Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-30
OUR TINE AND ITS TENDENCY.

What are the real tendencies of
modern conditions of life? This Is an
appropriate question at the end of this
in many respects the most remarkable
century of the worlds history. There
is a restless rush in every direction
As by magic one wonder after another
Is being conjured up on the stage oc-
cupied by scientific research. and as o
consequence our civilization has be-
come as complex as the most intricate
and delicate machinery ever invented
Are we building on more solid founda-
lions than did the ancients, or is 1t
probable that the structures OF our age
will decay and go the way of their pre-
decessors?
To many II appears as an axiom that
modern civilization is permanent. They
cannot conceive of the possibility of
turning point in the forward and up
ward course. We have advantages en-
loved at no previous time by the hui
man race; our ever growing knowledge
of the world. they argue. enables us to
utilize its material and Intellectual re-
sources and prevent recurrence OF
catastrophes that overlook ancient
nations wholly unprepared for them.
There Is no danger of being overrun by
wild animals or savage hordes, and all
the energy available can be applied to-
wards the achievement of new results
for civilization, for progress. This is
the view quite generally held.
There is, however another side to
the question and this was recently pre-
scented by the London Spectator. This
journal doubts that intellectual ac-
tivity is as great or powerful among
us as it was in great sections of the
ancient world. II INSERTS that the aver
age private citizen of Athens, for In
Stance, was incomparably ADLER than
the average member of the English
parliament. Startling as this PROPOSE
ton may be to some. 1t Is held to be
true; and the Spectator, while arguing
that there is no doubt the stress of
modern life develops intellect, insists
that this il in the mass, not in n pro-
found form; in the modern world there
is u growing dearth of the rarer and
deeper kind of Intellect, and the pres
do exist is not favorable to their de-
velopment; we do not produce a Kant
or a Spinoza; only critics who write
about these men and can give us all
the latest views. we have not the minds
whose operations move in vast orbits,
but we have the eager minds which,
comet-lke, dart into sight. astonish by
their luster and quickly disappear.
The article in the Spectator concludes
as follows:
"The real truth seems TO us that tho
world is so made that we have to pay
a heavy price for everything The
Greeks paid tremendous price for
their ultra indlviduulism and devotion
TO art and speculative intellect. We are
paying, and shall pay more and more
a very high price for our recognition
of the supremacy of science, which
after all, does not cover the whole of
human life. We have to do not only
with that which IL, but with that
which ought to be, with art and re-
ligion, with the twin Ideals of right and
beauty; and life viii never be rounded
and whole, civilization viii never be
secure until these are co.ordlnated
with that keen desire to know which
Is at the root of our scientific concep-
tion of society"
In the discussion Of the question OF
the merits of modern scientific progress.
MS compared with ancient speculations
It is curious to notice that notwlth.
standing the admitted superiority Of
our age in this respect, so-callod an
Client follies seem actually to reviv,
and gather new strength as knowleds,
increases. Alchemy, chiromancy, as
trology, theosophy and various occul
sciences find probably more dovoteei
now than ever. People turn with mp
parent sincerity away from the prac
teal doctrines OF the scientists to fin,
wisdom in the old mysteries of Budd
hlsm, Confucianlsm and other ancen
cults. Crowds fiji the halls where tn
alleged marvellous feats Of occultisn
are exhibited. Societies are bclni
formed in the civilized world claiminI
TO hold the keys Of the mysteries o
ancient NEUROLOGICAL deities, and TEN
pies of learning are being erected de
voted chiefly 10 the study of the un
movable. The result is apparent. 4
scientific knowledge is increasing super
sttlon is growing, too. and rather n
an alarming rate. The wheat an
tares both find nourlshment in moder
conditions.
In view Of this fact It Is necessar
TO remember that knowledge alone
not a guaranty of the permanency c
our civilization. 1t is the lntenlgenc
that goes hand in hand with goodnes
that is elevating. ever lifting the hu
man race upwards. Where one Of IN
two is crippled. fall is inevitable. q
is the case with the bird attemptin
flight when one of the wings is WOUND
ed; and the fall will be all the MOI
disastrous the loftier the altitude frol
which IL is made. The important que,
ton therefore is, what is the status
the moral nature that is developing
The keenest observers are not free fro
misgivings on this point. Archbishc
Ireland is reported To have said +,
Gently that he believed that moral an
social purity, personal integrity. the T.