Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard.

  • Graubard, Mark, 1904-1992.
Date:
1939
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Man the slave & master / by Mark Graubard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Originally man observes or records every event indepen dently. In a description of that event he includes every thing associated with it, relevant and irrelevant. Thus, an individual falls into the water and drowns. Through cumulative experience man learns to isolate the irrelevant associations. Hence he reaches the conclusion that falling into deep water usually means drowning. Primitive man did not reach even such a simple conclusion immediately after observation of the event. Usually he correlated the main event, the drowning, with an evil eye or supernatural decree, a process of 'reasoning' in vogue even to-day. In fact it is the association of observed phenomena with super natural interference or the belief in causal relationships where none can be proved to exist, which gives rise to superstitions. Man learns, however, through progressive experience to test the validity of generalizations. A true generalization describes relationships, usually as cause and effect, and strips the irrelevant from the vital. It thereby organizes experience within a given sphere. This intellectual process proved to be a powerful tool in man's struggle with nature. The formulation of generaliza tions means, in principle, that events in the outside world, and also those involving emotional states, are never wasted. Not only do they leave an imprint upon the mind but, when the experience is repeated, evoke reactions which ultimately lead to profounder knowledge. It must not be assumed, however, that primitive man's knowledge and power, his invention of writing, agriculture, and the like, came easily. To begin with, all these signifi cant steps were not made by the group as a whole but by gifted and isolated individuals. Brilliant minds appear in every community, in every period of history. Curiously enough, the same racial group produces more geniuses at one time than another. It seems that at first various irrational customs developed,