Man Multidimensional Environment

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Man's Multidimensional EnvironmentAuthor(s): Lawrence K. FrankSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Apr., 1943), pp. 344-357Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/17918 .

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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENTBy LAWRENCE K. FRANK

NEW YORK CITY

MAN findshimself n a seriesof envi-ronments o whichhe exhibitsvaryingdegrees of contingency. If we viewhuman activity as occurringwithin aseries of fieldsof whichman's behaviormaybe regardedas a function,we maytake one large step toward clarificationof the present confusionand conflictsamongstudentsofhumanactivity.We may recognize nitially hereforenumberof environmen-ts,amely:(a) The geographicalenvironmentfnature.(b) The internalenvironment f themammalianorganism.(e) The cultural environment ofgroup life.(d) The social environment f com-munity iving.Each of theseenvironmentsonditions

the functionalprocesses,the activitiesand the conductofman,but with vary-ing degreesof coerciveness.THE GEOGRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT

The basic geographical pace, ournat-ural environmentn whichall organismsexist,maybe conceived s a seriesofon-going processes and events-physical,chemical, biological-which- occur insequential patterns in accordance withthe fundamental ransformationsf en-ergy. More generally,we may speak oforganisms xistingngeographical pace,subject to gravitation,radiation, baro-metric pressure,heat and cold, and allthe manyimpactsto whichtheyare ex-posedin their everal ifezones. Consid-erationof thisgeographical nvironmentand its meaningfor humanactivityhasbeen directed argely to the more dra-matic events that have broughteitherdisasteror goodfortune o man,witha

consequentneglectof the continuous e-pendenceof man upon the operation ofthese ongoing processes and events forhis continued xistence.To say that we are waiting uponbroadly conceived ormulations fman'srelationship o the natural environmentis merely to recognizehow greatly weneed a new conception f the relation ofman to the universe nd realizationthatman is a part of nature, not outsidenature, s ourtheological raditions avefor so long insisted. As Alfred N.Whitehead has so cogently remarked:" It is a false dichotomyto think ofnature and man. Mankind s that factorin naturewhich exhibits n its most n-tenseform he plasticity f nature."'The evidence is slowly accumulatingin supportof the conception f man as acosmic resonator to a wide variety ofenergy ransformationso that he is con-tinuously absorbing, directly or indi-rectly, nergy n differentntensities sinsunshine, ltraviolet, lectrical nergy,infraredrays, etc. Moreover t is beingshown that man is precariouslydepen-dent upon an adequate supply of thevarious mineralsnecessaryfor organicfunctioningand the various vitaminswhichhe cannotmanufacturefor him-self. How dependentman is forthe con-stant upplyof these ubstances s shownby theway in whichhis health and hissanity are threatened,f not lost, afterany prolongeddeprivation hereof.To understandadequatelyman's rela-tionship o thegeographical nvironmentofnaturewe must realize themanyim-plicationsofman'smammalian ncestry,reeallingthemillions of years of evolu-

1 Cf. Alfred N. Whitehead, "Adventures ofIdeas." Macmillan, New York, 1933.344

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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT 345tionarydevelopnent,both in the mam-malian and in the pre-mammalianorms,throughwhichhe developedthecapacityfor existing in this geographical spaceand maintaininghis amazinglycompli-cated physiologicalprocesses, ncludingreproduction,that are necessary forman's continuedexistence nd perpetu-ation. Only recentlyhave we begun togain any understanding f thesemam-malian processes which are being re-vealedas theslow achievement f succes-sive evolutionary forms culminatingapparently nmammals nd especially nman who has the widest range of exis-tence of all mammals,fromthe areticcold to tropicalheat,fromhighaltitudesto sea level and below. This thenbringsus to consideration f thenext most m-portant environment in which mranexists.

THE INTERNALNVIRONMENTMan's capacityforexisting nder suchdiverse and continually changing cli-

matic conditions rises fromhis abilityto maintain a relatively table internalenvironment--anbilitywhich, s indi-cated, was slowly evolved by his mam-malian ancestors. As recent tudieshaveshown,the various organ systemsandglands of internal secretion nteractingthrough hebloodand the ymph nd thenervous systems are engaged in con-tinual readjustments for the mainte-nance of what W. B. Cannon has sowelltermed homeostasis.'12 Throughseries of amazinigly elicate interactingadjustments,hemammalian rganism sable to maintain ts nternal nvironmentwithinfairly narrow limits of fluctua-tion,or to recover tabiltyvery quicklyafter t has beern isplacedthrough omeexternal event or pronounced organicactivity. Thus themammalian rganism2 W. B. Cannon, The Wisdomof theBody. "W. W. Norton and Co., New York, 1932. R. G.

Hoskins, " The Tides of Life. " W. W. Nortonand Company,New York, 1933.

is able to exist in a fluctuating, ver-changing nvironment,esponding o thevariationsofheat,cold,barometric res-sure,oxygentension, s well as meetingtheimpactoftraumatic vents, f infec-tions, nd thelike,and also carrying nin the mature organlism he internalfunctionalactivitiesassociated with re-production nd lactation.Just because this capacity for main-taining a stable internal environmentwas "learned" throughmillionsofyearsofevolutionary evelopment,heseproc-esses takeplace ordinarilywith ittleorno awareness on the part of man andwith ittleor no consciouseffort eyondthatinvolved n seekingfood and drinkand in eliminations. It cannot be toostrongly mphasizedthat these achieve-mentsof our mammalian ncestorshaveconferred pon us an amazingdegree offreedom,not only to live all over theearthunderthewidestrange ofclimaticconditions, ut to carryon an extraordi-naryvarietyof sustainedactivitiesthatare possibleonlybecause thesebasic or-ganic processes are continuallytakingcare of our organic requirements ndneeds.Because we thinkof the environmentas something utside or surrounding r-ganism, it is necessaryto this discus-sion to reemphasizethe statement hatman,as a mammalian rganism,xists nthegeographical nvironmentnd also inthis internal environment. It may besaid thatmanlives between heexternaland the internal environmentso thattheir interaction is continually beingmediatedby himthrough nternalread-justments or overt activities. At thispoint tmay be appropriateto pointoutthat man derives fromhis mammalianancestry, ut unlikeall his predecessorshe enjoys a unique status, n that as anorganism he is relatively young andplastic, having escaped that differenti-ationand specializationofstructure nd



