American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-08-16
Miscellany.
Lack Of Thought in Simple Acts of Life

WE have but to observe human action
as it meets us at every turn to see that the
average intelligence, incapable of guiding
conduct even in simple matters where but
moderate reach of wisdom would suffice,
must fail in apprehending with due clear
ness the natural sanctions of ethical prin.
ciples. The unthinking inaptitude with
which even the routine of life is carried
on by the mass of men, shows clearly
that they have nothing like the insight re
quired for self guidance in the absence of
an authoritative code of conduct. Take a
days experience and observe the lack of
thought indicated from hour to hour.
You rise in the morning, and, while
dressing, take vial containing a tonic,
of which a little has been prescribed for
you; but after the first few drops have
been counted, succeeding drops run down
the sides of the vial-all because the lip
is shaped without regard to the require
ment. Yet millions of such walls are an
nually made by glass makers, and sent out
by thousands of druggists; so small being
the amount of sense brought to bear on
business. Now, turning to the looking
glass, you find that, if not of the best
make, it fails to preserve the altitude in
which you put it; or, if what is called a
"box" looking glass, you find that the
maintenance of its position is insured by
an expensive appliance that would have
been superfuOus had a little reason been
used. Were the adjustments such that the
center of gravity of the glass came in the
line adjoining the points of support
(Which would be quite as easy an adjust
ment), the glass would remain steady in
whatever attitude you gave it. Yet year
after year tens of thousands of looking
glasses are made without regard to so sim
pie need. Presently you go down to
breakfast, and taking some Harvey or
other sauce with your fish find that the
bottle has another defect like that which
you find in the Walt is sticky from the
drops which trickle down, and occasion
ally stains the table-clo.h. Here are other
groups of traders similarly so economical
of thought that they do nothing to rectify
this inconvenience.
Having breakfasted, you take up the
paper, and before sitting down, wish to
put some coal on the fire. But the lump
you seize with the tongs slips out of them,
and if large, you make several attempts
before you succeed in lifting it-all be-
cause the ends of the tongs are smooth.
Makers and vendors of fire-irons go on,
generation after generation, without meet
ing this evil by the simple remedy of Civ
ing to these smooth ends some projecting
points, or even rOughening them by few
burrs with a chisel. Having at length
grasped the lump and put it on the fire,
you Degln TO read; but before you nave
got through the first column, you are re-
minded by the changes of position which
your sensations prompt, that men still fail
to make easy chairs. And yet the guiding
principle is simple enough. Just that adj
vantage secured by using soft seat in
place of hard one-the advantage, name
ly, of spreading over a large area the
pressure of the weight to be borne, and so
making the pressure less intense in any
l. IL
in the form of the chair. Ease is to be
gained by making the shapes and relative
inclination of seat and back such as will
evenly distribute the weight of the trunk
and limbs over the widest possible sup
porting surface, and with the least strain
ing of the parts out of their natural atti-
tudes. And yet only now, after these
thousands of years of civilization, are
there being reached land that not rational
ly but empiricallyl approximations to the
structure required.-Herbert Spencer, in
Popular Science Monthly.