Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/699

 between certain physical atoms—this, or something closely corresponding with it, is true of social life. In origin it is a direct reciprocity. Presently it is maintained by a special self-existing structure. These structures represent the idea or the power which holds the group together in this particular respect, and they, at the same time, consolidate the group coherence so that it passes from a mere functional to a substantial character.

It is one of the profoundest facts about humanity, and of most specific application to human conditions, that individuals as well as groups have derived considerable powers and advantages from structures which they have themselves endowed with the energies and qualities from which these reinforcements come. The effective energies of an actor, with which he secures his maintenance and development, exhibit themselves very often in the roundabout way of first producing an apparently objective structure, from which they then flow back upon the actor. Thus, for illustration, we act like a party waging war, who secures an ally, but first furnishes that ally with all the military resources which he is to use. Think, for instance, of the idea of the gods, whom men first endowed with all sorts of qualities, worthinesses, and excellencies reflected from human souls. Then the same men used these gods as a source of moral laws and of power to enforce them. Think again how we endow a fine country in which we live with meanings taken from our own feelings, and then draw from contemplation of the same comfort, earnestness, and impulse. Think again how often friend or wife seems to enrich us in thought and feeling, until we perceive that all this spiritual content came from ourselves, and is only reflected back upon us by these helpers. If in all such occurrences a deep self-deception is concealed, it is surely not without profound utility. Without question many powers of our nature require such extension, transformation, and projection in order to reach their highest use. We must set them at a certain distance from ourselves in order for them to work upon us with maximum force. Illusion about their actual source is evidently very advantageous in preventing interference with this influence.