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About Roseburg news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1920-1948 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1936)
a sty Mao a Noted Biologist and Philosopher Advocates Isolation of Selected Youths for a Period of Twenty-Five Years, fcr lhensive Study FOR'THE NEW CITY' YjfW I UiwMW "Vf JHtST siifffe ou Me cft- 1 T $ I .EcSf ' ? I ' ' dren who are endowed with I f jV ' it (7 A potentialities and develop I 1,1 I $1 ' , tl em as completely as possible. In i - : ; J - ji's manner we could give to the J ' 'I Nation a nonhereditary aristocracy. li)f" iJL Xm fl Such child. en may be found in all I f f?f ' '- f I classes of scciety, a'though distin- WNM' I r Vl t' f I . ttu'shei men appear more fre- t My 1 1 i 1 quenliy in dist'nuished families $ ILL 1 Moi in others- 1 ' ' VSf if r-5xv!r jO I -Dr. Alexis Carrel. y CT--jk f L", J . By Carol B,rd (T M JL, . A S-i U- NM' bh,u ; 1 H I f -. '.Mr BEFORE AND NOW AN INDIVIDUAL'S survival was formerly wholly due to his adap tive capacity. Modern civilization, with the help of hygiene, comfort, good food, soft living, hospitals, physicians and nurses, has kept alive many human beings of poor quality. These weaklings and their descend ants contribute in a large measure to the enfeeblement of the white races. Dr. Alexis Carrel. Dr. Alexis Chrrel, noted scientist, declares that despite the large sumB of money Bpent for education in the United States, the educational elite does not seem to increase the conditions of their development and the possibility left to parents of transmitting to their' offspring the qualities which they have acquired In the course of their existence.- "The free practice of eugenics could lead not only to the development of stronger individuals but also of strains endowed with more endurance, Intelli gence and courage. These strains should constitute an aristocracy from which great men would probably ap pear." Still another revolutionary and bril liant plan was then outlined by Or. Carrel for the development of "engi neers," men who would "understand THAI the houi has struck ior civiliza tion to produce human elite, to be developed and modeled by science, is the belief ot Dr Alexis Carrel, one of the most distinguished scientists of i-ur time, surgeon biologist, philosopher, winner ol the Nobel Prize in 1912 and the Nordhoff-Jung Cancer Prize in 1931. Dr. Carrel, who has spent a lifetime in the study of human life, outlines tills , striking idea of the need for producing a higher type of men in his recent book, "Man, the Unknown." This no'ed scientist, member of the Rockefeller In stitute, feels that we do not "apprehend man as a whole," and that we must "rescue tiie individual from the state ot Intellprtual, moral and physiological a'rophy oroueht about by modern con ditton of life Human brings produced by Indus trial ilun are woti;. nsd. chiefly by the "wtrophv ol adaptive functions, b the habits of modern life.-' accord ing to Di Cartel, and It Is because of this degenerEthe proce. that a new type ol sunr'or hunrin boing must be developed He thinks iha' we are now v a crltiinl period ul human develop ment, that the very foundations of our present civilization arp threatened. Re minding us thHt "thp ace is to the swift and the ba tip to V? strong." he sug gests wave of devt i viing virile, healthy and comolete ppopie. "In spite ol the immense sums ot money expendta on the education of children and v" "i 'wople of the United St?trs the intellectual elite dees not seem to have ased. said Dr Car rel, pf-lntlng uu' the necessity for and outlining his vision of a superior race "Modern civilization seems to be In capable oi producing people endoweo with Imagination. Intelligence and cour age.' he continued. "Since the natural conditions ot existence have beer, de stroyed by modern civilization, the i science of man is becoming the most necessary of all sciences. Man must turn his a'tention to himself. What if the good of Increasing the comfort, the luxury, the beauty, the size and the complexities of our civilization, tf oui weakness prevents us from guiding It to our best advantage? of superior people, in- tailed In business or have muddled along stead of attempting., aa all their lives in Inferior nnsii.inns. or we have done In the past, among peasants living on the same spot-. tno mechanisms of the body and soul, ol i j .. ti j j u . i t.hn Inrilvirhinl ntirt nf hln rnlntlnno with iu uiug hi cm uuwu w me iwr ueuturiua. nuwever, iroin sucn level of the weaklings, people sometimes spring artists, poets. adventurers, saints." "The development of complete human beings must be the aim of our efforts. It is only with such especially devel oped Individuals that a real civilization can be constructed. "There is, for example, a class ol men who. although as- disharmonious as the criminal and the insane, are indispens able to modern society. They are the men of genius. Humanity has never gained anything from the efforts of the :rowd." pVR. CARREL then touched on the fallacy of the democratic principle that all men are born equal. He said: "Human beings are equal. Individ uals are not. The feeble-minded and the man of genius should not be equal before the law. The standardization of men by the democratic Ideal has already determined the predominance of the weak. Everywhere the weak are pre ferred to the strong. They are aided nd protected, often admired. -Like the invalid, the criminal ana he insane, they attract the sympathy t the public. Artists and men of tenee tuppiy the country with beauty, nealth and wealth. They live and die in povertv Robbers and gangsters enjoy irosperity and peace. "An Individual's survival was formerly wholly due to his adaptive capacity Modem civilization, with the help of hygiene, comfort, good food, soft living, hospitals, physicians and nurses, has kept alive many human beings of poor quality. These weaklings and their de scendants contribute, in a large meas ure, to the enfeeblement of the white races." Outlining his vision of a superior race and how It can be brought about, Dr. Carrel said: "A choice must be made among the mul'itude of civilized human beings. Natural selection has not played Its part for a long while. Many inferior Individuals have