Page:The Advancing Proletariat (1917).pdf/7

Rh demonstrated the fact that all of man's ideas come from the OUTSIDE—that no thought ever sprang spontaneous in the human brain. In other words—HUMAN THOUGHTS, HUMAN IDEAS, SPRING FROM HUMAN CONTACTS AND EXPERIENCES WITH THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE ABOUT US. Man's ability to think—his consciousness—the thing we call the "Ego"—the mind—is a natural development through the orderly operation of the laws of the Universe, and, as such, it may be studied, analyzed and classified. The science of Psychology takes its place naturally as part of the larger and more extended sciences of Biology and Anthropology.

Here then is a basis for the study of the actions of men. Whim and caprice disappear, and the laws of cause and effect are seen operating in an orderly and rational sequence. The individual takes his place as a resultant of the experiences of his forebears and his own contacts with the world around him. His environment and the history of his race have made him what he is. Knowing the intimate history of any man, and with a given human situation, we may confidently predict what his actions will be.

But man is a gregarious creature. He herds with his kind in social organizations, and his history is not complete without an examination of the relations which men sustain towards each other. Immediately our studies are shifted from the individual to the race. The sciences of, , , , Technology, History, Archeology, Sociology and Economics are opened up to us. Through them all runs that wonderful law of human development—the Law of Evolution. Through them all we are continually brought round to the dictum of Dietzgen, that "human thoughts and ideas spring from human experiences."