hy, the something that goes
deeper than reason, and that links us to all other human
beings,--those who live to-day and those who have gone before.
It is true that East is East and West is West, but the two do meet in
the common foundation of our human nature. The likeness between men
and between races is far greater and far more fundamental than the
differences can ever be.
=Firing Up the Engine.= Purpose is writ large across the face of an
instinct, and that purpose is always toward action. Whenever a
situation arises which demands instantaneous action, the instinct is
the means of securing it. Planted within the creature is a tendency
which makes it perceive and feel and act in the appropriate way. It
will be noticed that there are three distinct parts to the process,
corresponding to intellect, emotion, will. The initial intellectual
part makes us sensitive to certain situations, makes us recognize an
object as meaningful and significant, and waves the flag for the
emotion; the emotion fires up the engine, pulls the levers all over
the body that release its energy and get it ready for action, and
pushes the button that calls into the mind an intense, almost
irresistible desire or impulse to act. Once aroused, the emotion and
the impulse are not to be changed. In man or beast, in savage or
savant, the intense feeling, the marked bodily changes, and the
yearning for action are identical and unchangeable. The brakes can be
put on and the action suppressed, but in that case the end of the
whole process is defeated. Could anything be plainer than that an
instinct and its emotion were never intended to be aroused except in
situations in which their characteristic action is to be desired? An
emotion is the hot part of an instinct and exists solely for securing
action. If all signs of the emotion are to be suppressed, all
expression denied, why the emotion?
But although the emotion and the impulse, once aroused, are beyond
control, there is yet one part of the instinct that is meant to be
controlled. The initial or receptive portion, that which notices a
situation, recognizes it as significant, and sends in the signal for
action, can be trained to discrimination. This is where reason comes
in. If the situation calls for flight, fear is in order; if it calls
for fight, anger is in order; if it calls for examination, wonder is
in order; but if it calls for none of these things, reason should show
some discrimination an
|