REFLECTIONS ON SCIENCE
Gruenberg, Benjamin C.
Reflections on Science By BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG IT IB no reflection on .Scieiice to say that tt hae marie ui aware o/ bow much we do not know. Indeed, that hae been one of the. moat valuable...
...part of the more 'thoughtful and intelligent teachers, regarding* their' place- in the scheme of things, nnd this must sooner or l a t e r strengthen both tho quality of t h e leaching a nd the standing of, the .teacher in the community...
...That Is why only toe ignorant person Is still afraid to s»y "I don't know...
...Wa might say that there are not enough people trained to make use of science, end that is true...
...That is why the body of what we do not know is growing so fast...
...ALL of this means further that t h e r e Is a premium upon re- j search workers, or soon will be...
...We muy pInn to diffuse the , r e s u l t s , of scientific discovery find 'the spirit of scientific thinking so t h a t eventually we shall all,know the difference between what we know and, what we do .iot know, That is s dilution that would bring about in one generation a now social and intellectual revolution...
...We Don't Care If He Never Comet Back SUPPOSE we let the rich man stay t h e r e in his g a r d e n of orchids — l e t him become permahently a- white slmtfOw Ur'tW South Seas...
...But it may | go on in two different ways...
...I New York gets them all, some a r e j j a n i t o r * ; some work in elottiing shops, countc*se» watting i " restaur a n t s , or waiting as supcrnumeries in cheap t h e a t r e s in the downtown section of Manhattan...
...standards are being lowered In many communities because well trained teachers are not to he had—at the salaries offered...
...But the gala season for scientific displays ia the week between Christanas and N ew Year...
...The abolition of conditions which make for military warfare and for industrial competition and struggle would h e p iti.i " w e . It is quite possible to have conditions in which men will cooperate for a living...
...H is a wicked place, a nd may have more murderi in proportion to the number of people than other parts, but America as a whole is lbng on murders...
...While they continue to light against one another, with their wits and wifh all manner of deception and dishonesty, f o r a living, it cannot be expected that they will cease to use phywcal- violence frequently to settle scores with each other.—Milwaukee Leader...
...By going away from us in o u r h o u r s of cold and hunger, he has amply demonstrated that he is n o t needed here a n y longer...
...In locating a drug store, an oil-well, a sUk-t.iill, a school, a railway station, a ship-yard, a chicken farm you Mini, consult people of experience and take eounsel of tha financial expert j but you must consult also t he scientist—this scientist or that one, according to what It is you wish to locate...
...And this is just whit' has happened in the past...
...This explains to n degree why it is that "educated" people* who are not scientific are a more serious ob-1 stn.de to the progress of science than ignorant people who are aware of their own ignorance...
...Yet in all the years, to o m e , most of them will tench only what they have al-1 ready learned...
...What we call science has grown at a tremendous rate during the past century...
...Ami it would be lovely for us...
...On the other hand, a premium on re, search may deplete the schools and universities of its best material...
...Even Chambers of Commerce and government bureau must support research—n>ust realize, that is, t h at they are'imported by research...
...Tney .need no longer affect omniscience And thousands of people who are not experts in anything: whatever are now able to say of another, "He doesn't know," without disparagement...
...THE dilution of science miut go on...
...It takes teachers — and good teachers — to discover and equip any potential scientific talents the population may contain...
...Such a development would have the Inevitable result of diluting very seriously both education and science...
...It would thus help recruit more and more able men and women.for the serious and neglected (albeit we have some three-quarter of a million engaged in teaching) business of teaching...
...And the growth Is truly wonderful...
...We have had sudi In the p a s t . But f o r steady, every-day, year in and year out knowledge we must depend upon science...
...I n " all the institutions in this world can anything be more impressive...
...THE growing- realization of the importance of science — t h at is to say, t h e growing realization of our ignorance — has made science reputable...
...It means that the Industrial plant or t h e bank will take away from the university laboratory or from the research institute the-maa...
