Evening star., 1932-05-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES z. TRACEWELL.

| Even when he encounters a mind
which utters what to him seem un-
! truths, he attempts to look for such
angles as the other possesses which he
| does not possess; he searches for stray
bits of wisdom, If any such there be-
feeling sure that other human beings
have different approaches which he
does not possess.
What the typical subject Of our dis
course does not know Is that logical
| knowledge is only one sort Of knowing
There are intuitive types of knowl-
edge which are often called feminine
but which are just as liable to exist in
| thoroughly masculine natures.
Such knowledge cannot be followed
as logical knowledge can, for 1t func-
tionS at long remove; that is, 1t jumps
! far ahead Of logic, and pierces to the
| heart of the subject without the neceS-
/ sity for logical step-by-Step exposition.
1t is customary for the gentleman
| who knows it all to demand these steps
in the argument, and, because they are
not forthcoming, to contemptuouSly rule
| out the final verdict of this preSumpt-
Gus convers 3tionaliSt who has the vast
! temerity to attempt to see what he does
not see.
| Proof, forSooth!
! Proof will come along in due time
but by that era the man who knows it
all will have forgotten all about the ar
/ gument and will thus be saved the ne
cessity OF admitting what he would by
no means admit before-that his oppo-
nent was right.
x X **
! Modern American conversation, eSpe-
10 IN
| evolved queer euphemism.
Instead of calling a man by a fighting
name" as the old-timerS did, a dis
! agreeable but at least downright combi-
nation OF two nouns an article and a
| proposition, some OATS of today think
1t extremely modern to brand friend
a "bolshevist" upon any and every oc-
casion. They haven't the slightest idea
/ OF what their new pet term means, they
wouldn't know bolsheViki from men
shevlki, but that does not deter them a
moment from clinching any argument
In which they begin to lose
'Aw, you're bolshevist," they de-
clare, getting red in the face. Some
how that comforts them immensely.
They feel that they have sneaked over
stinger without the harsh possibility
OF rejoinder. Any discussion of eco
nomic conditions is liable to call I'D
new ideas. and these are dangerous. ="
possibly because those who fear them
realize, down in the bottom of their
hearts, that they know nothing at all
about such ideas, and that they will
stand chance of being shown up"
unless they get them out of the CONVEX
sation as quickly as possible.
X
But there Is a great middle ground
where sane, decent conversation pre-
walls.
Here men of good will, whatever their
mental status, may discuss controvert-
ible questions without running the
danger Of being called names.
Here honest men of all ranks and de-
grees meet in that great arena of the
human mind, a time and place un-
known to their brute brothers of forest
and field, the one forum wherein the
grander destinies of the human race
have full play.
! Here, and here alone, men are men.
in the highest and best sense Human
thought, blossoping into human help,
has been the great civilizer. Conversa-
tion and writing, these are the two
| great means Of advancement. 1t is
| coming to be more and more realized
| that mankind goes forward, not only in
national congresses and other places
where representatives talk, but in every
| conversation where honest men and
| true attempt to talk over problems
! This Is the ground where sane, decent
! conversation holds sway in its own
right.