Maech 10, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



253 



ing of the evidence on which they rest." Au- 

 thority in this sense means "the principle of 

 adopting the beliefs of others on a matter of 

 opinion without reference to the particular 

 grounds on which that belief may rest." The 

 profound error implied in the blind or un- 

 reasoning acceptance of the views of others 

 is the most serious menace to present-day civi- 

 lization, and the growing habit of accepting 

 as conclusive the views of men possibly as 

 iU-informed as they may be influenced by 

 wrongful motives, simply because they au- 

 daciously emphasize and reemphasize mere 

 opinions as statements of fact, involves the 

 very integi'ity of the intellectual life of the 

 age. 



The half-educated, but possibly well in- 

 formed, do not realize the truth that "the 

 formation of opinion by authority can never 

 (except by indirect means) produce any in- 

 crease or improvement of knowledge or bring 

 about the discovery of new truths," or, in 

 other words, progress for its attainment de- 

 pends upon intellectual virility, independence 

 of thought, and judgments impartially arrived 

 at. In the large majority of matters men must 

 rely upon the opinions of others, but here 

 again, in the words of Lewis, "It is of para- 

 mount importance that truth and not error 

 shall be accredited; that men when they are led 

 by opinion should be led by safe guides." 

 Hence the importance of an intellectual 

 standard which shall insist upon fact gather- 

 ing, reflective analysis, and verifiable knowledge 

 in all matters fairly within the compass of a 

 mind of average intelligence. It was the weak- 

 ness of the German educational system, so 

 largely copied or adopted in this country, that 

 it made respect for authority its cornerstone 

 to the infinite harm of the countless many who 

 fell victims to the soul-deadening policy of 

 the Super-State. 



Essentially progress and discovery depend, 

 in the words of Karl Pearson, upon a dis- 

 ciplined imagination and while "the man with 

 no imagination may collect facts" it is equally 

 true that "he cannot make great discoveries." 

 As perhaps the most illustrious examples, he 

 cites Farraday and Darwin, who were both 



fact gatherers but at the same time gifted with 

 a brilliant imagination. But the imagination 

 will fail unless it is a disciplined one, and all 

 discipline leads, unconsciously perhaps, to the 

 development of the critical faculty. Yet this 

 faculty is to-day the least regarded — looked 

 upon as mere fault-finding, when in very truth, 

 in the words of Pearson, "Criticism is the es- 

 sence of the scientific use of the imagination, 

 in fact the very life blood of science." 



An excellent practical illustration is E. Ray 

 Lankester's essay on the "History and Scope 

 of Zoology," originally contributed to the Ninth 

 Edition of the EncyclopEedia Britannica. (Re- 

 printed in his "Advancement of Science," Lon- 

 don, 1890). The author observes that "The 

 possibility of verification established verifica- 

 tion as a habit; and the coUeetion of things 

 (or facts) instead of the accumulating of re- 

 ports (or mere information) developed a new 

 faculty of minute observation." But it did 

 much more. It developed at the same time the 

 judgment qualified to draw correct conclusions 

 both as to the nature of things and causation. 

 To-day there is the most serious danger that 

 the ever-increasing amoimt of mere information 

 on countless questions as wide apart as the 

 universe, made accessible anywhere to those 

 who can read — through books, newspapers, and 

 motion pictures, will, in the absence of a clear 

 recognition of the fundamental principles of 

 the limitations of the human understanding, 

 lead to hopeless confusion in matters essen- 

 tial to every-day living. There was never a 

 gi'eater fallacy uttered than "EJiowledge is 

 Power," for it is by no means mere knowledge 

 or information that gives support to creative 

 intelligence, but the understanding alone aids 

 the disciplined imagination ever on the search 

 for new truths or the larger and better use 

 of the truths or facts already known. 



Sir E. Ray Lankester refers to the immense 

 influence of the Royal Society in the seven- 

 teenth century when "It laid down definite 

 rules for its guidance, designed to ensure the 

 collection of solid facts and the testing of 

 statements embodying novel or remarkable 

 conclusions." Nothing would give more sub- 

 stantial furtherance to the cause of truth than 



