ABSTRACT
F ' MANS are conservative,' you will hear it said. 'They are tradition bound, and it is the nature of their society to resist change.'
W. W. Rostow has set out in more rigorous terms some of the adaptive variables which influence the process of economic growth, in the form of social propensities. Among the six which he selects for application in advanced societies are three which bear upon the commonplace observation I have recorded above. There are (i) the propensity to develop fundamental science (physical and social), (ii) the propensity to apply science to economic ends, and (iii) the propensity to accept innovations.' The application of the first two propensities is not at the present time in the hands of the Fijian people, and in the sense intended by Rostow were not features of traditional society (though non-scientific adaptation and experimentation did occur). They are most important elements in the Fijian situation, but can be examined only in terms of the Fijian's participation in the wider western world, and in terms of the facilities present within the Colony to make knowledge available to the Fijian farmer and entrepreneur.
