﻿CONSCIOUSNESS AND TAIN 77 



That an adaptive movement requires effort, 

 and that effort implies consciousness is the Adaptive move- 

 first step in the argument; that automatic ments imply 

 movements must have been derived from con- consciousness 

 scious movements, in order to avoid the ab- 

 surdity that actions can be directed toward 

 an end by pure chance, is the second step in 

 the argument. These steps can probably be 

 illustrated by a concrete example better than 

 by abstract statement; and I shall take a 

 familiar example although the complexity of 

 the conditions give many opportunities for 

 being misunderstood, rather than select an 

 illustration from the less familiar domain 

 of simple organisms. The man who is being 

 tormented by a mosquito, that is, receiving a 

 stimulus giving rise to pain, must put forth 

 an effort in order to move a hand to crush the 

 offender. That effort must be a conscious 

 effort, or else the blow would be aimless and 

 futile and stand in no relation to the cause. 

 Butif the man were preoccupied, he might aim 

 a well directed blow at the mosquito and yet 

 not realize that any such thing had occurred. 

 In this case it is evident enough that it was 

 not the first time that he had performed a 

 similar act. The first time such a movement 

 was made, it must have been a conscious one, 

 and for many times afterward, until it could 

 be performed without conscious effort. All 