...And labor unions are also breaking in...
...We mav g e t some of this usable knowledge through the inspiration of a mystic, through the I n t u i t i on of a poet, through the meditation of a philosopher...
...And every time a scientist makes a discovery or solves a problem or answers a question, he opens up new unexplored territory, new problems, new questions...
...At present there it already available more money to subsidise research than i* called for by scientists in need of financial assistance...
...Every National Society for t h e Promotion of t h i s orj T h a t must have Its Research committee...
...This]winter they met mostly at Cincinnati, but largely also in Madison attd]in Washington...
...Man is also t h e only animal that makes use of self-mnde tools...
...and we are not gpine to look for the answer to a question so long us we believe that we know the a n -, swer...
...They no longer expect of anyone that he know everything...
...More knowledge was accumulated during the last quarter of that century than during several preceding centuries...
...Of all t h e developments of modern times, electric cars, telephones, phonographs...
...sod some of the industrialists have already undertaken to train their own personnel In the research department as well as In the production department...
...On the other' hand, the a m o u n t ' of schooling per capita is also rapidly 'increasing...
...Science, as a purwiit or a s a full-time occupation, had been reserved for genial cranks, for impractical visionaries, for men of leisure who would cultivate harmIs** hobbies, for intellectual introverts, f o r professors...
...Western Clarion...
...Ani: mala, too, make use of inanimate ] things which they use for certain p u r p o s e s ; ' f o r instance, the builuing of nests...
...These, in t h e first instance, a r e language, then reason...
...such as it is, we a r e getting more schooling...
...Here i< where the advocates of g u n - p r o h i b i t i o n - The Tribune, for example — a l e lame...
...The plants could grow next spring, t ho farmer would hoe, the engineer could throw the t h r o t t l e , the workman could tend his machine, just as well without the owner, just as we* if he never came back...
...It it bard to say whether that indicate* an increase of funds mere rapid than the growth of interest in science among university student...
...It is only through society that t he experience and knowledge of former generations can be preserved, perpetuated, and developed...
...This is not because so much of the science fails to touch our practical life intimately enough, although there must always be many facts and ideas that appear remote from prac-' tical considerations...
...Tools, Thought and Language SOCIABILITY, with its consequences, the morn...
...Every year thousands of well trained and well informed men ami women lea^e the normal schools and colleges ti) go forth to teach...
...It is getting so that those who wish to come together cannot do so comfortably in any one, place: there are too many of than, there Would be too much handshaking' and informal discussion, their program would conflict...
...and that i s , that much of what they j learned has only tentative validity, and tbat most of 'what they learned has only temporary value...
...It might be q u i t e a joke on them...
...A.U of -this means t h a t more and •tore are responsible executives and managers and leaders aware of their reliant* upon knowledge,' reliable knowledge, exact knowledge, unprejudiced knowledge...
...These edy-_ cated people know ami therefore cannot learn any,more...
...The difficulty is chiefly that our heads are too full of old lumber which obstructs the free approach to this knowledge...
...developed essentially, new characteristics...
...More knowledge has been gathered dui-iiu: t b o past decade than during several preceding decades...
...radios, not to mention the ubiquitous movie, this colI lapse of the Russian ruling class is . t h e most ominous and portcntious...
...that most of what they know isn't so doesn't disturb them,- for they Have discovered neither a method for testing their-beliefs .nor a realisation that our beliefs need constantly to be tested...
...The World Move AP t t l N C E of the blood, once Governor of Moscow, with, l o w e r of life and death In his lightest nod, friend of, .he •Great White Csar, soldiers to do his bidding and s e r v a n t s to leap at bis command, now working for a living, two dollar...
...And when people ask questions Instead of pretending to know the answers, there is same hope that they will really find out...
