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Home , Humanism

ELEMENTS of MODERN in the new humanism

R. E. Gibson

eference to any standard dictionary reveals call your attention at once to the fact that we are R three definitions of the word "culture." The not dealing with straight-line flow but rather with first defines culture as "the concepts, habits, skills, a fairly complicated series of feedback loops. With arts, implements, institutions, etc., of a given peo­ the help of this diagram, I hope to forth and ple at a given period." The second definition discuss in the light of the New Humanism those denotes the processes which promote the training elements which are important in the culture of and refining of the mind, skills, emotions, man­ and groups in the modern world. I ners, tastes, etc. The third definition denotes the hope to bring out especially the part that science results of these processes, namely the refinement of can play in the full culture of men and women thought, skills, emotions, manners, and tastes. We to prepare them to lead their fellows with con­ shall spend very little time on modern culture as fidence in attacking the problems of today. understood in the first definition. I have no desire The New Humanism at all to on the modern concepts, skills, habits, arts, and institutions of the United States The theme of this meeting of the National as popularly understood. This would only provoke Science Teachers Association is " Science- The endless argument on good and bad taste and a New Humanism." The term humanist is , as H. W. lamentation in which the words vulgarity, sex and Fowler says in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage: status symbols, , parochialism, . .. apt to puzzle or mislead, first , because it is applied to different things & a doubt of which is in question Madison Avenue, etc., might occur all too fre­ is often possible, & secondly because in two of these quently. Rather, I wish to invite your attention to senses its relation to its parent word is clear only the second and third connotations of the word to those who are acquainted with a long-past chapter of history. The newspaper reader sometimes gets the which emphasize refinement of thought and impression that humanist means a great classical scholar; action, focusing on the best that can be done in a Why? he wonders, & passes on. Another time he gathers given time or place to bring out man's highest that a humanist is a sceptic or an agnostic or a free­ thinker or something-of that sort, you know; again he potential as a sentient . Here we think of wonders why, & passes on. Another time he feels sure those aspects of the study of man which may be that a humanist is a Positivist or Comtist, & here at last, since he knows that Comte founded the applied to extend and intensify his capabilities for of Humanity, there seems to be some in the thought and action in directions that not only add name. And lastly he occasionally realizes that his writer meaning, harmony, and pleasure to his inter­ is using the word in the sense in which he might have invented it for himself- one for whom the proper study actions with his fellows, but are compatible with of mankind is man, the student, & especially the kindly what he envisions to be the ultimate purpose of or humane student, of human . his life. The original humanists were those who in the Dark I take it as axiomatic that foundations of culture Ages, when all learning was , & all the learned were priests or monks, rediscovered pre-Christian litera­ lie in the education, using the term in its broadest ture, turned their attention to the merely human sense, of human . The Chart shows achievements of Greek & Roman poets & philosophers, & historians & orators, & so were named humanists as in block diagram form the various processes opposed to the divines; hence the meaning classical involved in the cultivation of mind and body and I scholar. But this new-old learning had, or was credited with, a tendency to loosen the hold of the Church upon men's beliefs; hence the meaning free-thinker. The third Address delivered March 29, 1968 to the Joint General Session, Asso­ meaning- Comtist-was a new departure, unconnected ciation for the Education of Teachers in Science and National Science in origin with the first two, though accidentally near Supervisors Association, at the National Science Teachers Association one of them in effect, but intelligible enough on the Sixteenth Annual , Washington, D. C. face of it. As to the fourth, it requires no comment.

