Sorokins magnum opus is regarded by many to beSocial and Cultural Dynamics.He classifies societies according to their 'cultural mentality'. Thiscan be "ideational" (reality is spiritual and immaterial), "sensate"(truth is material and all things are in flux), or "idealistic" (asynthesis of the two).[10]He suggested that significant civilizations evolve from aconceptual to an idealistic, and eventually to a sensate mentality. Eachof these phases of cultural development not only seeks to describe thenature of reality, but also stipulates the nature of human needs andgoals to be satisfied, the extent to which they should be satisfied, andthe methods of satisfaction. Sorokin has interpreted the contemporaryWestern civilization as a sensate civilization, dedicated totechnological progress and prophesied its fall into decadence and the emergence of a new ideational or idealistic era. InFads and Foibles, he criticizes Lewis Terman'sGenetic Studies of Geniusresearch, showing that his selected group of children with high IQs did about as well as a random group of children selected from similar family backgrounds would have done