4i8 Animal Life and hitelligence. 



occurrences in the external world, and more or less lie 

 open to our view. But the intervening physical and 

 physiological neural processes are hidden from us. As 

 occurring in ourselves, however, the mental states which 

 are the inner aspects of these neural processes stand out 

 clearly in the light of consciousness. When, therefore, we 

 are watching the life-activities of others, we naturally fill 

 in between the physical stimulus and the activities, not the 

 neural processes of which we are so ignorant, but mental 

 states analogous to those of which we are conscious under 

 similar conditions. Thus we leap from the physical to the 

 mental, and back again to the physical, as represented by 

 the diagonal lines in the above scheme. And there can be 

 no objection to our doing so if we bear in mind that we 

 are thus changing our point of view. 



The human organism, then — for at present we may 

 regard the matter from man's own position — is a wonder- 

 fully delicate piece of organization, with mental (inner) 

 and physical (outer) aspects. It is in a condition of the 

 most delicate equipoise. Under the influence of a percep- 

 tion associated with an appetence, or of a conception 

 accompanied by a desire, it is thrown into a state of 

 unstable equilibrium ; the performance of the action which 

 leads to the fulfilment or satisfaction of the appetence or 

 the desire restores the stability of the system. The in- 

 stability is caused by the conjoint action of an attraction 

 towards some state represented as desirable, and a repul- 

 sion from the existing state which is relatively undesirable. 

 In some cases the attraction, and in others the repulsion, is 

 predominant. When we are in an uncomfortable position, 

 the discomfort is predominant, and we seek relief by 

 changing our attitude. When the bright sunshine tempts 

 us to go out for a walk, the attraction is predominant. But 

 if the uncomfortable attitude is enforced and prolonged, we 

 have a mental representation of the relief we long for ; and 

 this is attractive. And if we have work which keeps us 

 indoors, the irksome restraint brings with it an aversion to 

 our present lot. 



