The Washington herald., 1921-07-23
No Anonymous connaai-
cations will be printed In
the -ODen Court colunn-
THE EDITOR.

what will happen to bacteria when
exposed to this low temperature and
whether radio active substances can
maintain their power"
Astronomers say that absolute
zero is the temperature of inter
stellar space. and they tell us that.
owing to extreme cold and a total
absence of atmosphere, the moon is
void Of every vestige of life.
Camille Flammarion, the eminent
French astronomer. whom Mr.. Tan
ner so WARMLY praises, paints this
grim picture of the earth's destiny:
From the summit Of the noun
tains the mantle of the SHOWS will
be spread over the valleys, driving
before il both life and civilization.
New York. London. Paris. Berlin.
Vienna, Constantinople, Rome.
would successfully sleep under the
eternal SHOWS. Such towns would
then be only arid deserts split with
assures much more terrible than
the solitudes of those Polar regions
at present known to US. The
last representatives of the human
race will come and expire on the
shores of the last remaining equa-
torial sea, beneath the rays of a
feeble sun that from henceforth will
only light a moving tomb that shall
turn again and again around a
light-giving but insufficient heat.
AT this epoch our planet would have
reached a temperature approximat-
ing to 273 degrees below zero. In
10000, 900 years the great body OF
the earth-worn. aged. sterile. and
solitary-will bear on, it's dried sur
face the ruins of its brilliant past"
It seems to me. therefore, that
there must be places in the uni
verse where there is no life OF any
kind. But whether or not this IL
true. cannot see here any argu-
ment for or against the Immortality
of the human mind.
This writer says that the soul
stands behind the brain and gives
us all the knowledge we possess"
He is evidently not using the soul
as a synonym for the mind, but
more likely infers that the soul
is something entirely different from
and superior TO the mind. As the
brain Is the machine that produces
our thoughts. he probably means
that the soul is the operator OF this
| intricate and delicate machine: but
he does not identify this operator,
the soul. with God. for he speaks
in the same paragraph of the soul
and God" calling them "the only
simples in existence"
What is the soul. anyhow? II
/ il is not the mind-and We know II
is not the body-then what is IL
and where was II. and what was il
doing before the body and mind
came into existence? II the soul
had existence before the body was
born and will continue 10 exist after
the body has perished. why was
there ever any need of the body a,
all? Before we try to decide whether
or not the soul is immortal. we
should ask ourselves what is the
soul? In my opinion. the soul an6
the mind are one and the same
thing.
Mr.. Tanner asserts that I'VE have
been endowed with souls potentially
divine, indestructible. immutable.'
and adds that "our destiny is the
highest and nothing can hinder it,
fulfillment" He speaks with q
great deal of assurance, as IL h,
were certain of what he says. Blu
this is something that none OF u,
can be certain of, for in the very
nature of things. there is not on,
solitary fact upon which to has,
such empty assertions. The fact o.
the case is, We do not know wha'
destiny awaits us, and in all prob
ability we never shall.
| In trying to solve the problem o.
the destiny of the human mind. a
well as any other problem bearin,
on the relation of ourselves to ou
surroundings. let US be absolutel,
honest with ourselves. Let us seel
for the truth. not as we would hay,
1t be. but as il actually Is. Let "a
have the courage to realize tha
things are true or untrue. not be
cause OF. but in spite of our belief
and doubts. and our hopes and fear.
Let us say with Huxley that w
are not here to inquire what W
would prefer, but what Is true.
But, in the words of J. A. Frouds
never let us be betrayed by senti
mcnt Cor hopesD into adopting form
or opinions which the intellec
II. cannot close with as tru
true in all their parts"
Painful truth. yet / prefer the
to pleasant error. for truth curet