300 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



enables one to live, on the edge of difference, instead of in 

 the emotional attitude of onesidedness. For one who assumes 

 the latter position, the important questions of life are settled, 

 it matters not in how dogmatic a fashion. It is, of course, 

 sometimes better to settle a question, even wrongly, than 

 to endure the paralyzing effects of an uncertainty that 

 inhibits action, where action of some sort should be taken 

 without delay. But it is a very human failing to form judg- 

 ments upon, and to settle out of hand, matters which call 

 for investigation before any intelligent action can be taken. 

 The ability to suspend judgment is a necessary corollary 

 of the fair judgment, which all men profess, but which so few 

 attain that one wonders how it can ever be attained by men 

 of action. Men so yearn for the settlement of important 

 problems that settlement is commonly made, irrespective 

 of the facts which might be ascertained. The mind tends to 

 emotional rather than intellectual decisions, and to a closing 

 of the circuit once a decision has been reached. Established 

 convictions prejudice the thought of every individual in 

 ways of which he is quite unconscious. An open mind is 

 the ideal to which most men aspire, but which they never 

 fully attain. 



The open-mindedness that comes with the ability to 

 suspend judgment, where judgment cannot be based upon 

 adequate data, is an ideal of science. The very nature of 

 scientific truth makes it clear that the open mind must be 

 maintained, even in matters which the scientist believes to 

 have been firmly established. Science has value, because 

 its methods of thought dignify both the suspension of judg- 

 ment and the willingness to revise judgment that condi- 

 tion the open mind. 



The intellectual advancement of individuals and thus of 

 nations is obviously dependent upon the acceptance of new 

 ideas. The opposition to any significant change in social 

 customs, in legal enactments, or in religious beliefs is but 

 an illustration of the fact that the individual resents any 



