HOW DO WE CONTROL THE HUMAN MACHINE? 



Effective Running of the Human Machine a Matter 

 of Training. No one would think of trying to drive a car 

 in traffic unless he had learned first how to control it and 

 then practiced in its control. So it is when running a 

 human machine. Training and practice are necessary. 

 You may remember Uncas the Indian. It was by training 

 that he became acute enough to read the signs in the 

 forests that told him that enemies or animals had passed 

 that way. We learn in control by profiting by our mis- 

 takes. It is much more important in training that we 

 know when we make a mistake and profit by it than it is 

 to go on and luckily make no mistakes. We should 

 learn to be alert and cool and, once having found the right 

 way to act, to practice doing it so that it may become a 

 habit. The boy or girl who has the habit of stopping to 

 think before acting has done much to gain control of his 

 or her nervous system. In reading or listening to any one, 

 get the habit of paying attention to what is being said. 

 A wandering mind is not an alert mind. By paying 

 attention we avoid mistakes and avoid accidents. More 

 fatal driving accidents come from carelessness than from 

 any other cause. Above all, do your best all the time. 

 "Not failure but low aim is crime." 



What Is Fair Play to the Nervous System ? Nerves can 

 stand hard work for long periods of time, provided they 

 get occasional rest and sleep. A transcontinental train 

 cannot run a long distance without changing engines. 

 This is done every 200 to 300 miles. In the human ma- 

 chine we must have occasional rest, and the best rest 

 comes from sleep. Scientists say that children from 

 eleven to twelve years of age should have from nine to 

 ten hours of sleep. But even more important than long 

 hours of sleep is the habit of taking short rest periods when 

 tired. Learn to relax. When we go to sleep, we relax, as 

 you can see if you watch a person who is just falling asleep 