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346 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYfunctionwhich has markedthe end ofthe road for all otherspecies. Man isindeed unique, as Julian Huxley hasrecentlyemphasized,3 ince he has sur-vivedwithotutayingthe price of fixityand sacrificeof furtherdevelopmentalpossibilities, xacted fromall otheror-ganisms. It may also be desirable toemphasize hat man, s pointedout yearsago, has a prolonged infancy, muchlonger than any other species, duringwhichhe is engaged in furthergrowth,development nd maturation nd there-fore s capable of considerable earning.In addition,man also has a much ongeradolescence han anyother pecies,whichalso makes possiblefurtherearningandadaptation beforehe reaches the adultsteady state and moreor less fixedpat-ternsofactivity fthematureorganism.It is indeed astonishing o realize howlittlehas beenknown boutman,his evo-lutionary and hereditarybackground,his gestation,his growth,developmentand maturation. As we will have occa-sion to point out later,all of our tradi-tional ideas, conceptions and beliefsabout man are derived from the mostextraordinarymyths nd fantasieswhichcan no longerbe accepted in the lightof the growingknowledge f humande-velopment.Many of those who are interested nstudyingman and trying o understandhis activitieshave attemptedto escapefrom these traditionalmythologiesbydevelopinga rigorouslybiological con-ceptionofman. Theyhave invokedtheforegoing icture fman,the mammalianorganism existing in the geographicalworld of nature,as acted upon by theongoingprocesses nd natural events ndin turnreacting o thesethroughhis in-herited mammalian capacities. Theseattempts o developa morerigorousbio-logical conception f manarehighly om-mendableand are verymuchneeded if3 Julian Huxley," Man Stands Alone." Har-per, N. Y., 1941.

we are to gain a betterunderstanding fhuman activities. It must be obvious,however, hat tostop with a formulationin terms f man as an organism eactingto the geographical environment s togive a picture that is fundamentallyn-adequate and incomplete, ince nowheredo wefindman,even amongtheso-calledmostprimitivegroups, ivingon a basisof organic functioningand biologicalimpulse.Man, as indicated earlier, is indeedunique because, unlikeall other species,he has made his adaptations, not byorganicspecializationand bodilydiffer-entiation, ut throughdeas and the useoftools; indeed,whatdistinguishesmanfromhis fellowmammals s thedevelop-mentofthecerebral ortexwhichhasnotonly made possible whatwe call humansocial life, but apparently has made itnecessaryfor man to develop a modeofexistence otherthan that of simple or-ganic functioning and impulsive be-havior. While it has been customary othinkofman as drivenby fear to buildup defensesagainst a threateningen-vironment nd natural enemies, t maybe suggestedthat to a coiisiderable x-tent man may have been compelledtodevelopwhatwecall social life, nd espe-cially thearts, by sheerennuiand bore-dom,because, having a large brain, hecould not be contentmerelyto exist onan organic level. It may also be sug-gestedthatsinceman,as man,appearedrelatively ate he foundvarious ifezonesmore or less preemptedby older speciesthat had established hemselves hroughtheir specialized structural and func-tional capacities and could maintainthemselves hereinmoreefficientlyhancouldman,whenhe attempted o live ona purely biological evel. Thus it seemsprobable thatboththrough oredom ndthrough heneed fordeveloping modeof living that was compatiblewith hisneeds and capacitiesand the opportuni-tiesavailable to such a late arrival,mian



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMtENT 347proceededto develop in his early dayswhat we call culture.

THE CULTURALENVIRONMENTThe conception f human culture hasnot been verywidely used or acceptedexcept among anthropologists nd thestudents fpre-history;herefore,t maybe desirable oapproachthe discussion fthe cultural environment y indicatingwhat at this time may have been theprobableoriginofculture. Let us recallthatfrom isearliestbeginningsman hasfaced certain persistenttasks of life,

namely:1. To come to terms with nature inorder ogain sustenance, o find ecurity,and to achievesurvival in a worldbothprecarious ndlproblematic.2. To organizea group ife so that in-dividuals can live together nd partici-pate in the division of labor, whichgroup ivingbothnecessitates nd makespossible.3. To transform rganic functioningand impulsive behavior into the pat-terned conduct of group life and ofhuman ivingas distinctfrombiologicalfunctioning.Each specieshas workedout a way oflife by learning> o deal with certainselectedaspectsof the ife zone in whichit lives. Thus in the same life zone wefind nsects, eptiles, irdsand mammals,findingsustenance,achieving survival,but each iving noneof the manyworldswhich that same life zone provides fortheselective wareness, pecializedneedsand the differentiatedapacities of eachspecies. These separate worldsmay andfrequently o conflict r interlockn thesense that we have predators,parasitesand symbiotic pecies; but it is not un-warrantedto speak of these diversebutcoexistentworlds as being created outof the totality of nature by what eachspecies responds to and what it ignoresand disregards in that life zone. Wemight ay thatnature presents differ-

