BRING IN THE FACTS
Chase, Stuart
Bring in the Facts SCIENCE AND THE GOALS OF MAN, by Anatol Rapoport. Harper & Brothers. 262 pp. $3.50. Reviewed by Stuart Chase ANATOL RAPOPORT is professor of mathematical biology at the...
...The book is full of such homely, helpful illustrations, as well as clear analyses of some pretty profound problems—such as the ethical implications of science...
...Why not...
...but he will probably say it's only the slick method by which Communists protect their friends...
...He illustrates his generalizations with little stories of people's behavior, so you know exactly what he means...
...McCarthy would have fouled out in the first inning...
...Reviewed by Stuart Chase ANATOL RAPOPORT is professor of mathematical biology at the University of Chicago, also an editor of ETC., the semantics quarterly...
...Our author is well equipped to write about semantics as science, for he knows both fields well, and demonstrates that they have much in common...
...He is making the point that many disagreements between people are due to a shortage of facts...
...If the facts could get in, there would be no row...
...He firmly places the young discipline as one item in the broad advancing front of the sciences dealing with man—not as a sovereign remedy for all the ills of human kind...
...Y wants some extra-hot water, and his kettle is boiling like Old Faithful...
...That's Common Sense...
...What I particularly like is his ability to practice what he preaches...
...A great many fights could be so dissipated...
...Again, he is tolerant and open-minded toward all students traveling in his general direction—that is, studying how to think straighter...
...says Y. "The longer I heat it the hotter it gets...
...All in all, a fine addition to the growing library of semantics...
...After a few minutes wrapped in steam, Y agrees that water will not go over 212 degrees Fahrenheit, no matter how hot the fire, and that Common Sense needs a slight adjustment in this case...
...So a potential fight turns into complete and amiable agreement, as the facts are brought in...
...This takes longer, but is worth it...
...us look at an illustration of his method...
...McCarthy goes after me...
...Rapoport seems to be a well-adjusted and tolerant individual, and so his book makes a refreshing contrast to the holier-than-thou position taken by some people who write about semantics...
...Now watch the payoff...
...I was first attracted to him when he translated a rousing onslaught against semantics from a Russian highbrow journal, which attacked S. Chase with particular venom...
...No sense in that," says X, "it won't get any hotter...
...I shall produce this article as evidence when Sen...
...Let...
...X, instead of starting an attack on Common Sense, which might end in a fist fight, says: "Here's a thermometer...
...Here is X, a scientist, and here is Y, one of those guys who meets payrolls...
...Semantics, being the study of meaning behind words, is poison to Communists...
...But there is a catch in this, for there would not be any other dogmatic ideologists outside of sanitaria either —no Fascists, Nazis, Ku Kluxers, rabid theologians, nor hard money nuts...
...Let's try it and see...
...If it were taught in the world's schools there would not be a Communist on earth, at least outside of hospitals for the insane...
Vol. 14 • August 1950 • No. 8
