Evening star., 1923-12-09
THYSELF," was the
advice Of wise man Of an

NOW THYSELF," was the
advice Of a wise man Of an
cient Greece.
But, aside from theological
studies. and an attempt. now and then.
to consider man in the abstract, man
kind made little progress, although
there was some one in every age to
draw his attention back to the main
theme.
In one age it was Alexander Pope
who reminded the civilized world
that 'the- proper study of mankind
is man."
Today Count Alfred Korzybski
Polish engineer and philosopher, has
drawn mans attention anew to the
real problem of his being. with his
now famous concept of man as the
time binding class of 1ife."
Count Korzybskrs two forthcom-
ing lectures In the National Capital
tomorrow and Tuesday nights have
called renewed attention to the
Polish philosophers ideas concerning
man. and his chance for q peaceful
life in a warless world.
The count believes 1t possible, but
holds that the only scientific basis
Of hope for the world lies in the as
sumption that when men and women
are bred to understand the distinc-
tive nature Of our human kind the
"time-binding energies of man will
be freed from their old bondage and
civilization will advance in accord
with its natural law in "a warless
world. swiftly and endlessly."
Meaning OF @Time-Binding.''
Time binding"
To understand what Count Kor-
zybski means by that term, it is
necessary to look into his theory, as
explained at length in his book,
Science and Art of Human Engineer
ing"
Humanity" he says, sis the time
binding class of life" >
Man, unlike animals. Is able to uti-
lize the work of past generations, and
begin anew where his ancestors left
off. Thus one time is in a sense
bound to another, so that the peculiar
inventive energy of man, which dis.
tinguishes him from the bea SITS, goes
on from century to century with ever.
increasing momentum.
Take your house cat. She has been
catching mice for thousands of years
yet the cat of 1923 does it just exactly
like the cat of % BIC.
No cat, in the history of the world
has seemed to feel a necessity for al
advance in the art of catching mice.
No cat has invented mouse trap.
The busy bee gathers its honey to-
day In the fashion worked out in the
processes of evolution thousands OF
years ago.
The toiling beaver OF one century
builds his dams just as did the bea-
yer of yesteryear.
Man Shows Developments.
But man does better than that.
His history~through the ages shows
continual development. The his
tory of transportation is an ex-
ample. First man walked. then he
got horses to ride on, then had them
pull him.
Then he used the past experiments
of the ancients to work out the steam
engine. Then came the railroad
train and the steamboat. Today the
world has the airplane, carrier thai
goes back through the ages, from
the mythical experiment of the Greek
youth who made himself a pair OF
wings, only to fall to his death, tc
the moro or less perfected craft o!
today.
Thus time has played its part il
all the affairs Of man, and. right,
understood, offers the key to the
real nature of man, according tc
Count KorZybskf.
Man, whenever he first appeared In
the world as such, brought to light
something entirely new in the world
the Polish engineer believes 1t was
the energy which invents, which CIV
i1izeS.
Having invented his first rude plow
man used it-and criticized IL. Age