...If, now, while the winter winds blow cold, the workers of t h e U. S. A. should d e c i d e to go right on working, but to just stop sending the regular dividend check to the idlers in Jamaica, Bermuda, Cuba, or the islands of the Pacific...
...the vast number «f conscious problems that are clamoring t o be solved...
...Tnls state of affairs is a tremendous advance over'that in which it was tacitly assumed that everything knowable or worth knowing was already lyiown—by somebody, by the experts, or bv tha "educated.h It is a tremendous advance because it makes possible the displacement of revered opinion and superstition with knowledge...
...They keep boosting m i l i t a r i s m - - p u b l i c murd e r— but they are against private murder...
...Monkeys sometimes use j sticks and stones, but only' man uses tools which he himself deliberately makes for p a r t i c u l a r purposes...
...a day, a ."supe" in » theatre on t h e New York East m...
...Now we have more parons than can be supplied with budding genius to pstronise...
...There are, however, some peculiarities which belong to man only, nnd which separa t e him from the entire animal world...
...There is also an increasing consciousness on the...
...i These primitive tendencies among ! animals show us t h a t the peculiarities possessed by man came to him, 1 not by means of" some wonderful creation, but by continuous development...
...It may be unthinkable that industrial plants, for example, should continue to draw to themselves students of high capacity for scientific work before these shall have had a chance* to demonstrate their capacity in the school or university laboratory...
...The " p r a c t i c a l " man who hfs been brought up among pigs, let us say, still has his place in t he community...
...A cessation of military teaching, military italic and military drill would help...
...Or we may I dilute science by cheapening or vulfarising the status of the* scientist, 'he outlook at present is n o t clear...
...Industrial Solidarity...
...Chicago is only a cross section of America...
...Every chain of banks or cigar stores must have a • research department...
...Reflections on Science By BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG IT IB no reflection on .Scieiice to say that tt hae marie ui aware o/ bow much we do not know...
...Then thousands of expert* and inveatlgstors and critics—and perhaps some curiohuntera— forgather to tell and to be told of the new wonders that have been dug up during the previous year...
...Some of thehl are good teachers...
...But t h e problem is f a i r: ly c l e a r : witn a fairly stationary organic and mental type (there isano reason that the species is a n y more intelligent now than it was in the time of Socrates) we must make available nnd usable an ever increasing body of reliable knowledge...
...In b s t a t e of isolated life every one has to make discoveries for himself...
...There is a spasnndic crusade going on in the Windy City to stop the sale of von- to p r i v e t ; individuals, confining their possession to officer.- of the law and other public and semi-public persons...
...No informed person need be ashamed to acknowledge his ignorant e Nobody need be ashamed to ask questions...
...WHAT OTHER EDITORS THINK Bad Blood Pl'Ji population Chicago h a i about twenty times as many killings with iron.- as the city of London...
...Mirny animals have some kind of voice, nnd by means of sounds they can come to some understanding, but only man has such teundi as serve as a medium for naming thing* and action...
...Some of the best work In "pure" science is already being done in laboratories conducted in connection with industrial enterprises...
...N THIS country there are stlenI tific congresses or conferences going on almost all the time...
...The use of tools also presupposes u society, f o r it is only through society that a t t a i n m e n t s can be preserved...
...We have been accustomed in the past to have the potential scientist maintain that lean and hungry look hi default of a fiatron...
...They keep boost ng capital punishment — public murder — but they protest against individuals following the example set t h tm by the State...
...and science must be put to work through education...
...feelings, is , a peculiarity w h i c h distinguishes man from some, but not f r om all, animals...
...it has grown at an accelerating rate...
...This situation has in it possibilities for good as well a* possibilities for evil...
...Thousand...
...Some of therit teach science...
...It In impossible to foretell, from the available data, just what will happen...
...For all these things, animals have but t h e slightest, p r o p e n s i t y , but among men...
...Indeed, nobody responsible for large numbers of pigs, dead or alive, would rely exclusively on the practical man's judgment...
