Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1932-01-01
NO,l6.
Why We Behave
Like Human Beings
D. GEORGE DORSEY. Ph. D.. Ii. D.
Men Haters

I ~ manl what does she hate him
with2 Does hate spring from rage i'm
pulse which drives us to anger when
restrained, or is 1t the opposite, the
detumescence Of lover Suppose she
says: Il hate lavender" women do
say such things, heard one say: ~
hate Paris" Most women 'loye"
Paris, some simply adore" 1t.
I love corned beef and cabbage
Slight fE 0dor of eQrned beef and. cab
bage makes my mouth water My
mouth waters only when l am stimu-
lated by something within my food
hunger repertoire. My mouth-water
mechanism is made up of glands, mus.
Giles, nerves. An adequate stimulus
sets 1t off. Call that activity Tunes
cence (swelling). And note that I may
leave the restaurant with full stom-
ach and yet the odor Of brolled mush-
rooms as l pass out the door sets my
mouth watering again. a i
sit down and order brolled mush-
rooms The first one spear has
hair in II. try again; and encounter
a dead fly. These are not pleasant
things, but such make or break appe-
tites have lost mine for broiled
mushrooms, possibly forever. The very
thought of mushrooms makes me sick;
no mouth-water, no good feeling" in
the food-appetite mechanism. Call that
detumescence.
The sex-appetite mechanism Is much
more complicated; has more parts,
more nerves, is capable of more devas-
tating sensations. Call 1t the eroge
nous Glove produclng) zone. This zone
is all in order at birth. BY condition
ing processes 1t learns to respond to
widely differing stimuli by the time
the mature puberty glands begin to
send their impulses to satisfy what Is
by now definite and specific mate
hunger
Which means that by the time we
reach the marrying age the mate we
choose, If any, will be more or less al
ready picked out for us.
''Things and Places" says Watson,
"tend to become associated with or
ganic responses, specifically those with
love" Every object, by virtue Of the
original bent Of the individual, or
through conditioned reflex or habit,
calls out overt or delayed response in
the motor mechanism; also, "a def
mite and complex group Of reflex actlv-
ity In the erogenous zone"
Excltation in this zone arouses two
fundamental kinds Of impulses:
d) Tumescence: rythmlcal contrac-
ton Of certain muscular tissue and In
creased secretions. "If functioning
alone, the impulse will lead to posi-.
five seeking movements and ultimately
to the unfolding of the instructive re-
productive mechanism"
(2) Detumescence: inhibition, and
relaxation of other muscular tissue
and inhibition of secretlons. "These
impulses at the motor center, II not
inhibited, would release avoidance
movements"
Here, then, is the sex-appetite
mechanism which early In life begins
to sort the little world about into
loved ones and those 1t does not care
for. Through the mechanism Of habit
and reflex functions objects which
at first had no emotional value come
later to arouse family or overly one
or other of the two lmpulses"-tumes.
cence or detumescence
To the objection that this view
prerequisites the instructive factor
Of love, Watson points out that the
love and do-not-lOve factors are at the
bottom Of home, general, social and
vocational life. We work long hours
to improve our position to make more
money to carry on home life on n
broader SCALE "The activities conferred
about loved ones from infancy to old
age are easily the most important fac
tors in life No wonder that our acts
are connected with and evalued by
the connections lying below our Ian
guage level"
Here again, as always, we come
back to that as yet unsolved prob
lHlU VI IND luNNb lllO dilu
extent of Individual Inheritance; the
degree TO which this individual In
herltance can be conditioned. DO our
original tendencies make us, or our
parents and our teachers ana our en-
vlronmentl Or, put the question this
way: Where does nature leave Off and
nurture begln2 Nature never leaves
Olive may be certain Of that. Nur
ture begins at once.
Born with an elaborate mechanism
for adjustment, we face three doctors
two nurses, several servants, father,
mother, aunts, uncles, etc, all on their
toes to adjust for US. Nature never
gets chance. Nurture cries when
we do not smile back. TO make ~
smile they tickle us under the chin
and trot MS on their knees ar1 brlhc
us with candy and ribbons aid gew
gaws.
And so our food appetites, lex ap.
petltes, fears and RACES slOp over Into
endless things that are not TO be eaten
or loved, nor to be run from or killed
Indlgestlon--or adlposlty; celIbacy-
or promiscuity; afraid Of shadows,
facts, and death; and war on our
nelghbors instead Of against poverty,
squalor, ana ignorance.
Love and such move the world,
move II In many ways because in.
stinctlve responses can be and must
be conditioned. The conditioned re.
Spouse Is our only mechanism for
learning to behave like human beings.
Love Is n driving force OF great dy.
manic power. But such grist MS II
does grind
90 by Ccorre A, DorseyD