SCIENCE, COMMON SENSE, AND DECENCY 11 



consciously one of reasoning. Such intuitive ideas are often wrong. The 

 good must be weeded out from the bad — sometimes by common sense or 

 judgment — other times by reasoning. The power of the human mind is 

 far more remarkable than one ordinarily thinks. We can often size up a 

 situation, or judge the character of a man by the expression of his face 

 or by his acts in a way that would be quite impossible to describe in words. 



People differ greatly in their ability to reach correct conclusions by 

 such methods. Our numerous superstitions and the present popularity of 

 astrology prove how often our minds make blunders. Since we have to 

 live with our minds, we should train them, develop them, censor them — 

 but let us not restrict them by trying to regulate our lives solely by science 

 or by reason. 



Our morality is a kind of summation of the wisdom and experience of 

 our race. It comes to us largely by tradition or religion. Some people 

 justify evil things on the basis of morality — but by and large a recognition 

 of right and wrong, even if these concepts are sometimes fuzzy, has proved 

 to be of value to mankind. The philosophical, metaphysical or even scien- 

 tific analysis of the principles of ethics has not proved particularly fruitful. 

 A sense of morality and decency, even if not scientific, may help win 

 the war. 



