done in concert. The ship and the train have their crew, the
factory its hands, the city police and fire departments their force.
Men shout together on the ball field, and sing folk-songs in chorus.
As an audience they listen to the play or the sermon, as a mob they
rush the jail to lynch a prisoner, or as a crowd they riot in high
carnival on Mardi Gras. The normal individual belongs to a family, a
community, a political party, a nation; he may belong, besides, to a
church, a few learned societies, a trade-union, or any number of clubs
or fraternities.

Human beings associate because they possess common interests and means
of intercourse. They are affected by the same needs. They have the
power to think in the same grooves and to feel a common sympathy.
Members of the same race or community have a common fund of custom or
tradition; they are conscious of like-mindedness in morals and
religion; they are subject to the same kind of mental suggestion; they
have their own peculiar language and literature. As communication
between different parts of the world improves and ability to speak in
different languages increases, there comes a better understanding
among the world's peoples and an increase of mutual sympathy.

Experience has taught the value of association. By it the individual
makes friends, gains in knowledge, enlarges interests. Knowing this,
he seeks acquaintances, friends, and companions. He finds the world
richer because of family, community, and national life, and if
necessary he is willing to sacrifice something of his own comfort and
peace for the advantages that these associations will bring.

9. =Causes of Association.=--It is the nature of human beings to enjoy
company, to be curious about what they see and hear, to talk together,
and to imitate one another. These traits appear in savages and even in
animals, and they are not outgrown with advance in civilization. These
inborn instincts are modified or re-enforced by the conscious workings
of the mind, and are aided or restricted by external circumstances. It
is a natural instinct for men to seek associates. They feel a liking
for one and a dislike for another, and select their friends
accordingly. But the choice of most men is within a restricted field,
for their acquaintance is narrow. College men are thrown with a
certain set or join a certain fraternity. They play on the same team
or belong to the same class. They may have chosen their college, bu