An Introduction to the History of ScienceLibby, Walter
History
An Introduction to the History of Science
Libby, Walter
Science -- History
To be sure, language itself may be regarded as imagery. Some persons
visualize every word spoken as though it were seen on the printed page;
others cannot recall a literary passage without motor imagery of the
speech organs or even incipient speech; while others again experience
motor imagery of the writing hand. With many, in all forms of
word-consciousness, the auditory image is predominant. In the sense of
being accompanied by imagery all thinking is imaginative. But it is the
use of words that permits us to escape most completely from the more
primitive forms of intelligence. So directly does the printed word
convey its meaning to the trained mind that to regard it as so much
black on white rather than as a symbol is a rare and rather upsetting
mental experience. Words differ among themselves in their power to
suggest images of the thing symbolized. The word "existence" is less
image-producing than "flower," and "flower" than "red rose." It is
characteristic of the language of science to substitute the abstract or
general expression for the concrete and picturesque.
When, therefore, we are told that the imagination has been at the bottom
of all great scientific discoveries, that the discovery of law is the
peculiar function of the creative imagination, and that all great
scientists have, in a certain sense, been great artists, we are
confronted with a paradox. In what department of thought is imagination
more strictly subordinated than in science? Genetic psychology attempts
to trace the development of mind as a means of adjustment. It examines
the instincts that serve so wonderfully the survival of various species
of insects. It studies the more easily modified instinct of birds, and
notes their ability to make intelligent choice on the basis of
experience. Does the bird's ability to recognize imply the possession of
memory, or imagery? Increased intelligence assures perpetuation of other
species in novel and unforeseen conditions. The more tenacious the
memory, the richer the supply of images, the greater the powers of
adaptation and survival. We know something concerning the motor memory
of rodents and horses, and its biological value. The child inherits less
definitely organized instincts, but greater plasticity, than the lower
animals. Its mental life is a chaos of images. It is the work of
education to discipline as well as to nourish the senses, to teach form
as well as color, to impart the clarifying sense of number, weight, and
measurement, to help distinguish between the dream and the reality, to
teach language, the treasure-house of our traditional wisdom, and logic,
so closely related to the right use of language. The facts of abnormal,
as well as those of animal and child psychology, prove that the
subordination of the imagination and fancy to reason and understanding
is an essential factor in intellectual development.
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