Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1901-06-28
WHY MEN GAMBLE.
The Facts Have Been Disclos a BY a
College Professor.

While some OF DR.. Harper's gifted
young professors In Chicago university
are devotlng their serious attention to
such aLstruse problems as to kiss, or
not to kiss, and to part hair in the mid
die, or not to part. another one has
taken up the question why men gam
BILE. and though he springs no startling
statements or theories upon an unsus-
pectlng world, yet his views are of
considerable interest. w. |. Thomas,
assistant professor of sociology, an
nounces that men gamble because they
want To get the excitement of physical
fighting with the least possible effort.
The love Of gain, he admits, plays its
part in intensifying the gaming in
stinct but the foundation for the fas-
cinatiOn lies in the fact that gambling
is a means of keeping up tha conflict
interest and of securing all the pleasure
pain sensation, OF conflict activity
with little effort and no drudgery.,"
The gaming instinct. Professor
Thomas believes, was born in the first
man, and arose from the conflict or
competition necessary to enable man
to get his food and to protect it from
the other men. For this purpose he
received the powers of lOCOmOtiOn. and
with these powers came contests. in
the issue OF which an interest was Gre
ated apart from the necessity of get
ting and Ike: ping food. From this
state OF man, progress to the modern
development Of the gaming instinct was
gradual, hut easy to trace.
an gambling" he says "the risk IL
lmpinent, the attention strained, tho
emotions strong. and even where the
clement OF skill is removed entirely and
the decision left 70 chance, an emotional
reaction analogous 10 The feeling in the
genuine conflict is felt. From this
viewpoint our problem Is not so much
to account for the gambler as to az
count for the business man.
The gaming instinct Is born In all
normal persons II is one expression
OF q powerful reflex fixed far back in
animal exp Renee The instinct is in
Itself right and Indispensable. but we
discriminate between its application
IL is valued in war and business. IL
expresses itself In a thousand forms in
the games of children and in college
athletics; 1t is approved in such express
siOns as golf, tennis and billiards, as
recreation for the man Of affairs; but
society justly condemns the exercise
of the instinct asii- from activities
whicl create values The value may
be in the increased health and vigor
which the business man derives from
recreation, or II may be in the crea-
ton of wealth by this game man in
competitive business. but the gamester
pure and simple. is not re ardcd with
favor by society. because he creates no
values and is therefore parasItical. and
is. besides. dlsor ganizer Of the habits
Of others"
AS showing the conflict interest
which is inherent in human nature. and
which, though it may be apart at the
time from the gambling instinct, We,
gave riae originally. TO that instinct.
Professor Thomas cites the fact that
mon and women alike will pause to
watch street fight While pity and
sympathy. expressions of our higher in
tellectual life may make a prize fight
or bull fight repulsive TO us. injury
being the object of tho game, yet our
natural instinct in conflict leads us to
attend and enjoy foot ball, where in
jury is accidental. Individually, war l..
game Of chance. and apart from the
patriotic reason for fighting on one side
or the oth'r, the element of personal
chance makes 1t attractive TO many
men
Professor Thomas finds that there
are among the bookmakers, card and
confidence men, professional billiardists
and adventures of Chicago men who
by every psychological test have a high
grade of intelligence. They have eX-
cellent associative memories. capacity
to sce general relations amid details. |
to reach Judgments quickly and surely
and to readjust themselves skillfully to
changing situations. While there are
in this c'ass men or ordinary intel |
ligence, there are others who. under the !
proper conditions, would have taken !
high rank in the army, In education, |
in the ministry, in business and poll
tics and in literature and art, Just as
there are men in these professions who, |
In the absence of normal opportunities |
and copies for imitation, would have
turned out card or confidence men, |
keepers Of gambling establishments or
thugs
The young man of good family when |
sowing his wild oats Is temporarily a |
sporting man, following for the time
the instincts Of the race. But his con-
nectiona are such that the dragnet OF I
social habits is finally gotten around |
him and he Is drawn into a reputable |
profession, In the case of the profess
sional sport this has not happened. |
Most men profess, anyway, that they
have found their occupations In life |
accidentally, and so long as this Is 81 .
il is not surprising that number OF |
men should miss the regular occupa-
tions altogether"