Note 103 — IV THE POPULATION PROBLEM AMONG MEN

Except where otherwise stated, increase of skill—of power, that is to say, to control the environment—is taken as the criterion of ‘progress’. Except, therefore, where otherwise stated, the terms ‘civilized’ and ‘higher’ races are merely intended to convey that races so denominated have a greater power of controlling the environment than ‘uncivilized’ and ‘lower’ races. The terms ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ are thus in this book merely convenient labels used in a special sense. In a fuller sense the terms ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ would take account of innate faculties, social organization, and moral tradition, as well as of the tradition of skilled methods. It is worthy of note, so far as the argument in this book is concerned, that there is a correlation between the tradition of skilled methods and the tradition of social organization and between both of these traditions and the innate faculties. The result, therefore, of a classification of races according to the special sense of the terms ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ as given above, does not conflict so directly as might be thought with a classification according to the fuller meaning of these terms. Further reference is made to the subject in the later part of this book.