ed right by a solitary savage unit
come more and more under the sway of social inhibition, for although the
primitive savages must inhibit individualistic action to some degree, the
barbarian must suppress much more of his purely personal wishes for the
purpose of social solidarity. Thus it comes about that a barbarous
community can number thousands, while a tribe of savages with a higher
degree of individualism and less altruism cannot cohere if it comprises
more than hundreds or scores.

Civilization is a product of evolution by precisely the same natural mode
of development, that is, through further subordination of individual to
communal interests and through progressive dividing up of the tasks
necessary for the life of the group. The final result is so obvious and
familiar that we take it for granted, accepting it as self-sufficient
without realizing how it has come about and how modern is the present
state of affairs. Let us compare the life of an Indian savage living on
Manhattan Island four centuries ago with that of a New Yorker to-day, as
regards so simple a matter as the procuring of fish food. The Indian
emerged from his tepee, built by himself, and walking to the shore,
stepped into a canoe which also he had made with his own hands. Paddling
to the fishing ground, he patiently cast his line until the desired fish
were caught. Does any one of us do all of these things for himself? We
live in houses constructed for us by others who devote their lives to
building; we are very apt to go about the city in conveyances that demand
special and peculiar skill for their invention, manufacture, and
operation. Arriving at a market-place, we obtain such an article of food
as a fish without having to go out upon the water ourselves, for many
other workers have built vessels that we do not know how to make and may
not know how to handle, and hundreds of fishermen devote their lives to
their special task, not for themselves, but for us and all others, such as
the builder, the subway operator, the boat maker, and the manufacturers
who supply their clothing and apparatus.

What has come about then is a higher degree of specialization in the
performance of the fundamental biological tasks, resulting in the
formation of coherent and efficient groups comprising millions as compared
with the thousands of barbarism and the hundreds of savagery. Just so the
communities of insects with the greatest degree of altruism and division