entperspective o each specieswhichat-temptsto live withinthe dimensionsofthe ife zone revealedby its ownspecificphylogenetic istory.In much the same way we may con-ceive of manworking ut his humanwayof ifebydeveloping hespecific erspec-tive whichhe imputes o or imposesuponthe geographicalenvironment f natureinwhichhe findshimself. Here wehaveto face one of the major difficultiesnattempting o clarify his arger problemof man and hisenvironment,incewe areprone to adopt a more or less unidimen-sional or absolutepicturein accordancewithour wholerational, ntellectual ra-dition. We mustmake a special effort,therefore,n order to be able to think nmultidimensionalermswhichmeansthatwe mustrecognize hatman, as a mam-malian organism, exists in nature andreacts to the ongoing processes andevents f what we call the "real orphysi-cal world," but at the same timehe de-velops a highly specialized picture ofthatworld in accordancewiththe basicconceptions and assumptions that hemakes about the world and himself.4Thus he exists in the geographical en-vironment of nature and respondsthereto with his inheritedmammaliancapacities,but nevertheless e builds upa highly selectiveversionof that worldand responds thereto n the rigorouslypatterned functions and conduct pre-scribedbyhis culture.Culture,therefore,mightbe describedas theprocess by whichman creates andmaintains this peculiarlyhuman worldand group way of life, this cultural en-vironmentwhich he imposes upon thegeographical and the internal environ-ments,upon nature and himself, n ac-cordance with the basic ideas and con-ceptionswhichhe himselfhas developed.All over the world, therefore,we finddifferentroups of people all belongrino

4Cf. the writers paper, "Science and Cul-ture. THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY, Vol. L, No.6, pp. 491-497. June,1940.



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348 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYto the same human species but withminorvariations of color and size, exist-ing as organisms n the same geographi-cal world ofnature,yeteach group ivesin a distinctcultural world of its ownhistorical reation. Each of these differ-ent culturesmay be interpreted s ananswerproposedbymanto the persistentlife tasks which he has faced and theseanswers may be said to arise fromthefour basic assumptions or organizingconceptions f each culture,namely:1. The natureof the universe; how itarose, or was created; how it operates;who or whatmakes thingshappen, andwhy.2. Man s place in that universe; hisorigin,natureand destiny, is relation otheworld; whethern nature or outsidenature.3. Man's relation to his group; whomust be sacrificedfor whom; the indi-vidual s rights, titles, obligations andinterests.4. Human nature and conduct;man'simage of self and his motives; what hewantsand what he shouldhave; how heshouldbe educatedand socialized.With theseconceptions r assumptionsman has attemptedto order events,toorganize xperience,nd togive meaningand significanceo the environingworldand to his own ife. Whatever xists ndhappens will be viewed and interpretedin terms fthesebasic ideas, beliefs, ndconceptionswhichare expressed n whatwe call the religion, he philosophy, helaw and the art of each culturalgroup.They providethe only groupsanctionedways ofbelieving, hinking, cting,feel-ing,and speaking, ivingrise to the eidosand the ethosof each culture.5The more we reflect pon the culturalenvironment he more amazing it be-comes, because we see that under thecoercion of his own historicallydevel-

5 Cf. Gregory Bateson, " Naven. " Cam-bridge University Press, London, 1936. Esp.Chapters iii, viii, ix, xiv and xv.

oped cultureman has rigorously imitedhimselfto what he may,may not, andmust do, oftendeprivinghimselfof therichopportunities ffered y his ife zoneformeetinghis needs and requirementsas seen in the extraordinary ariety oftaboos and inviolabilitieswhich he hasestablished for his own observance.Moreover,we see man engaged in a be-wildering array of rituals and cere-moniesdesigned o deal with he environ-ment as conceivedby his culture,which,in the ight of our growingknowledge fnatural processes and events are oftenerroneous. No better xampleof thiscanbe citedthan theamazing varietyoffer-tilityritesthat man all over the worldhas and still does practice, hoping bysympatheticmagic or otherpracticestoenhance or modify hefertility f birdsand animalsupon which he depends forsustenance ndhis ownfecundity.Whatis perhaps themostremarkable spect ofthe diverse cultural environments hathavebeen developedall over theworld sthatmanhas beenable to survivedespitethe misconceptions nd erroneous as-sumptions e has made about natureandhimself.What weneed toemphasizehere s thatthis cultural environment s a highlydevelopedseries of possibilities, f com-pulsionsand of prohibitionswhich veryspecifically define the geographicalenvironment of nature, the internalenvironment and man s interactionstherein. In any attemptto understandhumanactivities ullrecognitionmustbegiven to this culturalenvironment inceit is usuallymorecoercive nd restrictivethan the geographical environment fnature and the internal environment fhis ownorganism. Moreover,t must beevident hat man cannot, xcept perhapswhenpsychotic r wholly acking in in-telligence, ive on a biological basis ofsimple physiological unctioningnd or-ganic impulse. Here we see why thewell meant effortsf manyscientists o



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT 349foster moreobjective nd realisticviewof human existence,however laudibletheir attacks on superstition nd folk-lore, re inadequateand mustbe rejectedsince man cannotacceptand live upon apurelyobjectivebasis. To be whollyob-jective means to deal withthe environ-ment only in terms of the processes,events and the biological functionsofnatureand toreject anypatterns f con-duct which involve aspirations,inhibi-tions, functional patterning,and theotheraspects of human conductas dis-tinguishedfromorganic behavior.

