The sort of logic which we have just been considering leads men to assume extreme positions of all sorts. Opinionated and undisciplined minds always tend to carry an idea to extremes, to jump to a conclusion, to let enthusiasm carry belief beyond the limits of good judgment. This all or none attitude is supposed to be zeal in the service of principle. It is merely intemperance. Education strives for the virtue of temperance, and temperance--which among the uneducated becomes merely abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages--is the avoidance of rash assertion, and of ill-considered and hasty inference. The temperate man stops to think. Careful thought seldom leads one wild. An educated mind is not so likely to “go off half-cocked.” It has fewer enthusiasms and so accumulates a reserve; a sense of the ridiculous helps it keep its balance. Most men feel uncomfortable when they must hold their minds open and judgment in abeyance. Judgment suspended gives a feeling of unstable equilibrium, of tension; it is irksome like resistance to temptation. In addition to this discomfort in being unsettled, there is a disturbing feeling of insecurity in the thought that we live in a world in which certitude is rare and difficult. In many situations it is necessary to act before all the evidence is at hand. We must act on faith and take our chances. All men cherish their faiths, but few have the courage to act on faith. We naturally wish to feel ourselves more secure than we really are in a world where much is left to chance. A formula generally believed gives such a delusion of security. The greater the number of those who believe, the more convinced is the average man of the truth of the formula and the more safe he feels. I think this wish to feel at home in the universe has inspired much of religion. It is also one of the reasons why, as older religions wane, each man must have his “cause,” his social gospel, his movement. These things afford a sense of comradeship in which there is safety. They give one “something to tie to,” something enduring to believe in. And as each cause or movement claims the future and looks forward to sure vindication and triumph, the future becomes predictable and congenial.