THE EVOLUTION OF THE MIND. 



2G3 



by the senses. The force of suggestion causes the men- 

 tal states or conditions of one person to repeat them- 

 selves in others. Abnormal conditions 



.,, . of the brain itself furnish another series 



illusions. . , ,. . , ... , 



of feelmgs with which the brain must 



deal. Moreover, the brain is charged with impulses to 

 action passed on from generation to generation, surviv- 

 ing because they are useful. With all these arises the 

 necessity for choice as a function of the mind. The 

 mind must neglect or suppress all sensations which it 

 can not weave into action. The dog sees nothing that 

 does not belong to its little world. The man in search 

 of mushrooms "tramples down oak trees in his walks." 



To select the sensations that concern us 



Selection of • .u u • r ^u r ^^ ^• 



IS the basis of the power of attention, 

 sensations. ' 



The suppression of undesired action is a 

 function of the will. To find data for choice among the 

 possible motor responses is a function of the intellect. 

 Intellectual persistency is the essence of individual char- 

 acter. 



As the conditions of life become more complex, it 

 becomes necessary for action to become more carefully 

 selected. Wisdom is the parent of virtue. Knowing 

 what should be done logically precedes doing it. Good 

 impulses and good intentions do not make actions safe. 

 In the long run, action is tested not by its motives, but 

 by its results. 



The child when he comes into the world has every- 

 thing to learn. His nervous system is charged with ten- 

 dencies to reaction and impulses to motion, which have 

 their survivals from ancestral experience. Exact knowl- 

 edge, by which his own actions can be made exact, must 

 come through his own experience. The experience of 

 others must be expressed in terms of his own before it 

 becomes wisdom. Wisdom, as I have elsewhere said, 



