Roberts; Keystone 



VICARIOUS ENJOYMENT OF PRIMITIVE IMPULSES 



Why is it so important to these players what happens to that ball? Why is it so im- 

 portant to the thousands of onlookers? Why is it so important to the hundreds of 

 thousands who listen to the broadcast account, or who read the newspaper reports? 



we all like a scene that recalls pleasant hours of childhood, or persons we have 

 liked since childhood, or songs that we Uked in childhood. In many cases we 

 develop preferences under the influence of people for whom we have high 

 regard. If our hero, at a certain stage in our development, liked artichokes, 

 we learned to like artichokes and to feel superior to those who do not. Or if a 

 person we greatly admired disliked a particular poet or composer, we found it 

 difficult to enjoy that poet or composer. 



People of influence in a community or in a school often impose their own 

 likes and dislikes upon others, often indeed without meaning to. Those of us 

 who have no decided preferences are likely to borrow preferences that seem 

 to be approved or in good repute. It is largely for this reason that it is pos- 

 sible to bring about rapid changes in fashions without much regard to what 

 persons of sensitivity and fine discrimination consider in good taste. 



Finally, many become accustomed to particular styles in clothing, architec- 

 ture, table manners, patterns of meals, social customs, and so on, to the point 

 where everything that is different seems to be ugly, wrong, or in poor taste. 



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