Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/553

Rh most of them wear themselves out more in acquiring the source of their dominion than the humblest of their dependents, and for the most part do not cease to strain their mental capacities to the limit in this exacting labor, long after they have amassed fortunes far beyond the most exaggerated possible requirements of the individual.

We perceive that for the man of to-day work has become an instinctive need. We find it difficult to understand the biblical presentation of it as a curse. Herein we have an illustration of a phenomenon of moment to living beings which can be summarized thus: In the course of evolution the necessities of life develop into the happiness of life.

Those beings in whom pleasurable sensations attend the tasks necessary to life will carry on these tasks better and more completely than will others, who are brought to labor only by force of necessity. Hence, in the competition for existence, or in the course of adaptation, such beings are at an advantage, in comparison with the discontented, and have a better chance to transmit their characteristics. Thereby is established a progressive confirmation and intensification of this vitalizing tendency, which gradually becomes a fixed peculiarity of the species. The case is similar with regard to the taking of food. Eating and drinking came to be ranked among the chief ceremonials of men, as a result of uncertainties and irregularities in the food supply. In highly civilized environments the custom survived, along with the sentiments that prompted it, as a consequence of the law of biological inertia, for long generations after the conditions which created it had passed away. Thus, we still punctuate our festivities of various kinds with banquets, during which the festive spirit usually reaches a maximum. Again, the decisive function for the continued existence of a species, reproduction, is safeguarded by a strong development of the corresponding emotions. The mode of life and the character of most of the higher animals undergo marked changes at the time of mating, and we see such animals instinctively make the greatest sacrifices for the preservation of their young. If we ask how it is with man in this regard, we have only to consider the content of art. Ninety per cent, of all poetry relates to love, and the personal experiences of most individuals further go to show that the emotions aroused in connection therewith and the feelings of happiness and misery are keener than any other emotions that affect mankind. In this, some men have a different experience, or express themselves doubtfully. These are the creative geniuses. They often declare that in hours of greatest productivity they have a sense of profound or even of inexpressible happiness.

Labor, being a necessity imposed on life, has developed till it has become one of the joys of life. The completeness of this change of feeling varies with the stage of culture of the particular group. Desire for work has become instinctive, more especially among those peoples