Moreover,culture, by the very de-mands it places upon man and thelimi-tations t imposesupon his naive organicdemands nd functioning,reeshimfromthe coercive controlof hunger, ex andemotional utbreaks. If he did not earnto modifyhis internal environment ytransforming unger into appetite forthe foodfavoredby his group,eaten atthe prescribed intervals,he would bedriven ncessantly o seekand appropri-ate available food and eat continuouslylike many otherorganisms. If also hedid not build up some respectfor theinviolability of things and persons-what we call private propertyand thesanctity ftheperson-he wouldbe con-tinually subject to invasionof his bodyand goods by othersor driven to attackothers. Moreover,f he did not developtheawareness nd therather igidlypat-ternedemotional xpressions nd repres-sions,as favoredbyhis group, he wouldmissmostof therichness nd significanceof ifeand be at themercy f every mo-tional mpulse nhimself nd others. In-deed, we must recognizethat whateverwe cherish nd value in life derivesfromtheculturalformulations hathavegivenmeaningand richness o natureand liv-ing, all of whiclhwould be lost or de-stroyedby a purely objective mode ofactingand thinkingr.66 Cf. the writers paper, "' Art and Living,"The AmericanMagazine of Art,May, 1932.

What culture does is to establish aselectiveversion of the geographicalen-vironment nd also a moreorless rigidlycontrolled r restrictednternal nviron-ment, o that bothenvironmentsperateupon man to foster he kind of conductand functionalactivityfavoredby thegrouptraditions.The necessity or recognizing he cul-tural environment nd its coercivenessappears moreclearly whenwe view theprocessby whichthis cultural environ-ment is established. Unlike the geo-graphicalenvironment fnatureand theorganicpatterns nd functional ctivityofthe nternal nvironment,heculturalenvironmentependsfor tscontinuationand maintenance pontheprocessofcul-turation, hat is, educatingeach genera-tion of children in terms of the basicideas and conceptions, the selectiveawareness,the sensibilities, he sociallysanctionedwaysoffunctioning,hinking,believing, peaking,acting and feeling.Only insofar s children earn to see theworld, ncludingotherpeople and them-selves,in terms of theircultural tradi-tions, learn to observethe group sanc-tionedpatternsof functioning, onductand feeling,will a culturepersist. Eachchild in all thedifferentulturalgroupsthroughoutheworld rrives nthe ceneas a moreor less plasticorganismwhoisrapidly molded into the patterns ap-provedby thegroup so thatthe culturalenvironmentn whichhe growsuip be-comestheonlyvalid and acceptablewayof seeing,thinking, cting and feeling.Indeed, thisparochialismof culturesbywhich the individual learns what thegroup traditions each and growsup tobelievethatthat s theonlyvalid way oflooking t life, s one oftheverycuriousaspects of humanexistence s expressedin intoleranceand otherformsof nar-row-mindeduspicionof all that is dif-f,pr int 7

7 Cf. Eliot D. Chapple and Carleton S. Coon," Principles of Anthropology." iIenry Holtand Company,New York, 1942.



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350 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYWe mustcontinually emindourselvesthatthe culturalenvironments a humancreation which depends precariously

upon the continuity ftradition, hat is,upon inculcating hesebasic patternsofideas in children. There is nothing nthe naturalbiologicalenvironment hichrequires or necessitates ny specific ul-tural pattern or social organization al-though, as indicated earlier, it seemsclear thatsome formof culture s essen-tial toman. Perhaps we might ay thatnature has been patientof the amazingvariety of cultural formulationswhichwe find ll over theworld.8The coercivenessof the cultural en-vironmentupon man derives from thevery processby which it is established,namely, heeducationofthe youngchild,who, as he growsup and reacts to hisinternal nvironmentnd to the externalworld is continually upervised and ad-monished y his parents nd other dultsso thathe is foreedto acceptwhathe istaught,at least to the extentof adopt-ing thelargerpatternsofhis cultureaswe will see later. However, even themostcoercive eaching does not producea uniformresult since each individualwill accept these teachings in his ownidiomaticfashion.9Undoubtedlythe persistenceof cul-tures, despite the anomolies and thealmost unbelievablepractices,has beendue in large measure to the sanctionsthathave been invokedformaintainingthe culture. Every culture apparentlyhas a theoryof origins which usuallyteaches that their particular culture isa superorganic, superhuman, if notsuperinatural,reationwhichmaynot becriticizedor questioned. Thus we findthat each groupbelievesthat its cultureis a part of the cosmos and operateswhollyabove and bevond human diree-

8 See World Order and Cultural Diversity,Free World,June,1942.9 Cf. the writer s paper, ' Cultural Coercionand Individual Distortion," Psychiatry,Vol. 2,pp. 11-27, 1939.

tionand control. To criticize r to chal-lenge thesebasic conceptions nd beliefsis consideredmpiousbecausethecultureis believed to be the produet of somesupernatural revelation that has beengiven to man for his guidanee. Thus,theology, hilosophy, aw and art reiter-ate and reenforce he basic cultural for-mulations and support the social lifewhichprovides,

THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAs pointed out earlier, the persistentlife taskswhichhavefaced man from he

verybeginning rise fromthe necessityofcoming o termswithnature, f organ-izing somekind of group ife and of im-posing some patterns of conduct uponhuman activity. Here again wefind hatthe social environment,ike the culturalenvironment, aybe regardedas a fieldof imitedpossibilities fhuman conduct,within herangeofwhichtheindividualmust carry on his life activities. Wemaygain a betterunderstanding f thissocial environmentf we will recall howthe youngchild,beginning hortly fterbirth, s inducted into the use of thesesocially sanctionedpatternsof conduct.The infant undergoes the process ofsocialization, as it has been called,whereinhe is called upon to surrendermuchof his physiological utonomy ndaccept groupsanctions, ustoms nd pat-terns. He learnstoadapt hisphysiologyto the food and eating practicesof thegroup,he acceptscertainpatterns or hecontrol of eliminations, nd he submitsto certainpatterning nd regulationofhis emotionalreactionsto others. Herewe see how the culture supports thesocial life which in turn imposesuponthe individual certain basic patternsoffunctionalactivitythat are considereddesirable, f not necessary, o the grouplife so thatthe infant oon acceptswhatthe social life demands and permitsastheappropriateway of iving.The youngchild also is inducted nto



