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68:4.1 All [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern modern] [[social]] [[institutions]] arise from the [[evolution]] of the [[primitive]] [[customs]] of your savage [[ancestors]]; the [[conventions]] of today are the [[modified]] and expanded [[customs]] of [[Past|yesterday]]. What [[habit]] is to the [[individual]], [[custom]] is to the [[group]]; and group customs [[develop]] into [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways] or [[tribal]] [[traditions]]—mass conventions. From these early beginnings all of the [[institutions]] of present-day [[human]] [[society]] take their [[humble]] [[origin]].

68:4.1 All [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern modern] [[social]] [[institutions]] arise from the [[evolution]] of the [[primitive]] [[customs]] of your savage [[ancestors]]; the [[conventions]] of today are the [[modified]] and expanded [[customs]] of [[Past|yesterday]]. What [[habit]] is to the [[individual]], [[custom]] is to the [[group]]; and group customs [[develop]] into [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways] or [[tribal]] [[traditions]]—mass conventions. From these early beginnings all of the [[institutions]] of present-day [[human]] [[society]] take their [[humble]] [[origin]].

68:4.2 It must be borne in [[mind]] that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] [[originated]] in an [[effort]] to [[adjust]] [[group]] living to the conditions of mass [[existence]]; the mores were man's first [[social]] [[institution]]. And all of these [[tribal]] [[reactions]] grew out of the [[effort]] to avoid [[pain]] and [[humiliation]] while at the same time seeking to [[enjoy]] [[pleasure]] and [[power]]. The [[origin]] of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways], like the [[origin]] of [[languages]], is always [[unconscious]] and unintentional and therefore always shrouded in [[mystery]].

68:4.2 It must be borne in [[mind]] that the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] [[originated]] in an [[effort]] to [[adjust]] [[group]] living to the conditions of mass [[existence]]; the mores were man's first [[social]] [[institution]]. And all of these [[tribal]] [[reactions]] grew out of the [[effort]] to avoid [[pain]] and [[humiliation]] while at the same time seeking to [[enjoy]] [[pleasure]] and [[power]]. The [[origin]] of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways], like the [[origin]] of [[languages]], is always [[unconscious]] and unintentional and therefore always shrouded in [[mystery]].

68:4.3 [[Ghost]] [[fear]] drove [[primitive]] man to envision the [[supernatural]] and thus securely laid the [[foundations]] for those [[powerful]] [[social]] [[influences]] of [[ethics]] and [[religion]] which in turn preserved inviolate the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] and [[customs]] of [[society]] from [[generation]] to generation. The one [[thing]] which early [[established]] and crystallized the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] was the [[belief]] that the [[dead]] were [[jealous]] of the ways by which they had lived and died; therefore would they visit dire [[punishment]] upon those living [[mortals]] who dared to treat with careless disdain the rules of living which they had [[honored]] when in the [[flesh]]. All this is best [[illustrated]] by the present [[reverence]] of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_64#64:6._THE_SIX_SANGIK_RACES_OF_URANTIA yellow race] for their [[ancestors]]. Later [[developing]] [[primitive]] [[religion]] greatly reinforced [[ghost]] [[fear]] in [[stabilizing]] the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores], but advancing [[civilization]] has increasingly [[liberated]] [[mankind]] from the bondage of [[fear]] and the [[slavery]] of [[superstition]].

68:4.3 [[Ghost]] [[fear]] drove [[primitive]] man to envision the [[supernatural]] and thus securely laid the [[foundations]] for those [[powerful]] [[social]] [[influences]] of [[ethics]] and [[religion]] which in turn preserved inviolate the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] and [[customs]] of [[society]] from [[generation]] to generation. The one [[thing]] which early [[established]] and crystallized the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] was the [[belief]] that the [[dead]] were [[jealous]] of the ways by which they had lived and died; therefore would they visit dire [[punishment]] upon those living [[mortals]] who dared to treat with careless disdain the rules of living which they had [[honored]] when in the [[flesh]]. All this is best [[illustrated]] by the present [[reverence]] of the [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_64#64:6._THE_SIX_SANGIK_RACES_OF_URANTIA yellow race] for their [[ancestors]]. Later [[developing]] [[primitive]] [[religion]] greatly reinforced [[ghost]] [[fear]] in [[stabilizing]] the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores], but advancing [[civilization]] has increasingly [[liberated]] [[mankind]] from the bondage of [[fear]] and the [[slavery]] of [[superstition]].

68:4.4 Prior to the [[liberating]] and liberalizing instruction of the [[Dalamatia]] [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_66#66:2._THE_PRINCE.27S_STAFF teachers], ancient man was held a helpless [[victim]] of the [[ritual]] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores]; the [[primitive]] savage was hedged about by an endless [[ceremonial]]. Everything he did from the time of [[awakening]] in the morning to the [[moment]] he fell a[[sleep]] in his [[cave]] at night had to be done just so—in [[accordance]] with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways] of the [[tribe]]. He was a [[slave]] to the [[tyranny]] of usage; his life contained nothing [[free]], [[spontaneous]], or [[original]]. There was no [[natural]] [[progress]] toward a higher [[mental]], [[moral]], or [[social]] [[existence]].