...Every manufacturer of candies or cosmetics must have a research laboratory...
...But now research is in danger of becoming as respectable as Salesmanship...
...Animal* also have brain* with which they think, but t h e human mind sh*ows, . . an entirely new de1 p a r t u r e , which we designate a s reasonable or a b s t r a c t thinking...
...of specialists and experts in various fields, recognised by their colleagues as experts and authorities, are Bow able to say " 1 don't know," without embarrassment...
...A few more years and t h o s e who survive will doubtless see t h e four hundred of Newport and the " c a p - I t a i n s of i n d u s t r y ' ' who never did an industrious act, forced to work also to e a r n an honest living...
...I t ou</ht to 'be done - but it will not bring Chicago up to the London standard in point of safety from murderers...
...We a r e still In need of tha truth that shall make ui free...
...with tho death of t he discoverer the discovery also bej comes extinct, and each has to s t a r t anew from t h e very beginning...
...There seems to be something in the American blood (hat impels individuals to take private vengeance upon their eniiies, and also makes for rezkless'ss on the part of bandits who oot their victims on the slightest jiroyocation and likewise without provocation...
...Whatever element may ' A in t he American blood that create* this lawlessness, it is an (lament that must be educated out of the American people by an injunction of some sort«of more peaceful surum...
...But it is not unthinkable that the industrial organisations would undertake to 'discover and train scientific talents in total disregard of the universities...
...I Education In general la b e i n g rapidity diluted -kv-part by t h e increase in school attendance at a mow rapid r a t e than the Increase in trsim'd teachers...
...There are other ways to kill people beside* shooting I I o It might not lie a bad idea to discourage the desire to kill...
...rid women who have demonstrated - •opacity for research, It means nlm of course, that well-disposed people w large means will more and mere) contribute to research r a t h er tiraja, 1*4 un say, to foreign missions or I.I paanages for Eskimo infant...
...Hundreds of papers and adoressea and demonstration* and discussions were projected into the future - for it is in the future that all of these Ideas are to have effect The records of these meetings constitute markers for the growth of science—-and of ignorance...
...But with' all, their learning there is one thing ' that most" of them never learned...
...his knowledge of pigs can be put t o use) but it has to be supplemented by the knowledge of the scientist—the man who has been brought pp among test-tubes and slide-rules...
...from tho nature of a progressive society...
...it passes for knowledge and so obstructs the recognition of new knowledge or prevents t h e' search for i t For we can with difficulty admit into our minds what conflicts with what is already there...
...But even among, those who have been "educated, among those even who have been trained in science, there remains a tremendous lot of belief, opinion, conviction which is confusing and misleading because it is not recognised as opinion, belief or supposition...
...We could get the new overcoat — we might even lay off on the days when the btiazurds blow, lay off with full pay of-course...
...More and Sjore are shrewd guesses and t r a de secrets and wild speculations subjected t o test—the kinds of t e s t developed in the laboratory, in t h e experiment station, in the mind of t he scientist...
...Too many of us a r e idle on no wages a day already...
...SCIENCE, as knowledge, is now available in vastly greater quantities than we a r c able to utilize, notwithstanding...
...moat valuable contributions it fail made to human welfare...
...A premium on research may turn out to be a premium on science in education and 10 strengthen the position of teachers, from the university to the kindergarten...
...Over t h e door of a public house in pre-revolution France was t h e picture <>f a dog,' ;;nd u n d e r n e a th the lines: "1 am a dog who gnuwa a bone, 1 croyich ami gnaw it all alone, The time will come, it cornea n*t vol When I'll bite t h o « by wtv m I'm . —duffalo N...
...or whether it means a rapid diversion of scientific talent from disinterested research to—intere.W ed research, that is, research in connection with an immediate commercial purpose...
...The bakery and the cannery and the i/ik factory and the tannery may be.drawing off the potential scientists...
...these haye...
Vol. 1 • January 1924 • No. 1
