The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-24
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF 4 CERTAIN
CLASS OF BLUNDERS.
metaphysics FOR suItcnmcn and Others.

Metaphysics FOR swItchmcn and others.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SuS-Sir: Expert
enccd, competent. and faithful switchmen, in
sight OF q coming train, have been known to
| oncn the switch when they wished It shut, and
shut IL when they wished II open, with disas-
trous consequences to life and property. How
Is this blunder to be explained 1t is generally
spoken of as inoxplicnblc. and by some intclli.
gent people is seriously treated as such. no intel.
ligiblc explanation, 1t is said, having ever been
given. This is probably n mistake. 1t would DO
nearer the mark. l suspect, to say that no psy.
chologist would hesitate in referring the phc'
nomenOn to the proper law. However, the point
may be worth examining. | confess the cXpla.
nation appears to me simple. The psychological
source OF the blundcr, as | conceive, is simply
preoccupation of the mind ut the critical mo-
ment of action.
10 this explanation the objection most OBJ
! yiously suggested is that the moving OF the
switch becomes n mechanical or habituul move
ment which prcoccupation should not affect, n
mechanical movement by its very nature dis
pcnsing with the intervention of will and pro-
cccding unerringly OF its own motion.
This is true of tho several constituent opera
tions of a mechanical movement, hut not of the
series OF operations constituting the movementas
awholc, which Is preceded by %volition. anu In fact
is not mechanical at all. but voluntary, the
constituent ODcTuIlOHb lOTInlhB oho tohooAh
dated act, regulated by the will. The key of the
explanation would seem to lie in this distinction.
II We walk. for example, we first resolve to
walk; the resolve being voluntary, though the
walking is mechanical. The will originates the
movement. but does not intervene in the cNccu-
tion Of IT,. Though habit is tho executive, will
Is the legislature: and We all know, IL the law is
vague. ambiguous. or in any other way detec-
tive. the execution of it is not likely to provo
satisfactory. On tho contrary, the more thor
ough the execution tho moro disastrous the con-
sequences. Hence the famous maxim attributed
to President Grant, THE surcst way to secure
the repeal Of a bad law is to execute it."
In similar manner, the will. IL not wide
awake, may bring habitual movements to grief.
Even automatic actions, properly SO called, are
not exempt from this hazard. Swallowing is
purely automatic, yet one in q brown study Is
liable to swallow poison as we'll rs food. Which
he will swallow. II. both are handy. Is deter
mined by the preceding state of mind, be II pre-
occupation, transformation, or intelligent rcso.
luton; the mental state conditions the move
m nIT a and de determines enn the :, outcome ut d Habit Is o a
what is put into the hopper.
Hnbitual movements of all dgrees, indeed re-
quirc the general supervision OF the will. The
Heart itself, and the vfsccra. though they act with.
out the impulse or Intervention of will. arc none
the worse for being carefully looked after reg.
ularly by the posscssor. as well as ocCa ionally
by experts. Not one of them is beyond the mod
} flying power Of mind. Hn6itnal acts are in
voluntary action. not only taking their rise in
%vOlition, but being directed TO some voluntary
end, which they serve well or i'll or not at all
. according to the mental state directing them
, They are, so to speak, the horses in the human
5 II the Coachman gets drunk. drops asleep, OF
Q goes wooll-gathcring the coach may reach ia
, appointed destination ana 1t may plunge over
In short, the source of the b!under under no
tico is not the mechanism of action. but the
%volition that works i. The habitual action
D comes out wrong. because II was wrongly deter
o mined-bccause the idea that initiated il was
blurred, indefinite, incomplete. and. hence. mis-
y directing. The volitional idea tthc idea tina
5 sets gong the hnbitual action. whether The
idea is appropriate or inappropriate, shapes thu
Issue of the action. 4 musician who sits dowI
to play a given tune for his pleasure. and. struCl
by II train Of associations, suddenly become
possessed by the ihcn of a different tune. will iinC
=, himself. or be ought, by others, playing, The
II idea has preoccupicd MS mind. and his auto
a matte manipulation responds to the change
o The volitional idea that occupies the mind a
the moment OF action dominates the action
This seems to he the principle. 1t is at bottom
no other than the principle Of causality. thong
when wc carry the matter so far as this the dis
o t%irction between the voluntary. and the invoI
untRry draws near to the vanishing point.
S The principle is Illustrated by an expericnc,
of my, own not twcnty:four hours ago. The ke,
\ on n certain nail. from which | am in the habi
Of taking it. as readily in the dark rs in tn
sion TO oTcn the closet, approached the nail il
a prcoccupicd state OF mind. reached forth IN,
IS where I found that What / Ind taken was no
o the key, but a quart measure that stood unds
II. tnConsCiOuslv, my VolitionRl idea had shift
ed from that of taking the key from the nail :
that OF taking something from the locality; ha
faded from the clear and distinct to the obscur
and vague; from the specific TO the genera
The point especially To note here is that tn
If habitu!l, movement exactly answered the vol
t!onal idea behind it-as exactly. AS It Won!
have answered had l been alert, instead of nj
stractcd, in which cas-" | should have taken III
e key. instead OF the quart measure; but in tina
case the movement could not have tailed wit
the idea more perfectly than it tailed in tn
actual case.
A switchman in n like state of mind. froI
II whatever cause, might naturally move the lcve
m OF his switch the wr NJ way for the right way
and swit,hmcn. being human. are liable. froI
exhaustion. grief. pccuniary straits, or any on
10 OF many Other causes. to fall into like states {
mind. l, of course, mean like states OF mind i
10 the particular OF prcOCcnURtion at the CriticI
moment of setting up the habitunl movement.
There seems to me-. therefore, 10 be no spccif
mystery in the case, or the class OF cases. Tn
"a appalling consequences that sometimes nttcn
a blunGer of this class make 1t remarkable, bu
not in the least mysterious.
PAT RoBERTs SmPMAN.
EDGEW AFTER PARK, oct. 20.