regulate it into the channels of preconceived philosophies, would reduce
us to the unpleasant days predicted by William Blake, when

"Priests in black gowns will be walking their rounds And binding with
briars our joys and desires."

Eugenics is chiefly valuable in its negative aspects. It is "negative
Eugenics" that has studied the histories of such families as the Jukeses
and the Kallikaks, that has pointed out the network of imbecility and
feeble-mindedness that has been sedulously spread through all strata
of society. On its so-called positive or constructive side, it fails to
awaken any permanent interest. "Constructive" Eugenics aims to arouse
the enthusiasm or the interest of the people in the welfare of the world
fifteen or twenty generations in the future. On its negative side it
shows us that we are paying for and even submitting to the dictates of
an ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never
should have been born at all--that the wealth of individuals and of
states is being diverted from the development and the progress of human
expression and civilization.

While it is necessary to point out the importance of "heredity" as
a determining factor in human life, it is fatal to elevate it to the
position of an absolute. As with environment, the concept of heredity
derives its value and its meaning only in so far as it is embodied
and made concrete in generations of living organisms. Environment and
heredity are not antagonistic. Our problem is not that of "Nature vs.
Nurture," but rather of Nature x Nurture, of heredity multiplied by
environment, if we may express it thus. The Eugenist who overlooks the
importance of environment as a determining factor in human life, is as
short-sighted as the Socialist who neglects the biological nature of