ABSTRACT
People have to work continually to maintain agreement (low variance) regarding standards, if for no other reason because of the continual dying off of older members of the community and the continual recruitment by birth of new members who do not have any knowledge of any standards at all. Seeking to learn to deal effectively with elders, on whom they depend for the accomplishment of their purposes, the young necessarily strive to develop for themselves standards of talking and behaving that will achieve the effects they desire. And the elders want the young to develop standards that bring their performance within the range of variance they are willing to accept. By precept and by reward and punishment they work to this end.
