Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-20
The Syndicated Mind.

| Modern invc ltionS are powerful AIDS
/ to civilization. A machine age produces
| marvels. But machine mind is a
| menace. The menace of a mechanical
age is the disaster that follows when the
servant becomes master and mental f1t-
ness Is threatened
The art of living cannot be reduced
to machine pattern. because the high
est human values are not of that or
der. A statue come to life--a Galatea--
is a fine dramatic conception, because
that statue is product of human
ideal of beauty; but machine-man
come to life would be monster, a
Robot or Frankenstein. All that is a
theme for the drama, but mechan-
ically-minded people is a dire posi-
bility
Standardization and mass uniformity
grow out of machine production. If we
allow these patterns to control our view
of mental values, we are inviting the
danger of syndicated mind.
As the machine began to serve 1t be-
gan to dominate. Ruskin was the great
Victorian opponent of the machine and
all it's works, because 1t discarded what
was beautiful in favor of what the ma
chine could produce, and because fac
tories made such a litter. Their CHM
neys smudged the scene, and, exploiting
natures resources, desecrated nature.
He would have been outraged to see
Niagara harnessed. To him invention
was a ruthless destroyer of beauty and
all that comes in its pursuit. We travel
through lane of billboards as land
scapes--likeHise the symbol of a me-
chanical aEe-and only occasionally is
there voice of protest.
But it is the psychological loss that
Is pertinent. Standardized minds, mass
education. the sacrifice of wholesome
mental growth to the convenience of a
teaching routine, grading and marking
and viewing the school and the college
as plant to be rated by the product 1t
turns out, with so many credits and unit
hours-all this is grave mistake and
would be a ridiculous blunder were 1t
not so serious a matter. That is not
the road to mental fitness, and the
hopeful sign is that so many teachers
and parents know 1t and are doing
something about it.
Standardized schooling is not the only
invasion of a mechanical age. Because
of mass production we wear the same
clothes, use the same furniture, read
the same papers and magazines ana
novels, see the same plays smile at the
same jokes. are thrilled or shocked by
the same disasters. crimes, scandals.
Much of this we must accept for Its
evident utility and much of it leaves a
fair margin for individual choice.
The old order also had its method OF
Standardization It was done by ira
dition and convention. Things were
slowly and solidly built. lasted long, and
the stable, enduring surroundings led
to conservatism resisting change. A
machine built world introduced rap
idly changing human scene, and with
travel easy and distance no barrier.
what was done in one country was soon
repeated elsewhere Manners were re-
Taxed, experiments tried, the old ques--
toned, and a change. even a radical
change, was stimulated, In world of
changing fashions there is strong
pressure to be up-to-date. But in ex-
changing one master for another there
is little profit.
Mass production and Standardization
may be economically sound, and bust
ness methods have some relation to