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRON.MENT 351the use of language and rapidly learnsnotonly to resp)ondo theverbalizationsof othersbut to utilize thoseverbaliza-tions for communicationo others. Asthe studyof comparative inguisticshasshown,whilethere s a limitednumber flargercategories f laniguages, everthe-less there s an amazingvarietyof lan-guage systems, ach ofwhich s adaptedtoexpress he deas and concepts hataresupplied by the culture with a vocabu-lary that representshistorically he de-velopment fthegroup ife. The youngindividual s also taughtto recognize hewidevarietyof symbols nd theirmean-ings, which involvesthe recognitionofhighlyspecializedmeaningsand signifi-cances that are imposedupon the com-mon featuresof everyday ife becausetheyhave receivedthat conventionalizedsignificance. As soon as the child hasbegun tobecomemoreor less oriented olife and capable of askingquestions ndunderstanding,he is taught the basicideas and belie:-sof his culture so thatfrom isearliesl; ayshelearns tosee andinterpret heworld around himaccord-ing to his culturalprescriptions,nd heis thereby rogressivelyransformedntoa participatingmemberof his cultureand ofhissociety nd learns to ive inthecultural nd thesocial environmentsro-vided bythegroup ife.As pointedoutearlier, hemajorprob-lem of group life is to transform henaive, impulsivebehaviorof individualsintopatternedconductso that theycanlive together,participate in the grouplifeand,aboveall, canandwillaccepttherequirements orsocial order. It is evi-dent that if each individual is free toexpresshis impulsesand aggressive ac-tions there can be little orderlysociallife and not mueh opportunity or anyother activities than those observedamong nimalswhich pendmostoftheirlives in hunting food and defendingthemselves romi ttack. Thus we findthat each cultural group builds up an

orderly ocial life by inculcating n theyoung theobservance ftheinviolabilityof objects,places and personswhichwecall privateproperty nd thesanctity fthe person. This comesabout throughtheprocessof prohibiting henaive,im-pulsive action ofchil(Iren owardobjectsand people, oftenbymore or less severepunishment,until they can learn totolerate exposure to biologically ade-quate stimuliwithout espondinghereto.Thus we see how the prohibitions aidupon children y adults are transformedinto self-administerednhibitionswhichprevent the child, even when beyondadult scrutiny, rom pproaching, akingor attacking. It may be suggestedthatthe concept of inviolability s probablyone of the basic aspects of all culturesand all societies incesomeobservance finviolabilityof objects and of persons,particularly those of the othersex, hasbeen found in all groups thus far ob-served.1'The young child must earn not onlytoobserve he nviolabilities escribedbyhis societybuthe must also learn to per-formall the differentctions whicharedeemednecessary nd appropriate, uchas those that are definedby the mascu-line and feminine olesand kinshiprela-tions,by thegroupsanctioned chemeofrank,caste,and class and similarlypre-scribed conduct. Thus the child growsup underthe constant uitionof hispar-ents and otheradults to learn a reper-toryof conductofwhat he mustnot do,and what he mustand what he maydo,and his status in the community slargely defined n termsof these pro-hibitions and compulsions. The wholescheme of propertyowningand controland theregulation fsexual activity ndmating therefore s based upon thesefundamentalessons n inviolabilitiesndeomoDulsorvetivities.

10 Cf. thewriters paper, "The Conceptof In-violability in Culture." nAmerican ournal ofSociology,Vol. xxxvi, No. 4, pp. 607-615, Janu-ary, 1931.



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352 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYPreparation for the social life startswith these fundamental essons of in-violability nd compulsion, ut in orderto providefortheorderly atterned ela-tions between ndividualsthe grouplifemustprovidemoreor esswell-prescribedinstitutionalpracticesand rituals, suchas contract,barter and sale, courtshipand marriage,propertyowning, itiga-tion and the various political practicessuch as voting,negotiation,nd the vari-ous activities associated with war anddefense. It is thesemore or less stereo-typed nstitutional racticeswhich very-one must utilize in daily living that di-rect the conductof each person to an-otherwho respondswiththe appropriatepattern. Thus the aggregate of pat-terned individual conductgives rise tothat appearance of order, egularity nduniformitywhichhas been interpretedas the evidenceof a social mechanism rsystem.What we should observe here is thatthroughthese lessons the young indi-

vidual is taughtthe various patternsofconductthroughwhichhe can carryonhis life activities and he is given theaspirations nd goals,thepicture fa lifecareer nterms fwhichhewilldirecthisenergies.One of our most venerablebeliefs isthat our social life is a part of thecosmos, sortof superhumanmechanismor organization, xistingsomewhere e-tween earth and sky and operatingthrough arge scale forces ike gravita-tionwhichwe call "social forces." Thebelief n thisso-called ocial organizationis widely cceptedbysocial theoristsndsocial philosophers,deriving in largepart fromthe historicalfact thatwhenthe philosophers nd political theoristsand economists nd later sociologists t-temptedto order eventstheytook overthe Newtonian onception nd utilized tas a conceptual cheme orthe discussionof social life and group activities. Itmustbe evident,however, hat whatwe

