CHAPTER 11 - The Social Heritage of Man

Abstract

This chapter presents some of the main issues and pressures in the present-day society in the United Kingdom. It also outlines some aspects of the environment within which certain individuals develop. An individual's genetic endowment sets certain limits on him and gives him certain potentialities, but what he becomes depends on the response that his circumstances call from him, the stimulation that arouses and directs him, and the ever-changing codes of behavior that society impresses on him. Man functions at many different levels and varies his behavior accordingly. He is a member of a variety of groups in which he plays differing roles. These groups themselves have not only historical origins but also devolving and evolving relationships with larger groups, which in their turn are linked to yet larger groups. The individual has his effect on the environment, and the environment affects the individual. If one can improve the environment, one can help the individual.