A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of TeachingMcNair, George Hastings
Philosophy
A Class Room Logic: Deductive and Inductive, with Special Application to the Science and Art of Teaching
McNair, George Hastings
Logic
Unless the organs of the body are used they atrophy. Every cell of
the physical makeup demands exercise. Work which is not drudgery;
work which causes the organs of the body and the powers of the mind to
function normally; work which gives comfort without luxury; work which
forces one to the highest actualization of his physical and spiritual
powers is _man’s greatest blessing_. In and through such work will man
attain his highest state of happiness.
=10. THE LOGIC OF SUCCESS.=
We may now hope to show that material aggrandizement, the adopted
standard of success, is one of the illogical factors of modern life.
The tree of the forest always grows toward the light. It pushes its way
through the darkness of the soil into the shadow of the underbrush and
finally out into the unobstructed light of the sun. This parallels the
progress of the race. From the darkness of _savagery_ into the shadow
of _barbarism_, and finally out into the full light of _civilization_.
Thus has man grown steadily and continually toward better things. But
“better things” is a relative term and has changed with the development
of the race. “A good healthy idea may not live longer than twenty
years.” In consequence growth toward the light has been in accordance
with man’s _conception_ of a higher and a better life; which conception
is ever changing.
Moreover, growth toward the best is always rewarded by real happiness.
It therefore follows that the _right road to real happiness_ extends
along the way of _better things_ as conceived by the traveller, _man_.
Any force which tends to lift the world up toward more light is a
blessing, and any personality which contributes to this end is a
success. When one drops a pin it falls _down_ toward the earth, at
the same time the earth comes _up_ to meet the pin. This is according
to the universal law of gravitation. It is true that the earth moves
the pin through a much greater space than the pin moves the earth, and
yet the fact remains that the pin _does move the earth_. The extent to
which the smaller body is able to move the larger, depends on the two
factors of _weight_ and _relative position_. If the pin were lighter
or farther away it would influence the earth so much the less. In like
manner does the “pin-man” influence the “human-world.” The extent of
this influence is controlled by man’s _weight_, or his “lifting power,”
and the _position_ which he occupies; just as the attraction of the pin
for the earth is controlled by _weight_ and _position_.
The facts of history have proved that man’s power to lift depends not
so much upon what he _has_ as upon what he _is_. In short, lifting
power is directly in proportion to _personal worth_. Moreover, man’s
ability to draw humanity up may be increased or decreased by the
position which he occupies. Such a position must function for the
best good of the world, and at the same time must elicit the highest
development of the man.
TO SUMMARIZE:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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