IV

ENVIRONMENT


The acorn will inevitably produce the oak tree and it will grow true to
its pattern. All seeds and cells will do likewise. Still if the acorn is
planted in good soil, where it is properly nourished and in a spot where
it is sufficiently sheltered, the tree will be more likely to become
large and symmetrical, than if it is planted in poor soil or in an
exposed spot.

In one sense heredity is the seed, and environment the soil. The whole
structure and pattern and inherent tendencies and potentiality are in
the seed and cannot be changed. The child has nothing to do with its
early environment during the period when impressions sink the deepest
and when habits are formed. It is then that the meaning of facts is
interpreted. At this time the child is fashioned by the teachings and
environment in which it is placed. As the child receives its first
impressions, and all along through its development, it is forming habits
from those about it. These habits come to be strong, dominating forces
in its life. Very few people, if any, can trace definite views of
conduct or thought to their conscious effort, but these are born of
their structure and the environment that formed their habits after
birth.

The fact that an individual's political and religious faith depends