The Washington herald., 1912-05-26

evil to discriminate rightly between them. Is
the ONCE and work Of a critical ability OF the
sort that can be trusted.
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Should Be Developed Early.
DR.. Boris Sidis speaks Of the antitoxin OF
critical judgment In his little book. " Philis-
tine and Genius" he has great deal to say
about the critical ability, which he would
not have deadened as it often is IN children,
and even in older people, by authority. He
says:
THE logical and critical faculties OF the
individual should be cultivated with special
care. The critical self. as We may put IT.
should have control over the automatic and
subconscIous. We should try TO
develop the individuals critical ability in
early childhood. not permitting the sug-
gestible subconsciousnesS TO predominant
andIto become oyerrun With noxious weeds
and pests"
And again he says: "The most central,
the most crucial part Of the education OF
mans genius is the knowledge, the recognI-
ton OF evil, in all It's protean forms and
innumerable dIsguIses, intellectual, aesthetic,
and moral. such as faILacies, sophisms.
ugIness. deformity. prejudice, superstition,
vice, and depravity. . We must i'm
munIze our children against mental microbes,
as we vaccinate our babies against small
pox. The cultivation OF critical judgment
and the knowledge OF evil are two powerful
constituents that form the antitoXin for the
by mental microbes"
And yet again, . The cultivation Of ere
dulIty, the absence Of critical judgment and
recognition Of evil, with consequent increase
Of suggestbility, make man an easy prey
10 all kinds Of social delusion, mental cpl
denies religious crazes, financial manias,
and political plaques, which have been the
balefuI pest Of aggregate humanity in all
ages
We are more in need Of the services OF
the critical faculty today than formerly,
for as the political economist, Prof. Edward
AIsworth Ross Of the University Of Wiscon-
sin. has pointed out in a little essay, " Latter
Day Sinners and Saints" the wrongs Of our
time work at long range as compared with
those Of the past:
"On comparing the newer types OF wrong
doing with the older certain marked diff
ferences appear. a. One is close range.
whereas the other is long range. Probably
more lying IS done today by print than by
tongue and more swindling by mail than
By word Of mouth. 1t is a far cry from
decision Of board Of directors in an eastern
city to the needless loss Of life in an Idaho
coal mine or on a Kansas railroad. Con-
slider how wide is the interval OF time and
space between that mayor Of San Francisco
who sold permits for debasfng peep shows
and nickelodeons and the persons who
will some day fall victims to the criminals
that will grow out OF the boys perverted in
his suggestive penny arcades.'
Effect Is Lasting.
Long after that mayor is dust violences
will be committed not upon his con-
stitutsnts alone but here and there all
over the country by men who as boys
were started on the downward career
by the evil influences he let loose upon
them Just for a $4,000 graft C2) The.
wrong Of today is apt TO spread out over
large surface. Not by ruthlessly fleeing
bunch Of sheep you have penned but by
furtfvely shipping a tuft here, lock there.
from all the sheep on the hillside, do you get
your bag Of wool. OF course, many others
are taking lock- too, so that, in one way or
another, the sheep may lose good part OF
their fleece, but then the silly creatures hard
ly know when they lose and 50 they make
little fuss. -
The more complex society Is the more diff
cult It Is to see through to the foundations OF
things, and so discover whether these are
wrong OF TlEll anu 50 we ~ On a
fran or deceitfuI superstructure which may
precipitate US any minute. Evil principles
have a better chance OF holding their own
than they did when the case was as simple
as the good and evil working face to face.
While the Eood and evil were both in heaven
the good knew what the evil was doing
and could thwart II, but when the evil was
exiled many things and agents came in be-
tween and control was not 50 easy. This
series Of things between has increased in
number-these middle things. The fight Is no
longer hand to hand.
The critical faculty will never be strong in
some men. The evil that they ought to fight
may be nothing more than the instinct to kill
the goose that lays the golden egg, which
they do because they cannot see two inches
before their noses. The instant or imagined
to be Immediate, good blinds them wholly
to the far greater future good or even the fu-
ture necessity. They eat all the corn in the
ear when ordinary foresight would tell them
that some was needed for seed.
There are some experiences in life that
seem to cast on the eyes hateful imper-
lection" These act like the Juice the mis-
chievous but obedient Puck dropped on the
eyes Of the fairy TItania, 50 that when she
awoke from sleep she did madly dote on q
british doIt Of a man adorned with the head
Of an ass. Love will completely dissolve the
critical facultyp-and fortunately so. often
times-whether It be love for child or man or
woman. overconhdence in self destroys It.
As some one has said, the average man is
no philosopher. but there Is no reason why
he should not have sense enough TO cult
vate his critical Judgment especially when he
has the most open proofs that he is lacking in
the critical sense.
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