Detailed studies of the difficulties of diffusion
make in particular instances the strangeness of
cultural inertia appear less strange. Particularly
in modern times can the processes of change be
[194J



seen frequently and In great detail. In modern
society, divided into classes, those classes deriv-
ing differential benefits from existing conditions
tend to resist any change that will lessen those
benefits. Difficulties of changing the social con-
ditions are also found to have a prominent psy-
chological aspect as well as a cultural side. Some
of the more conspicuous psychological resistances
to change are seen in the phenomena of habit,
the social pressure for conformity, and the pro-
cess of forgetting the unpleasant which results in
a distorted view and admiration of the past. Of
the great number of human traits, some tend to
make us conservative and some to make us radi-
cal. We cannot take a census of these traits
and classify them with regard to change. There-
fore only a few have been discussed.
