The main value of the study of the mind is after all, to direct the development of mind. No spokesman of science ever urged the reform of education with so much force as Huxley. Two of his pleas are here presented; they have lost little of their point with the flight of years. His argument for laboratory practice has, happily, borne abundant fruit on both sides of the Atlantic. Manual training, the elementary form of that practice, is now taught in thousands of our public schools, and should be freely offered in all. It means putting boys and girls in full possession of themselves, with a profound impetus to intelligence when a knowledge of things replaces the repetition of symbols.
The reader may wish to extend his survey of the science of mind beyond the books laid under contribution in this volume. No better author can be recommended than Professor William James, of Harvard University. His “Talks to Teachers on Psychology” is as instructive and delightful to the ordinary reader as to the audience for which it was specially written. Professor James's “Principles of Psychology,” in two volumes, and “Briefer Course in Psychology,” in one volume, are for systematic study. All three works are published by Henry Holt & Co., New York.
George Iles.
CONTENTS
| FISKE, JOHN | |
| [The Part Played by Infancy in the Evolution of Man.] | |
Wallace pointed out that when once the intelligence of manbecame dominant, his body would change but little. Wallacebrought up a baby orang-outang which had a period of infantilehelplessness much longer than that of a lamb or a calf. Thestill longer infancy of the human babe was most significantto John Fiske. It showed that the highest nervous developmentis the slowest. The prolongation of infancy lengthens theperiod of maternal affection, tends to keep parents andchildren together, and thus the institution of the family isfounded. Progress has been in the direction of bringing outthe higher spiritual attributes of man: hence the elementaltruth of religion. | [3] |
| SULLY, JAMES | |
| [The New Study of Children.] | |
Man has the child always with him. The study of the childis now scientific. The unfoldings of an infant mind throwlight on the development of the human race. Child-study isnecessary if education is to be rightly directed. Childrenoften reticent: sometimes ask strange questions. To understandchildren, love and knowledge are required. Observation,experiment and their records. Individual cases should becompared on a large scale. | [21] |
| GALTON, FRANCIS | |
| [Twins, Their History as a Criterion of the Relative Powers ofNature and Nurture.] | |
Twins alike by nature may as adults be compared to note howfar diversity of circumstance has been influential. Twinsunlike by nature and educated alike show how far nurturecompares with inherited qualities as determining character.Extraordinary cases of resemblance: twins widely separateddevelop the same disease or mania at the same time. Onlyillness or accident causes difference between twins alikein early life. Twins originally unlike so remain, althougheducated alike. Nature vastly stronger than nurture in themaking of man. | [53] |
| HUDSON, WILLIAM H. | |
| [Sight in Savages.] | |
Keen observation of cards by a player whose vision otherwisewas ordinary. We see what we look for. Sight in savages istrained to detect particular objects,—men, beasts and birdsof prey, reptiles, game and the like. Sight in civilizedman is just as sharp, but is directed to different objects,the letters of a printed page, for example. | [79] |
| HOLMES, OLIVER W. | |
| [Mechanism in Thought and Morals.] | |
Do we ever think without knowing that we are thinking? Leibnitzlong ago said yes. We remember a name by ceasing the conscioussearch for it. One goes to sleep with a problem in mind, andawakens with the solution clear. The man of genius is inspiredhe knows not how: the deepest things are not in the consciousness.How Burns composed his poems. An idea planted in a thinker'smind will grow when he is least conscious of growth. | [95] |
| MAUDSLEY, HENRY | |
| [Memory.] | |
Unless the mind retains impressions and can recall them, nodevelopment is possible. Acts at first difficult become easybecause nerves and muscles remember. Attention is the motherof memory. The more various and intimate the associationof ideas the better. | [115] |
| CARPENTER, WILLIAM B. | |
| [Common Sense.] | |
Walking and other common movements of the body become allbut automatic. In much the same way mental experiencesbecome organized into judgments which are largely or whollytrue. Judgment in mathematics or other sciences demandsspecial training. Grammar is often unconsciously acquired.The intuitions of the practised detective. The desire todo right strengthens the intellect. A wise man trusts tothe spontaneities of his mind, just as a rider may trusthis horse to find its way home. The human race, like theindividual man, grows in common sense, abandons absurdpractices and beliefs. | [131] |
| HUXLEY, THOMAS H. | |
| [A Liberal Education.] | |
If we are to win the game of life we must understand and obeyits rules. No man wholly uneducated. A liberal educationmakes the most of body, mind and heart. Education to thepoor is of supreme importance: reading and writing aremerely the means of education. The classics should be taughtin a scientific way. Thorough knowledge of the earth as acentre from which study may proceed. Literature and historyare indispensable. | [151] |
| HUXLEY, THOMAS H. | |
| [Science and Culture.] | |
The themes of classical education are less important thanthose of science. For culture an exclusively scientificeducation is at least as effectual as an exclusively literaryeducation. New knowledge has so much increased in moderntimes as to sway daily life. The scientific method is nowrecognized as the one mode of discerning or discoveringtruth. What in the past men said about things is vastlyless to the point than what can be learned now at firsthand. The Greeks looked to Nature, let us also look toNature and not merely repeat what the Greeks reported.Modern languages, especially English, as means of culture.Science cannot be applied unless its principles are understood.The mastery of these principles is culture. Art and letters,no less than science, are needed for a well-rounded mind. | [171] |
MIND