Part 1 (1/2)
The Mind and Its Education
by George Herbert Betts
PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
Authors, no doubt, are always gratified when their works find favorable acceptance The writer of this text has been doubly gratified, however, at the cordial reception and widespread use accorded to the present volu does not arise from any narrow personal pride or selfish interest, but rather from the fact that the warm approval of the educational public has proved an important point; nay, when put simply and concretely, can be h school juniors up, and to the general public as well More encouraging still, it has been dey can beco, but also in business or profession, in the control and guidance of the personal life, and in the problems met in the routine of the day's work or its play
In effecting the present revision, the salient features of the original edition have been kept The truths presented are the y Disputed theories and unsettled opinions are excluded The subject matter is made concrete and practical by the use of h application to real problems The style has been kept easy and fa In short, there has been, while seeking to improve the volume, a conscious purpose to omit none of the characteristics which secured acceptance for the fores and additions have been th of the work First of all, the later psychological studies and investigations have been drawn upon to insure that the matter shall at all points be abreast of the times in scientific accuracy Because of the wide use of the text in the training of teachers, a more specific educational application to schoolroom probleuidance of observation work and personal introspection are freely used The chapter on Sensation and Perception has been separated into two chapters, and each subject given more extensive treatment A new chapter has been added on association The various chapters have been subdivided into nuraph topics have been used to facilitate the study and teaching of the text Minor changes and additions occur throughout the voluinal edition
Many of the estions and kindly criticisms received from many teachers of the text in various types of schools To all who have thus helped so generously by freely giving the author the fruits of their judgrateful thanks
CORNELL COLLEGE,
IOWA
THE MIND AND ITS EDUCATION
CHAPTER I
THE MIND, OR CONSCIOUSNESS
We are to study the mind and its education; but how? It is easy to understand hoe s about us; for we can see it, touch it, weigh it, or measure it But how are we to discover the nature of the mind, or come to know the processes by which consciousness works? For ible; we cannot see it, feel it, taste it, or handle it Mind belongs not to the realm of matter which is known to the senses, but to the realrasp And yet the mind can be known and studied as truly and as scientifically as can the world of matter Let us first of all see how this can be done
1 HOW MIND IS TO BE KNOWN
THE PERSONAL CHARACTER OF CONSCIOUSNESS--Mind can be observed and known But each one can know directly only his own mind, and not another's You and Ithat lies back of the s of the mind's activity But neither directly nize your features, know your voice, respond to the clasp of your hand; but theand feels your joys and sorrows, I can never know completely Indeed I can never know your h your bodily acts and expressions Nor is there any way in which you can reveal your h these means
It follows therefore that only _you_ can ever know _you_ and only _I_ can ever know _I_ in any first-hand and immediate way Between your consciousness and ed
Each of us lives apart We are like shi+ps that pass and hail each other in passing but do not touch We ether, come to love or hate each other, and yet our inmost selves forever stand alone They hts, and arrive at their own destiny
INTROSPECTION THE ONLY MEANS OF DISCOVERING NATURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS--What, then, isthat we call consciousness? No mere definition can ever make it clearer than it is at this moment to each of us The only way to knohat mind is, is to look in upon our own consciousness and observe what is transpiring there In the language of the psychologist, we must _introspect_ For one can never co by listening to lectures or reading text books alone There is no _psychology_ in the text, but only in your living, flowing streaht and mine True, the lecture and the book may tell us what to look for e introspect, and how to understand e find But the statements and descriptions about our minds must be verified by our own observation and experience before they become vital truth to us
HOW WE INTROSPECT--Introspection is so of an art; it has to be learned Some master it easily, some with more difficulty, and some, it is to be feared, never become skilled in its use In order to introspect one must catch hi, re, and all the rest These fleeting phases of consciousness are ever on the wing; they never pause in their restless flight and we o This is not so easy as it appears; for the moment we turn to look in upon theweelse has taken its place All that is left us then is to view the mental object while it is still fresh in the ain when it returns
STUDYING MENTAL STATES OF OTHERS THROUGH EXPRESSION--Although I can meet only my own mind face to face, I a yourplace in your consciousness For in order to work successfully with you, in order to teach you, understand you, control you or obey you, be your friend or enemy, or associate with you in any other way, I must _know_ you But the real you that I must know is hidden behind the physical mask that we call the body I must, therefore, be able to understand your states of consciousness as they are reflected in your bodily expressions Your face, forhter and tears, the poise of attention, the droop of grief, the tenseness of anger and start of fear,--all these tell the story of the mental state that lies behind the senses These various expressions are the pictures on the screen by which your e by which the inner self speaks to the world without
LEARNING TO INTERPRET EXPRESSION--If I would understand the workings of your e of physical expression I must study human nature and learn to observe others I must apply the information found in the texts to an interpretation of those about me This study of others ent observation of those I meet; or it may be _scientific_, as when I conduct carefully planned psychological experi the inner states of consciousness by their physical manifestations
The three methods by which mind may be studied are, then: (1) text-book _description and explanation_; (2) _introspection_ of my own conscious processes; and (3) _observation_ of others, either uncritical or scientific
2 THE NATURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
INNER NATURE OF THE MIND NOT REVEALED BY INTROSPECTION--We are not to be too greatly discouraged if, even by introspection, we cannot discover exactly _what_ the h nearly everyone uses it in one form or another We study the dynah which electricity ht, heat, and overn its operations But we are al its true nature as were the ancients who knew nothing of its uses The dynamo does not create the electricity, but only furnishes the conditions whichthe world's work Likewise the brain or nervous system does not create the h which the mind works Weof the conditions and limitations under which thethe mind itself As in the case of electricity, e know about the h the activities in which it manifests itself--these we can know, for they are in the experience of all It is, then, only by studying these processes of consciousness that we coovern the mind and its development
_What_ it is that thinks and feels and wills in us is too hard a problem for us here--indeed, has been too hard a proble and feeling and willing we can watch as they occur, and hence come to know