Norwich bulletin., 1922-12-28
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Cambridge, Mass. Dec. 27.-Tha nainll tenance of the energy Of tho race is ths real task of our civilization. pr. Tbor,ss F.. B. Baker, secretary and acting rros- ident of the Carnegie Institute of Tech nology, Pittsburgh. said in an address today at a sectional meeting Of thc'l American Association for the Advance ment of Science. Keeping. alive the in tellectual and spiritual forces Of the race he urged as essential tO such main tenance
 "Is fall of every nation inevitable7'' he asked. It would be bold prophet who would say no to this question. But to answer it in the affirmative means the acceptance of form Of fatalism that will ultimately bring with it s decline in human confidence and effort
 The world now shows signs Of alarm as 1t contemplates it's many disorders. We are forced to notice an increase in a spirit of morbid introspec,ion which, if continued may lead to the despondency which is a characteristic of the people whose culture is failing.
 The idea of progress had been almost an axiom in the popular thinking for nearly a century, but now m it's stead the conception of inevitable degenera- ton makes itself heard from time to time. Our feelings revolt at this des- perate view of the future Optimism is an essential in the conservation of our present stock of human energy Inertia will overtake the race if We lose conf dence in the future
 The energy of the race can only bn conserved through new ideas. new dis coveries and the application Of these GIs coveries. Mankind will degenerate un- less there is a continuous flow of new Gs hvs,f to fertiliZe and inspire the actions ana the lives of the unthinkabie masses. We often mistake restlessness for energy. We may be making a great dis play Of energy on enterprises that have no permanent value. The rapid increase of interest in sports and recrea ton is a natural corollary to the heightened fey erishness of our age. If we believe that the conservation of mans energy de- bends on high thinking we should at- tach more importance to repose and contemplation than we do at present. Popular education can increase the | sum. total of human energy by bringing to the surface powers that otherwise would have remained latent. It can | lfberate the mind of superior endow- ments.
 At the present time we observe the in creasing power of the masses. We ca- l imagine that the power of the masses of unthinkable people might be increased that they might dictate more completely the path which thinkers must follow in order to secure hearing. Should this 1 be the case there would result a block ing of progress not dissimilar to the check that was put upon the original minds of the middle ages.
 | T cannot refrain from mentioning as recent samples of mediaevalism. the fight of Bryan to enlist the minimizing peo- pie in his struggle to stife freedom of thought in the field of science, and the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan to reduce the country to a state of mob rule 1 We have no assurance that our civil ization will be permanent, But so long as we believed that our culture and our ideals of living ought to be conserved. our chief means of testing our success in maintaining them will be the amount of energy, and especially intellectual en- ergy, that is being produced
 l Speaking before the American As tronomical society, Colonel John Mills, Engineering corps, United States army, said there seems to be strong proba-
 ility of some fundamental relationship among the pheonomena that had produc- ed the similarity of main features and
 markings on the surfaces of the earth, the moon and Mars. He advanced the idea that a reconciliation might be pos sible if the two leading theories as to
 the surface features of the moon-vol- canic action and impact by meteors. Dr. H. M Parshley, associate profes- sor of Zoology at Smith college, describ-
 ed before the Chronological Society of America how nature in the Sourse of evo-
 lution had solved the problem of flight
 adaptation in. waterbugs by giving to some individuals the power of fight and denying it to others. This society at a
 business session elected as its president,
 Professor T. D. A. -Cocl1erell, of the Uni
 versity of Colorado, and approved a
 union of all biological societies in the country.
 Addressing the American Psychological
 association, Dr. Harry D. Kitson, profes-
 sor, of psychology at Indiana university
 said that a popular theory that tall men
 and heavy men made the best salesmen
 had been disproved by scientific analysis
 of the earnings of six hundred salesmen He was convinced that the idea that by mere animal bulk large salesman could
 impress or dominate a client, was ex'
 ploded.