call the social environments essentiallya historicaldevelopment f man's owncreationwhichhe has imposeduponhim-self n the endeavor oachieve omeformof social order and that its persistencedependswhollyuponthe perpetuation fthesepatterns rom eneration o genera-tion.It mustbe obviousthat group ifeandwhat we call social organization areessentially spirations, n attempt o cre-ate some formof social orderwhich isnever given, but must be achieved bypatterning he naive and impulsivebe-haviorof man into orderly nd regularconduct.The observance f nviolabilitiesof things and of persons, and theperformanceof compulsory activitiesthrough the use of group sanctionedstereotyped rituals and institutionalpractices are essential for any largeaggregate f ndividualswho ive in closeproximity nd in the ncreasingly iffer-entiateddivisionof labor whichmoderntechnologymakes essential. It may beassertedwithall emphasis hatsomecul-tural formulationsand some kind oforganizedgrouppatternsof conduct reessential,but that themajor question s"who shall be sacrificed orwhom" orratherwhat sensibilities nd values willgovern he group ifeas thusestablished.Withthe emphasisupon technologyndscientificknowledgeit is necessarytoassert vigorously that the quality ofsocial life s governed rimarily ysensi-bilities-of how we feel toward otherpersons, s we seewhenwe examinewhatwe call social progresswherein he devel-opment f newsensibilities avebeen themajor factors n limitingor abolishingslavery nd serfdom,hild abor,and theotherforms fhumanexploitation.As soon as we recognizethat socialorder s not givenbutmustbe achieved,bybuilding nto ndividuals hepatternsofconduct, heaspirations, nd the sensi-bilitieswhichwill governthe basic di-mensions nd qualityofsociety, hen we



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT 353will realize that the social scientist ndthe technologist an tell us how to pro-ceed, but they cannot tell us what tostrivefor. This is essentially taskforthe artistwho can createand refine hesensibilities nd theaspirations hatwillgovern the group life. Above all thequality of theg:roup ife reflects nd toa large extentexpresses hepersonality-character tructure f itsmembers,incethe individual, as an individual,whileexisting s an organismnthegeographi-cal world of nature and survivingthroughthe operation of his internalenvironment,arrying n his life activi-ties in the culturaland in thesocial en-vironmentsfwhiehhe is a participatingmember, eally ives nhisprivateworld.

PRIVATEWORLDTo say thateach individualreally ivesin a privateworldofhis ownmay soundutterly absurd because we see othersmoving about in the commonpublicworldof our social life,using language,institutionalpractices,and the generalpatternsofsocial conductand otherwisegiving very compelling evidence thatthey re sharingthe ameworld nwhichwe live. We all do exist n the commonworldofgeographical pace as indicatedearlier,we moveabout as organisms ndinteractwith the geographicalenviron-ment; indeed, one test body or instru-ment for recordingthis real world ofgeographicalspace is thehuman organ-ism and its responseto varyingcondi-tions of barometricpressure and tem-perature to say nothingof the responsetogravity. Moreover,s we carryonourdaily activities fbuying, elling,negoti-ating, and otherwiseparticipating inshared activities,we see clearlythatweare participating n thepublic worldofour traditional culture and our sociallife. Here is where t becomesnecessaryto invoke multidimensionalonceptionoftheenvironmeilto enableus to graspthe conception f the individualhuman

organism living in different nviron-mentsfor each of which here re highlyappropriatedata.We mayobtaina better nderstandingof this private world environment nwhich each individual lives if we willrecall again the process by which theindividual child is culturized and madea participatingmemberof his society.Parents and teachersof the young allshare a moreor ess common nderstand-ing of what the cultureand the societyprescribeand attemptto communicatethesebeliefs and patternsof conductto

the young, but each individual differsgenetically nd constitutionallynd hashad differentife experiences, speciallyin the way he or she has developed anaffective r emotional attitude towardlife and toward hisparticularchildwhois being nstructed. The lessonsare sup-posed to be officiallyorrect n accord-ance with tradition but are alwayswarped and biased accordingto thepar-entor teachers ownpersonalitymake-upand emotionalorientation. It happens,therefore, hat the parent-teacher re-sents to the childwhat;he believes to betheofficialociallysanctioned esson butit is a distorted nd frequentlybizarreversion of the correct essons. There-fore,notonly s the childpresentedwitha variation of the official ultural andsocial lessons,but what is more impor-tant, he receives this teaching alwayswith bias and an emotional ignificancethatis uniquelyhis own. Here we mustpause to point out that the indi-vidualorganism, speciallyman,faceseachnewsituationwith a definite et or organicstatewhichhe carries overfromhis pre-vious experience. Thus learning is acumulativeprocessand whatwe call thepast continues o operate n thepresentinsofaras past experiencehas modifiedthe organism n ways that persist intothe nresnf t1 ThuiisPAnhnew lesson nva_

11Cf. the writers paper, " Time Perspec-tives, Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 4,pp. 293-312, 1939.



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354 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYsented to the child gains an emotionalsignificance nd is biased by what thechild has experienced arlier. Moreover,insofar s thechildfaces an adult who sexercising authorityover him which iskindlyor more frequently evere if notbrutal, he is reactingemotionally o histeacher.To say, therefore, hat the individualchild, undergoingthe process of beingculturized and made a participatingmemberof our society, earns a highlyidiomatic and idiosyncraticversion ofwhat he is supposedto learn, s to recog-nize the basic process of human earningand to accept what our whole experienceof life confirms,amely, hat each indi-vidual sees the world about him, nclud-ing otherpeople, always in termsof thehighly specificmeaning and emotionalimport which they have for him alone.Thus, the notion advanced earlier thatthe individual really lives in a privateworldofhis own s but a confirmationfourown experience nd the beginning freal insight nto human conduct. An-otherway ofapproachto this same situ-ation is to recognize hateach individuallives in his specific life space,"'12whichbecomes organized or structuralized naccordance with his own peculiar lifeexperience and feeling and emotionalattitudes. In a veryreal sensewe maysay that theindividual,moving bout inthe commonpublic world in which allorganisms exist, creates this very idio-maticprivateworldor ifespace inwhichevery object, situation and person isgiven the highly specificand peculiarmeaning with which he invests all hisexperience. What we call personalitymay be viewed as this dynamic processof organizingand interpreting xperi-ence and reacting ffectivelyo the situ-ations and relationshipswhichwe our-selves impose upon events and peopleaccordingto our life experiences. The12 Cf. Kurt Lewin, "A Dynamic Theory ofPersonality." McGraw-Hill, 1935, N. Y. Alsorecentstudies at the Iowa State University.