68:4.4 Prior to the [[liberating]] and liberalizing instruction of the [[Dalamatia]] [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_66#66:2._THE_PRINCE.27S_STAFF teachers], ancient man was held a helpless [[victim]] of the [[ritual]] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores]; the [[primitive]] savage was hedged about by an endless [[ceremonial]]. Everything he did from the time of [[awakening]] in the morning to the [[moment]] he fell a[[sleep]] in his [[cave]] at night had to be done just so—in [[accordance]] with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore folkways] of the [[tribe]]. He was a [[slave]] to the [[tyranny]] of usage; his life contained nothing [[free]], [[spontaneous]], or [[original]]. There was no [[natural]] [[progress]] toward a higher [[mental]], [[moral]], or [[social]] [[existence]].

68:4.5 Early man was mightily gripped by [[custom]]; the [[Primitive|savage]] was a veritable [[slave]] to usage; but there have arisen ever and anon those variations from [[type]] who have dared to [[inaugurate]] new ways of [[thinking]] and improved [[methods]] of living. Nevertheless, the [[inertia]] of [[primitive]] man [[constitutes]] the [[biologic]] safety brake against [[precipitation]] too suddenly into the ruinous maladjustment of a too rapidly advancing [[civilization]].

68:4.5 Early man was mightily gripped by [[custom]]; the [[Primitive|savage]] was a veritable [[slave]] to usage; but there have arisen ever and anon those variations from [[type]] who have dared to [[inaugurate]] new ways of [[thinking]] and improved [[methods]] of living. Nevertheless, the [[inertia]] of [[primitive]] man [[constitutes]] the [[biologic]] safety brake against [[precipitation]] too suddenly into the ruinous maladjustment of a too rapidly advancing [[civilization]].

68:4.6 But these [[customs]] are not an unmitigated [[evil]]; their [[evolution]] should continue. It is nearly [[fatal]] to the continuance of [[civilization]] to undertake their wholesale [[modification]] by [[radical]] [[revolution]]. [[Custom]] has been the thread of [[continuity]] which has held [[civilization]] [[together]]. The path of [[human]] [[history]] is strewn with the remnants of discarded [[customs]] and obsolete [[social]] [[practices]]; but no [[civilization]] has [[endured]] which abandoned its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] except for the adoption of better and more fit [[customs]].

68:4.6 But these [[customs]] are not an unmitigated [[evil]]; their [[evolution]] should continue. It is nearly [[fatal]] to the continuance of [[civilization]] to undertake their wholesale [[modification]] by [[radical]] [[revolution]]. [[Custom]] has been the thread of [[continuity]] which has held [[civilization]] [[together]]. The path of [[human]] [[history]] is strewn with the remnants of discarded [[customs]] and obsolete [[social]] [[practices]]; but no [[civilization]] has [[endured]] which abandoned its [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores] except for the adoption of better and more fit [[customs]].

68:4.7 The [[survival]] of a [[society]] depends chiefly on the [[progressive]] [[evolution]] of its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores]. The [[process]] of [[custom]] [[evolution]] grows out of the [[desire]] for [[experimentation]]; new [[ideas]] are put forward—[[competition]] ensues. A [[progressing]] [[civilization]] [[embraces]] the progressive [[idea]] and [[endures]]; time and circumstance finally select the fitter [[group]] for [[survival]]. But this does not mean that each separate and isolated [[change]] in the [[composition]] of [[human]] [[society]] has been for the better. No! indeed no! for there have been many, many [[retrogression]]s in the long forward [[struggle]] of [[Urantia]] [[civilization]].

68:4.7 The [[survival]] of a [[society]] depends chiefly on the [[progressive]] [[evolution]] of its [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores mores]. The [[process]] of [[custom]] [[evolution]] grows out of the [[desire]] for [[experimentation]]; new [[ideas]] are put forward—[[competition]] ensues. A [[progressing]] [[civilization]] [[embraces]] the progressive [[idea]] and [[endures]]; time and circumstance finally select the fitter [[group]] for [[survival]]. But this does not mean that each separate and isolated [[change]] in the [[composition]] of [[human]] [[society]] has been for the better. No! indeed no! for there have been many, many [[retrogression]]s in the long forward [[struggle]] of [[Urantia]] [[civilization]].

<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_68 Go to Paper 68]</center>

<center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_68 Go to Paper 68]</center>

<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>

<center>[https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>

[[Category:Paper 68 - The Dawn of Civilization]]

[[Category:Paper 68 - The Dawn of Civilization]]