ABSTRACT
In the Grip of Tradition TRADITION is unpopular a t present; in fact there is a revolt against it because it has become too rigid and also because it means discipline. Such revolts may play a useful part in society, sweeping away the obstacles to adaptation. It is unfortunate, however, that science should lend its support to doctrines which are taken up merely because they promise emancipation from the past. Men, dissatisfied with their condition, are anxious t o make a fresh start, and therefore readily believe that they can do so. They eagerly accept the assertions of the psychologists, who attach no importance to heredity and ignore tradition. Every difficulty in the way of understanding racial characteristics is welcomed, and their very existence is hotly denied because i t would imply predestination. The linguists have caught the infection, and there are some who believe that there is a complete linguistic break between each generation and the next. Similarly, there are anthropologists who want every individual to create his culture de novo, and fanatically oppose any inquiries into origins, any suggestion that the present is conditioned by the past.