personalitymightbe likenedto a rubberstampwithwhichwe go about stampingsituations nd peoplewiththeparticularset patternsof our personality. What-ever life has meantto us, especially ithe earlier years when we have beenbuildingup thispersonality rocess,be-comes coerciveupon us so thatwe con-tinueto see and feel toward ife alwaysin termsof these early establishedsetpatterns.If we will reflect riefly n this situ-ation our own life experiencewill con-firm what we have said, because werealize how impossible t is for any onepersonto see life in the terms nd withthemeaning hateach situationpresentsto another. Moreover,weknow hatevenwhena groupof peopleare all in a smallroom istening o a person peak,each in-dividual in that roomwill be seeing adifferentpeakerand hearinga differentspeech, not what the speaker says butratherwhat each individualhears.The individualpersonality asa highlydeveloped selective awareness whichpicks out of the total situationthat towhichit will attend,and that which itwill completelygnore. To a certainex-tent this personalityprocess mightbecomparedto a chemicalvalence, as wehave learnedto speak of the capacityofdifferentubstancesto react chemicallywithothers. Thus we know that if weapply a specific cid to all the differentsubstances n a roomit will react uponsomeand be unable to act upon others,and in each chemicalreactionthattakesplace therewill be produced a specifickind of salt, dependingupon the kindof acid we employ. In mueh the sameway the individual personalityprocesswill interact to certain situations andavoid all othersand whenit does reactit will always contriveto produce thekind of situationwhichthatpersonalityprocessrequires.

The beginning f an understandingn-sightof human conductcomes withtherealization of these private worlds in



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT 355whichwe live and from which we cannever escape. Only thus can we beginto understand hefearsand compulsions,the anxieties, the hostilities, he preju-dices and resentments, he enthusiasmsand dislikeswhich achindividualbringsto life, and only thus can we begin togain a sympathetic wareness of howcertain individuals spend their wholelives n prolonged onflict r anxious con-cern overquestionswhich, o an outsideobserver, ppear to be utterly bsurdandwithout substance. What we call theneurotic is essentially an individualwhose privateworld is built upon somebizarre, if not fantastic, assumptionswhichhe insistsupon mnaintainingventhoughit may require all his energiesand forcehimto renounceall other ifeactivities. Indeed, themostastonishingaspect of human conduct s the way inwhich ndividualsdedicatetheir ives toutterly nreal butcompletely ompellingbeliefsand purposesthat can be under-stoodonly nsofar s we can sympatheti-cally understa-rndheprivateworld thatgives those beliefs and purposes theircoercivemeaning.13 Nor can we under-standtheamazing rrationalityf humanconduct unless and until we can realizehow muchof our thinking nd acting isdictated by the persistent, ffective eac-tions that were built up in us in child-hood which continue o dominate ll therestof our lives and make us constantlyfeelanxiety nd guiltor resentmentndhostility nd force us to be dependentlysubmissiveor arrogantlydominating oothers.As we come to understand nd acceptthisprivate world environmientn whichwe really ive we begintosee a littlemoreclearly whathumanhistorymealns s werealize how individuals and groups havealways been movedby the assumptionsand beliefs of their culture and the

13 Cf. the writer's paper, "IFreedom for thePersonality," Psychiatry,Vol. 3, No. 3, August,1940, pp. 341-349. Also "IProjeetive MethodsforStudy of Personality. Journalof Psychol-ogy, 8, 389-413, 1939.

coercive dominations of their privateworlds regardlessof how theydifferedfrom heso-calledobjectivereal worldofnature. We may also begin to under-standwhythewholly ationalargumentsand programsthat are offeredman soseldomreceivehis recognition r accep-tance. As we see in the more seriouscases ofmentaldisorders he individualmust t all coststohinmselfnd to societystrive to maintainthe privateworld inwhichhe lives. Onlythatwhich s emo-tionally congenial and can be incorpo-rated intothedimensions f thisprivateworldwillbeacceptedby ndividuals ndbygroups. As we lookbackhistoricallyon ourownculture nd on therecordsofother ultureswesee recurrent hases ofextreme ressureto forcethe individualinto developing a privateworld that isrigidly organized by outside authorityor alternatingperiods when individualdeviationshave been not onlytolerated,but encouraged. If the contemporarydiscussions fdemocracywith heempha-sis upon therecognition f the integrityof the individualare to have any mean-ing, we must begin to translate thataspiration over into a programand aprocess that will attempt to fosterthedevelopment of the individual privateworlds hatwill be more ane and whole-some, that is, less conflicting nd dis-tortedby neurotic and emotionaldis-turbances, riented othe argercommonpurposesand goals throughwhichalonea societycan gain unity. Until an indi-vidual personality an live at peace withhimself n his privateworld he cannotlive at peace withhisgroup ife. For anorderly ocietyweneed individualscapa-bleoforderly ooperativeiving,whocanbear theburdensoffreedom nd sustainsocial order in and through their ownpersonalconduct nd feelings.'4

IIIWe have inheriteda series of ideasand beliefs bout man and nature,many14 Erich Fromm, "'Escape from Freedom,)Farrar and Rinehart,N. Y., 1941.



