history of the race have generally been more instinctive, more
intuitive of subjective states, more emotional, more conservative than
men; and that men, more generally than women, have been intuitive of
objective relations, inclined therefore to break with instinct and to
rely on the later-developed reasoning processes of the brain, and
willing, consequently, to take chances, to experiment, and to innovate.

If so much be granted, we may perhaps say that it is because of these
mental differences that in conflicts between new and old ideas, between
new knowledge and old traditions, it usually happens that a large
majority of all women are found in the camp of the old, and that the
camp of the new is composed mainly of men.

In the camp of the new, however, are always to be found women of alert
intelligence, who happen also to be temperamentally radical; women in
whom the reasoning habit has asserted sway over instinct, and in whom
intuition has become the true scientific power to discern objective
relations. And in the camp of the old, together with a majority of all
women, are to be found most of the men of conservative instinct, and
most of those also whose intuitive and reasoning powers are unequal to
the effort of thinking about the world or anything in it in terms of
impersonal causation. Associated with all of these elements, both male
and female, may usually be discovered, finally, a contingent of priestly
personalities; not necessarily religious priests, but men who love to
assert spiritual dominion, to wield authority, to be reverenced and
obeyed, and who naturally look for a following among the non-skeptical
and easily impressed.

Such, very broadly and rudely sketched, is the psychological background
of culture conflict. It is, however, a background only, a certain
persistent grouping of forces and conditions; it is not the cause from
which culture conflicts proceed.

D. RACIAL CONFLICTS

1. Social Contacts and Race Conflict[215]

There is a conviction, widespread in America at the present time, that
among the most fruitful sources of international wars are racial
prejudice and national egotism. This conviction is the nerve of much
present-day pacifism. It has been the inspiration of such unofficial
diplomacy, for example, as that of the Federal Council of the Churches
of Christ in its effort to bring about a better understanding between
the Japanese and America. This book, _The Japanese Invasion_,