatistosay，thehumannatureinheritedbymodernOccidentalmanisnotnearlyuniforminrespectoftherangeortherelativestrengthofthevariousaptitudesandpropensitieswhichgotomakeitup。Themanofthehereditarypresentisslightlyarchaicasjudgedforthepurposesofthelatestexigenciesofassociatedlife。Andthetypetowhichthemodernmanchieflytendstorevertunderthelawofvariationisasomewhatmorearchaichumannature。Ontheotherhand，tojudgebythereversionaltraitswhichshowthemselvesinindividualsthatvaryfromtheprevailingpredatorystyleoftemperament，theante-predatoryvariantseemstohaveagreaterstabilityandgreatersymmetryinthedistributionorrelativeforceofitstemperamentalelements。
Thisdivergenceofinheritedhumannature，asbetweenanearlierandalatervariantoftheethnictypetowhichtheindividualtendstobreedtrue，istraversedandobscuredbyasimilardivergencebetweenthetwoorthreemainethnictypesthatgotomakeuptheOccidentalpopulations。Theindividualsinthesecommunitiesareconceivedtobe，invirtuallyeveryinstance，hybridsoftheprevailingethnicelementscombinedinthemostvariedproportions；withtheresultthattheytendtotakebacktooneortheotherofthecomponentethnictypes。
Theseethnictypesdifferintemperamentinawaysomewhatsimilartothedifferencebetweenthepredatoryandtheantepredatoryvariantsofthetypes；thedolicho-blondtypeshowingmoreofthecharacteristicsofthepredatorytemperament——oratleastmoreoftheviolentdisposition——thanthebrachycephalic-brunettetype，andespeciallymorethantheMediterranean。Whenthegrowthofinstitutionsoroftheeffectivesentimentofagivencommunityshowsadivergencefromthepredatoryhumannature，therefore，itisimpossibletosaywithcertaintythatsuchadivergenceindicatesareversiontotheante-predatoryvariant。Itmaybeduetoanincreasingdominanceoftheoneortheotherofthe“lower“ethnicelementsinthepopulation。Still，althoughtheevidenceisnotasconclusiveasmightbedesired，thereareindicationsthatthevariationsintheeffectivetemperamentofmoderncommunitiesisnotaltogetherduetoaselectionbetweenstableethnictypes。Itseemstobetosomeappreciableextentaselectionbetweenthepredatoryandthepeaceablevariantsoftheseveraltypes。
Thisconceptionofcontemporaryhumanevolutionisnotindispensabletothediscussion。Thegeneralconclusionsreachedbytheuseoftheseconceptsofselectiveadaptationwouldremainsubstantiallytrueiftheearlier，DarwinianandSpencerian，termsandconceptsweresubstituted。Underthecircumstances，somelatitudemaybeadmissibleintheuseofterms。Theword“type“isusedloosely，todenotevariationsoftemperamentwhichtheethnologistswouldperhapsrecognizeonlyastrivialvariantsofthetyperatherthanasdistinctethnictypes。Whereveracloserdiscriminationseemsessentialtotheargument，theefforttomakesuchacloserdiscriminationwillbeevidentfromthecontext。
Theethnictypesoftoday，then，arevariantsoftheprimitiveracialtypes。Theyhavesufferedsomealteration，andhaveattainedsomedegreeoffixityintheiralteredform，underthedisciplineofthebarbarianculture。Themanofthehereditarypresentisthebarbarianvariant，servileoraristocratic，oftheethnicelementsthatconstitutehim。Butthisbarbarianvarianthasnotattainedthehighestdegreeofhomogeneityorofstability。Thebarbarianculture——thepredatoryandquasi-peaceableculturalstages——thoughofgreatabsoluteduration，hasbeenneitherprotractedenoughnorinvariableenoughincharactertogiveanextremefixityoftype。
Variationsfromthebarbarianhumannatureoccurwithsomefrequency，andthesecasesofvariationarebecomingmorenoticeabletoday，becausetheconditionsofmodernlifenolongeractconsistentlytorepressdeparturesfromthebarbariannormal。
Thepredatorytemperamentdoesnotleaditselftoallthepurposesofmodernlife，andmoreespeciallynottomodernindustry。
Departuresfromthehumannatureofthehereditarypresentaremostfrequentlyofthenatureofreversionstoanearliervariantofthetype。Thisearliervariantisrepresentedbythetemperamentwhichcharacterizestheprimitivephaseofpeaceablesavagery。Thecircumstancesoflifeandtheendsofeffortthatprevailedbeforetheadventofthebarbarianculture，shapedhumannatureandfixeditasregardscertainfundamentaltraits。
Anditistotheseancient，genericfeaturesthatmodernmenarepronetotakebackincaseofvariationfromthehumannatureofthehereditarypresent。Theconditionsunderwhichmenlivedinthemostprimitivestagesofassociatedlifethatcanproperlybecalledhuman，seemtohavebeenofapeacefulkind；andthecharacter——thetemperamentandspiritualattitudeofmenundertheseearlyconditionsorenvironmentandinstitutionsseemstohavebeenofapeacefulandunaggressive，nottosayanindolent，cast。Fortheimmediatepurposethispeaceableculturalstagemaybetakentomarktheinitialphaseofsocialdevelopment。Sofarasconcernsthepresentargument，thedominantspiritualfeatureofthispresumptiveinitialphaseofcultureseemstohavebeenanunreflecting，unformulatedsenseofgroupsolidarity，largelyexpressingitselfinacomplacent，butbynomeansstrenuous，sympathywithallfacilityofhumanlife，andanuneasyrevulsionagainstapprehendedinhibitionorfutilityoflife。Throughitsubiquitouspresenceinthehabitsofthoughtoftheante-predatorysavageman，thispervadingbutuneagersenseofthegenericallyusefulseemstohaveexercisedanappreciableconstrainingforceuponhislifeanduponthemannerofhishabitualcontactwithothermembersofthegroup。