The Washington herald., 1921-06-22
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DECLARES UNLEARNING
Is PART OF EDUCATION.
I'VE would make greater head
way In education: declared Prof.
Thomas H. Gibbs, of Milwaukee. at
the willard. 'if we would revise
our conception of education. We
much an unlearning process as a
learning process. Though some-
what paradoxical, II would not be
incorrect to describe a truly edu-
Gated man as an unlearned' per-
son. Most of us, as a common say
ing puts 1t. know a whole lot OF
things that amt So This de-
scription fits all of us to some ex-
tent and most of us to a lament
able extent. As children we absorb
from our parents and later from our
environment a mass of knowledge
or rather of opinions without a
particle of basis. Yet, unfortunate
ly, these thoughts and those half
thoughts in the back OF our con-
sciousness activate our lives and
doings and make our lives the un-
fortunate affairs they so often are.
And SO the person who con-
stantly reappraises all of his old
values, discarding the intellectual
junk that has accumulated in his
mental storehouse is the truly
learned man.
DISCUSSES ANGER
AND ITS REACTION.
ut would not be so difficult to
accomplish this result in the more
obvious things. Thus, a person who
has been raised with his mind
prejudiced against any ideas OF
Darwinism finds it not so dificult
TO change his mental conceptions of
the origin of species as he grows
in years and acquires a wider
range Of information. But the jar
comes with our more intimate
selves. Let us consider a very COM
mon emotion. anger. for instance.
There are those of US who are
torrid tempered and those who re-
main cool. Someone offends us-the
fery one without considering
whether any motive of i'll will
actually entered into the offense.
and without considering any other
circumstances surrounding 1t. i'm
mediately flies OFF the handle as
the saying goes.
RESULT OF HABITS
FORMED IN CHILDHOOD.
To Justify himself. he will say.
after admitting that he acted un-
wisely: Well. I couldn't help IL.
That's my nature. That's the way
I am. 1 was born so and it cannot
be otherwise
Now the question isis that his
nature? Most likely that reaction
is merely an imitation Of a reac.
tion acquired possibly from his
parents or from his surroundings
during childhood. The one out
standing fact is-that his own ego
his own nature hasn't been con-
sidered in the question at all. For
II takes time for ones ego to sur
vey condition and react to II.
What he has done by the display
OF fireworks is merely to call into
use an automatic reaction, that Is
not the product of his ego. but
most likely copied by himself in
childhood and used unconsciously
by him afterwards.
And SO we must ever strive to
unlearn things-to take our most
personal, our fondest thoughts and
expose them to the analysis of cool
reason. The past is ever with us,
telling us we can do this and can't
do that, that we shouldn't do this
and We shouldn't do that. Too
often we accept its dictums as the
final word. Let US remember that
the past did not have the oppor-
tunity of being as wise as the pres
ent.
SHOULD HEAR
VOICE OF THE FUTURE.
We can meet this problem bet
ter II we will imagine ourselves as
nearing two Voices-the voice Of the
past and the voice of the future
We start in doing something, bur
this voice of the past tells us You
have done so and so in the past
While treasuring the experiences of
the past we should rather hear the
voice that bids us consider our fv-
ture. Is this thing desirable? we
should ask, and II so, though the
past thunders and attempts to
brighten with it's horrors, we should
know that it is but so much noise
and sound. and remain unmoyed.
So shall we perhaps succeed in ELI
minating the dross within ourselves
and develop IL not into supermen
at least into men.
DEFENDS ADVICE
GIVEN BY NIETZsCRE.
Though torrents of mud have
been cast at Nietzsche," continued
Prof. Gibbs, and despite the fact
that much of what he wrote is
nonsense. his idea of the transyal-
uation of values, his advice ever
revalue all your values is sound
Let us beware of our minds be-
coming too stratified, too certain.
Let US be more flexible minded,
knowing that pretty sound case
can be worked for almost any
hypothesis and the know-it-alIs'
are those who know the least.
Mark Twain declared he would have
LIKED to have been the DEVILS at
torney, for he was sure that for an
entity that could attract so many
residents to his shores, there must
be good deal to say. Even for
those persons and things which we
feel most certain to be in the
wrong, let US be tolerant
There is an old Oriental legend
that Abraham, hearing one of the
guests in his tent had a past of
great wickedness rose and cast him
out in the night An nod .,,. a.