The New York herald., 1922-03-26


des Deu
The student has the habit of consider
ing the professor as a guide TO whom he
must have recourse in all circumstances.
From the photography of topic of
study to the choice Of reading every
thing is a subject OF consultation. The
system has It's objections. 1t favors
laziness. a natural weakness of man.
BY depending on the help Of others one
forgets to depend on oneself. My ex-
perience is that in the things of the
mind the American student is too docile.
He has In his teacher an exaggerated
faith which blunts the critical sense and
the desire for originality. ] have some
times wished to encounter more resist
ance to my ideas. less admrng submis-
sion. 1t is curious thing. these young
men capable of throwing themselves
madly into battle, these born adventur-
ers who find fierce delight in surmount-
ing real obstacles. are almost pusilIani-
struggle with ideas.
That comes without doubt from their
being trained to learn rather than to
think. 1t Is a tendency OF education
which when pushed to excess reacts
against the end sought. In all stages
Of education students are urged not to
lose sight of the real. Whether in a
drawing. In mathematics. in history, al
ways the same desire appears to make
knowledge Of practical utility. All that
is purely bookish is condemned. all that
is based on observation is lauded. Thus
is developed little by little the idea that
In all mental work the facts are the es-
sential thing. that without them the
thought is OF no consequence. A great
truth in itself, but one which leads by
treacherous descent to the error Of
supposing that the facts are more impor-
tant than the thought, that they are
the only things that count.
The best among the students rebel
against this narrow dogma great
number, fear. accept 1t implicitly as
lrdisputable. One sees it in the avid
ity with which in newspapers. in lee
lures the public seeks concrete facts
anecdotes, in short, everything that is
called information. One sees it in the
taste for statistics which is general, and
Now what is the pursuit Of statistics
but the idolatry of facts erected into a
science?
This habit Of dealing with reality has
happy result for those destined for
business career it develops men who
are shrewd, clear sighted, of sound judg-
ment, endowed with the very qualities
necessary for success in world In
which every mistake has to be paid for.
But at the same time it kills the desire
to deduce from facts the abstract sig
nificance which they present. The rev.
erence felt for them is so great that
from the mass not a single fact may he
sacrificed for the sake of an idea. For
fear of losing his footing In the un-
sounded depths of the abstract the stu
dent turns away from generalizations
OF what use is synthesis when analysis
Is easy and certain? He fails to see
that the power Of generalization is the
greatest force possessed by the human
intellect and that facts should be con-
sidered only steps by which to rise TO
those heights where shine, pure and
clear. principles and laws.
This fault OF American education Is
aggravated by the elective system. The
student is permitted to choose among
the courses offered by the university
those which correspond best with his
preferences or his needs. And as these
courses are numerous it is easy for him
to satisfy his caprices. 1t is true that
Yale has used prudence In applying this
system by limiting the choice In cer-
tain subjects. 1t is not the less true
that the student has too many oppor-
tunitiSs Of following the inspiration OF
his inexperience.
He has an inclination to pick out
subjects which may be useful to him
later in his vocation without inquiring
whether he has laid the Indispensable
foundations of general culture. lie
forms the habit OF putting on the same
n,ane all the manifestations of human
activity, without making the necessary
distinction between those which are es-
sential to the development of the mind