Si i (ion III 



Work and Discovery 



The Teaching of Experience. The other eve- 

 ning a group of men, who were pretty well versed 

 in the history of some of the old civilizations, were 

 discussing how long it took for the human race to 

 change its method of transporting things from 

 the old sled on runners to a wheel cart. They 

 could not come to any conclusion about how long 

 it took, but the conversation developed the fact 

 that, after carrying the burdens himself, man dis- 

 covered he could drag them and get a bigger load 

 transported by that means. He, first of all, 

 dragged them by means of long sticks spread out 

 wide at the bottom and crossed near the top. The 

 load was piled at the lower end, where the sticks 

 were spread apart. This way became inconvenient 

 because it would not carry a big enough load; so, 

 after a while, the whole thing was put on the 

 ground and dragged by means of thongs. Then, 

 after a longer period, men discovered that they 

 could cut a section from a tree and have round 

 pieces, which would enable them to drag a much 

 bigger load with much less effort; so they began 

 to make solid wheels. 



All discoveries have been made in this way, be- 

 cause the necessity for greater protection or for 

 a larger supply of food or for better housing or 

 transportation has driven men to use their powers 

 of thinking, so that they have discovered better 

 means of doing the thing and better ways of pro- 

 viding themselves with the products they needed. 