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356 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLYof whichhave become ncredible n thelight of new scientificknowledgeandunderstandingsnd manyofwhichhavebecome ntolerable o our morerecentlywon insights and aspirations. If weaccept thismultidimensionalonceptionof man s environment,we may clarifysomeof the presentday confusions ndconflicts, ot only in public affairsbutalso in scientific iscussions.It is evidentfrom vena hastyperusalof scientificiterature hateach scientificdisciplinehas developedits instrumentsand techniquesfor researchand is in-clined to formulateor to reformulateeveryquestion t investigatesn terms fthe assumptionsand concepts of thatdiscipline. Thus thebiologists re eagerto translate ll questions oncerningmanand hisbehavior ntobiologicalquestionsand insist that only such questionsarescientific. t can be asserted hatpurelyobjectivemethods nd data are essentialto biological investigation ut thatmanmerely exists as an organism in geo-graphicalspace. All his observable on-ductand grouprelationshipsre culturaland social whichare not objective,butare aspirationsand ideals, like local dis-tortions and aberrations of the geo-graphicalspace that s bentor curved nthe immediateneighborhood f the sun.In similar fashion the physiologistsand otherswhoare concernedwithman'sfunctional processes,with the mainte-nance of his internalenvironment,reoften emphatic n their assertionsthatonlyobjectivemethodsnd data as foundby theirtechniquesare possiblefor thestudy of human behaviorand conduct.Whatevercan notbe broughtwithin hereachofthesephysiologicalmethods heywould ignore or rule out as irrelevantand worthless. Curiously enough thispositionhas been recentlyunderminedand renderedalmost untenable by thecumulative videnceof howman s inter-nal environment an be seriously andpersistently isturbednot only by emo-

tional reactions but by persistent ffec-tive disorders. Thus a man's heart rateor blood pressure may be enhanced byanxiety or hostility which differfromfear and rage, in that theyare chronictensions ocalized n one organicfunctionwhile fear and rage are all over totalorganic reactions to some exigent orthreatening ituation. Even more sig-nificant s the demonstration hat thesepersistent functional disturbances canoften be reduced or even eliminatedbytreatment f the personality f theindi-vidual,especiallyby helpinghimto recallthe often forgotten vents which havebeendisturbing im.What is ofespecial significances thatin the absence of an adequate biologicalstimulus-situation he individual reactswith an organic process wholly irrele-vant to or incongruouswith the actualsituation n which he findshimself:hisheart beats are accelerated as if fright-ened or under heavy load of exertionwhile eated n a room lone; hisvascularsystem contracts,his respiration s ac-celerated rconstricted,is skinblanchesor is suffused ithblood or exhibits ocaldisturbances,nd so on.15Thus therealizationofhowpersistentaffective eactions,derived frompriorexperience, hiefly romchildhood,candisturbphysiological unctions, asmadethe criterion f purely objectivephysio-logical data rather complicatedif notimpossible, ince individualsand experi-mental animals are reactingaffectivelyall the time.Psychologists ave also proposedtheirformulationsnd applied theirmethodol-ogies to man and his conductprimarilyinterms f their pecific ssumptions nddimensions. There are of coursemanydifferentchoolsof-psychologicalnvesti-

15 Cf. H. Flanders Dunbar, " Emotions andBodily Changes, Columbia University Press,New York, 1939, second edition. Bela Mittle-man and Harold G. Wolff, " Emotions andGastroduodenalFunctions." Psychosom.Medi-cine, IV. 2. Jan. 1942, p. 5-61.



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MAN'S MULTIDIMENSIONAL ENVIRONMENT 357gationfrom hepurelyreflex tudy, imi-lar in intentand scope to that of thephysiologists,o the larger range of thesocial psychologists,he educationalpsy-chologists nd otherswho are morecon-cerned withman's coniductnd feelings.What should be noted is that each ofthese schools emphasizes one or moreaspects of hunmanehavioror of man'sreactions o these differentnvironmentsin its methodsof study and upon thoselimiteddata often erectsa large edificeof theory oncerning ll of human con-duct.

Social scientists re inclined to focustheir attentionupon the institutionallypatterned onductof social lifeas exhib-ited in buyingand selling,of economicaffairs nd voting, etc., of political lifeor the varietiesof deviationsshown bydelinquents, riminals, agrants,and soon. It has beencustomary o assume, sindicated earlier,that, hereis a super-humanmechanism r organizationwhichregulateseconomic,political and sociallife through he operationof large scaleforces, cting at a distance. The studyof humanconductand of group life interms of this assumed mechanismororganization gnoresthe biological andculturalenvironmentsnd the ndividualpersonal private world. What is espe-

cially to be noted s that the activities findividuals in an institutionally truc-tured social environmentre registeredin a wide variety of records-prices,votes, wages, consumption,production,and so on. If these different ata arereified nto entities, orgettinghattheyrecord human activities,then we maycreate problems hatcan never be solvedbecause artificial.Likewise, among studentsof the hu-man personality here s a disposition ofocus upon the individual's internal en-vironmentnd privateworld nd neglectthe social-culturalworld in which thatindividual personality rose and now isliving. Thus, someformulate he prob-lem of human conduct argely in termsof biological instincts o which theyat-tributemost, f not all, of humanactivi-ties, minimizing r ignoringhowcultureoperates to modify he so-called nstinc-tive processes which in men are lesscoercive han in any other pecies.It should be evidentthat we need amulti-dimenisionalonception nd meth-odologyfor thestudy ofhumanconduct,whereinall the disciplines may collabo-rate by helpingto observe nd, whereverpossible,measure the many dimensionsof man s environment nd of his pat-ternedconduct nd feelings.

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