Thought-Culture; Or, Practical Mental Training — John Shaqi
Thought-Culture; Or, Practical Mental TrainingAtkinson, William Walker
Science
Thought-Culture; Or, Practical Mental Training
Atkinson, William Walker
Thought and thinking
"In classifying things, we must take great care not to be misled by
outward resemblances. Things may seem to be very much like each other
which are not so. Whales, porpoises, seals and several other animals
live in the sea exactly like fish; they have a similar shape and are
usually classed among fish. People are said to go whale-fishing. Yet
these animals are not really fish at all, but are much more like dogs
and horses and other quadrupeds than they are like fish. They cannot
live entirely under water and breathe the air contained in the water
like fish, but they have to come up to the surface at intervals to take
breath. Similarly, we must not class bats with birds because they fly
about, although they have what would be called wings; these wings are
not like those of birds and in truth bats are much more like rats and
mice than they are like birds. Botanists used at one time to classify
plants according to their size, as trees, shrubs or herbs, but we now
know that a great tree is often more similar in its character to a tiny
herb than it is to other great trees. A daisy has little resemblance to
a great Scotch thistle; yet the botanist regards them as very similar.
The lofty growing bamboo is a kind of grass, and the sugarcane also
belongs to the same class with wheat and oats."
Remember that analysis of a genus into its component species is
accomplished by a separation according to _differences_; and species are
built up by synthesis into a genus because of _resemblances_. The same
is true regarding individual and species, building up in accordance to
points of resemblance, while analysis or separation is according to
points of difference.
The use of a good dictionary will be advantageous to the student in
developing the power of Generalization or Conception. Starting with a
species, he may build up to higher and still higher classes by
consulting the dictionary; likewise, starting with a large class, he may
work down to the several species composing it. An encyclopedia, of
course, is still better for the purpose in many cases. Remember that
Generalization is a prime requisite for clear, logical thinking.
Moreover, it is a great developer of Thought.
CHAPTER XI.
JUDGMENT
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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