DIFFICULTIES 



of the main current of the evolution of science and may arise 

 more or less simultaneously in different parts of the world. 

 Tyndall said : 



" Before any great scientific principle receives distinct enun- 

 ciation by individuals, it dwells more or less clearly in the 

 general scientific mind. The intellectual plateau is already high, 

 and our discoverers are those who, like peaks above the plateau, 

 rise a little above the general level of thought at the time." *^ 



Such discoveries, nevertheless, often encounter some resistance 



before they are generally accepted. 



There is in all of us a psychological tendency to resist new 

 ideas which come from without just as there is a psychological 

 resistance to really radical innovations in behaviour or dress. It 

 perhaps has its origin in that inborn impulse which used to be 

 spoken of as the herd instinct. This so-called instinct drives 

 man to conform within certain limits to conventional customs 

 and to oppose any considerable deviation from prevailing 

 behaviour or ideas by other members of the herd. Conversely, 

 it gives widely held beliefs a spurious validity irrespective of 

 whether or not they are founded on any real evidence. Instinc- 

 tive behaviour is usually rationalised, but the " reasons " are 

 only secondary, being formed by the mind to justify its opinions. 



Wilfred Trotter said : 



" The mind likes a strange idea as little as the body likes a 

 strange protein and resists it with similar energy. It would not 

 perhaps be too fanciful to say that a new idea is the most quickly 

 acting antigen known to science. If we watch ourselves honestly 

 we shall often find that we have begun to argue against a new 

 idea even before it has been completely stated."^* 



When adults first become conscious of something new they 

 usually either attack or try to escape from it.'*^ This is called 

 the " attack-escape " reaction. Attack includes such mild forms 

 as ridicule, and escape includes merely putting out of mind. 

 The attack on the first man to carry an umbrella in London 

 was an exhibition of the same reaction as has so often been 

 displayed toward startling new discoveries in science. These 

 attacks are often accompanied by rationalisations — the attacker 

 giving the " reasons " why he attacks or rejects the idea. Scepti- 

 cism is often an automatic reaction to protect ourselves against 



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