Evening star., 1932-04-27

The idea of the impersonal is one Of
the most difficult for the average per-
son to grasp.
Anything said in the presence of most
persons is seized upon by them as ap-
plying to themselves.
AS for looking upon really personal
remark in an abstract way, that seems
the limit Of the impossible to them.
But is 1t?
Are there not conversationalists whose
abilities must be recognized and whose
seeming personalities must be regarded
solely as distractions?
The ego. in many people, is forever
on the alert for insults, so that ac-
tions, even. are turned into direct ref
erences to them.
Here is an honest fellow who has
Wholesome fear Of the Sneezes of his
fellow human beings.
If some one enters room and there
upon proceeds to sneeze, this honest
gentleman will promptly clap a hand
kerchief to his nose.
"Touchy' people, who themselves
realize the inherent danger in a sneeze,
sometimes manifest displeasure at the
almost instructive act of the other.
His effort to convince them that self
protection is the first law of nature, and
simple action, is in no way directed
against them, but against cold germs,
often goes for nothing. so welded are
they to the idea that everything is and
must be of personal application. Love
me, love my germs
The consideration of facts in ordinary
conversations, so essential to average
human beings for even halfway grasp
of life and living, is hampered and held
back to an extraordinary degree because
honesty of thought is inhibited by the
average attitude toward the personal
and the impersonal.
Perhaps it is asking too much of most
people, just plain average folks" to be-
come peripatetic philosophers, oblivious
to the possibilities of being insulted,
dense to the observation Of the obvious.
But surely they might be requested. in
the name of common sense, to think
new and then of what they are doing
when they insist on wrestling all OBJ
servationS to personalities.
Honesty of thought sometimes called
intellectual honesty. is required in such
world as this. 1t is possible for the
mind Of man to conceive other worlds
in which such honesty might not be
desired but it would appear at this
date in history that it is a very good
thing in this one.
BY desirable one could not mean
popular Popularity does not lie in the
path of any one who tells people what
they ought to know, but solely what
they want to hear.
On the other hand, truth telling
which is Of the so-called blunt va
riety is not the sort meant here. Peo-
~
merely take advantage of halftruth
to hurt others
y X
The true impersonal. the attitude
which permits essential honesty to have
its innings in deceptive world. comes
mostly in the consideration Of facts
and fancieS which may or which may
not be derived from other human be-
ings.
The point is that these others must
realize as much and yet be able to
view the whole question as an imper-
sonal one, since they are by no means
unique in the world.
If they are able to recognize their
kinship. yet feel that the discussion is
about a type, rather than one isolated
human being, they are in position to
appreciate another's struggles for a
truthful approach to the path which
leads to understanding.
To feel ones self used as a repre-
sentative of a type-often this in
stinctively repels, even the intelligent
person, until he stops to think of the
class, instead of himself.
This is one of the fundamental
splits in human thought Those who
cannot master it increasingly tend to
think of themselves as unique in a