been conserved through the efTorts of hygiene and medicine. "But we cannot prevent the reproduc tion of the weak when they are neither insane nor criminal. Or destroy sickly or defective children as we do the weak lings in a litter of puppies. The only way to obviate the disastrous predom inance of the weak Is to develop the nrong. "0ur efTorts to render normal the unfit are evidently useless. We should, then, turn our attention toward pro moting the optimum growth of the fit. By making the strong still stronger, we could effectively help the weak, for the herd always profits by the Ideas and In ventions of the elite. Instead of level ing organic and mental Inequalities, we should amplify them and construct ereater men." This seeiWng aJrsae of building up the incompetents, the de fectives could be accom plished, according to the celebrated scientist, thus: "We must single out the children who are en dowed with high poten tialities and develop them as completely as possible. In this manner we could give to the Nation a non- hereditary aristocracy. such children may be found in all classes of society, although distin guished men appear more ' frequently in distin guished families than in others. The descendants of the founders of Ameri can civilization may still possess the ancestral qualities. These qualities are generally hidden under the cloak of degeneration. But this degeneration ts often superficial. It comes chiefly from education, Idleness, lack of responsibil ity and moral discipline. "The sons of very rich men, like those of criminals, should be removed while still infants from their natural sur roundings. Thus separated from their family, they could manifest their hered itary strength. In the aristocratic fam ilies of Europe there are also individuals of great vitality "The issue of the Crusaders Is by no means extinct The laws of genetics In dicate the probability that the legend ary audaci'y and love of adventure can appear again in the lineage of the feu dal lords. It is possible also that the offspring of the great criminals who have imagination, courage and Judg ment, of the heroes of the French or Russian Revolution, of the high-handed business men who live among us, might be excellent building stones for an en terprising minority. "As we know, criminality Is not hereditary If not united with feeble mindedness or other mental or cerebral defects. High potentialities are rarely encountered in the sons of honest, in telligent, hard-working men who havp had 111 luck In their cure en, who have WHILE Dr. Carrel reminds us that strength and boldness sometimes suddenly appear In families where they have never before been observed, he also adds: "Nevertheless, one should not expect to find among peasants and prole tarians many subjects endowed with great developmental possibilities. Today most of the members of the proletarian clasB owe their situation to the heredi tary weakness ot their organs and their mind. "Likewise, the peasants have re mained attached to the soil since the Middle Ages, because they possess the courage, judgment, physical resistance and lack of Imagination and daring which render them apt for this typo of life. These unknown farmers, anony mous soldiers, passionate lovers of the soli, the backbone of the European nations, were, despite their great quali ties, of a weaker organic and psycho logical constitution than the medieval barons who conquered the land and defended it against all invaders." Eugenics as one means for perpetua tion of the strong was named by Dr Carrel. He said: "A great race must propagate its best elements. However, In the most highly civilized nations re production is decreasing and yields In ferior products. Women voluntarily deteriorate through alcohol and tobacco. They subject themselves to dangerous dietary regimens In order to obtain a conventional slenderncss of their figure "Besides, they refuse to bear children such a defection Is due to their educa tion, to the progress of feminism, to the growth of short-sighted selfish nes It also comes from economic conditions, nervous unbalance. Instability of mar riage and fear of the burden imposed upon parents by the weakness or pre cocious corruption of children. "We must facilitate the union of the ocst elements of the race through edu cation and certain' economic advantuges The progress of the strong depends on the Individual and of his relations with the cosmic and social world." These men would "master anatomy, physi ology, biological chemistry, psychology, metapsychics, pathology, medicine and also havo a thorough acquaintance with genetics, nutrition, morals, soci ology, economics" and so on. They would supply the leaders and educator of the young in the new epoch, "the new city," with the Information neces sary for the development ot superior men. , They would live more or less like "monks of the great contemplative orders." "Can any Individual master all these sciences which I have named?" re peated Dr. Carrel. "It seems that such an accomplishment is not Impossible. In about twenty-five years of uninter rupted study one could learn them. "At the age of 60 those who had submitted themselves to this discipline could effectively direct the construction of the human being, and of a civiliza tion based on his true nature. Indeed, the few gifted individuals who dedicate themselves to this work will have to renounce the common modes of exist ence." HERE Dr. Carrel's delightful irony tinged his theme, his little stab at the banality of the modern man's way of life occurred. He said: "Those who renounce the common modes of life will not be able to play goV and bridge, to go to cinemas, to listen to radios, to make speeches at banquets, to serve on commltLeca. n attend meetings of scientific societies, political conventions and academics, or to cross the ocean and take part In International congresses. "They must live like the monjes i tiie great contemplative orders, and not like university professors, and still less like business men. In the course of the history of all great nations many have sacrificed themselves for the salvation of the community. Why should not some individuals sacrifice their lives to acquire the science lndlspciisable to the making of man and of his environ ment?" PAGE THREE