2 APL Technical Digest environment really is , an understanding of the interactions of individuals and groups within it. It must also be concerned with the urge to learn the purpose of creation and the purpose of the lives of individuals. Lastly, it must recognize the essential unity of all these environments. In the "It takes more than one mind to clear the noise from Chart, I have indicated to and from communica­ our communications or the dirt from our facts. " tions with two of these environments. All we know comes into our minds through our senses, first­ hand being derived from communica­ tions with the physical environment, and second­ hand coming from our human envi­ ronment, parents, teachers, fellows , books, etc. Interactions with the Physical Environlllent Without going into all the meanings, we come to In the early 18th century, Alexander Pope wrote: the last one given by Fowler, namely a humanist " Know then thyself, presume not Cod to scan; is one for whom the proper study of mankind is The proper study of mankind is man. " man-the kindly or humane student of human This was really a statement of priority. By the nature. This is the sense of the word I feel sure 17th century, preoccupation with dogmatic the­ we are asked to have at the front of our minds in ology and related subjects had rendered scholar­ this meeting. The other meanings given by Fowler ship sterile and useless. But even before Pope wrote might be quite startling in this context. these lines, new methods of thought and action However, the adjective " new" adds something were being put into effect, starting a most produc­ more. It asks us to study not by tive era of intellectual activity, the era of modern itself, but in the context of the much larger system scientific research. These new methods were with which man interacts in ways that determine applied most successfully in developing his destiny as an individual. Thus, in this day and and understanding in the fields of man's inter­ age, the study of man involves the detailed study actions with his physical environment, giving us of a complex organism whose mechanisms, the body of systematic knowledge and understand­ thoughts, and actions depend strongly on inherit­ ing of nature we call modern science. ance from the past and on external interactions Let us take a quick look at what the first scientific with environments, present and future. It may be revolution, with which the names of Calileo, convenient for a time to distinguish among these Bacon, and Newton are associated, really accom­ environments. The distinction is an arbitrary one, plished. Before it there was no dearth of empirical but is justified for one reason at least, namely, the knowledge. Astronomers had searched the heavens extent of our understanding of each differs for centuries and accumulated a vast store of enormously. First, there is the physical environment knowledge; the alchemists had uncovered numer­ from which we derive all the food, energy, mate­ ous facts and developed all the basic techniques rials, and implements necessary for life and living. on which early chemistry depended; the artisans Second, there is the social environment, a corporate and inventors had vast technological lore-metals creation of man within the physical universe. On were mined, purified, and worked into ingenious this we depend for the group memory that enables devices; glasses, ceramics, and textiles were the individual to use the combined experience of developed; animal and water power were common; the past to guide him through the perils and agriculture was well advanced; architecture and vicissitudes of the present, to realize the wealth the arts provided the media to immortalize the of the physical environment, and to build for the genius of individual artists. However, speculations future. Lastly, there is what I would call, for want on the meaning of it all fluctuated from one of a better name, the spiritual environment. The generation to another. A fruitful approach to of this environment is not easily demon­ natural was lacking; monotonic strable but its influence in motivating the behavior was unknown and the world of science of individuals is very real. was dominated by the opinion of the brilliant Clearly then, the New Humanism-the study of intellect and the powerful dialectician. man-must entail an understanding of the phys­ The first scientific revolution changed matters ical universe and man's interactions with it; it by emphasizing a number of new approaches must entail an understanding of what the social toward the advancement of learning. First, it

March - April 1968 3 brought together in equal partnership the thinker in theories rather than color, taste, even tempera­ and the doer, the theoretician and the experi­ ture. menter. Hitherto, the intellectual had regarded the For example, we observe the color of a star experimenter with contempt-a vulgar artisan. through information coming to our senses, helped Galileo, Hooke, and contemporaries raised experi­ by a telescope and a spectroscope. We observe that ment and the devising of instruments to a position the star is redder than we would normally expect­ of respectability in -the this leads to the deduction, via the Doppler prin­ laboratory took precedence over the study. ciple, that the star is moving away from us at a Second, human authority and were given speed. The motion of a star is something we replaced by the authority of nature as expressed can imagine it possessing, whether we observe it in validated facts. No matter how highly esteemed or not-the color depends on the interaction of the or advertised the man who propounded a theory light from the star with the observer. (communications with the human environment), it In seeking an understanding of the physical stood or fell by its consistence with experimental world, we have found it profitable to abstract facts. "Nullius in verba," we take nobody's word certain features or variables from complex for it, was the motto adopted by the Royal Society. phenomena in order to derive rather simple rela­ In terms of the Chart, the block named Validation tions that give a realistic description of the phe­ was given highest importance since it was realized nomenon, although not one that is complete in that raw experience, especially that coming from every detail. Inspired abstraction has been the the human environment, is contaminated; gold mark of the great researcher. must be separated from the dross. Only the gold­ Application of these approaches to learning set or valid knowledge-facts- could really provide in disciplined motion all the processes shown in adequate material for fruitful mental ratiocinations. the Chart, and provided a very powerful mecha­ Third, and closely allied to the second, was the nism for accumulating, comprehending, and emphasis placed on quantitative thought and systematizing human experience. For example, an expression. A great deal of effort was spent in inventory of valid knowledge gave a sound basis seeking units that could be defined in terms of on which the powers of imagination could work, some generally accepted standards so that providing on the one hand a creative approach observed phenomena could be expressed exactly in to the ordering of this knowledge into patterns terms of units and numbers, and subsequently of understanding which could not only be com­ transformed by mathematical reasoning. The role municated to the human environment, but also of instruments in giving data in terms of units used as a basis for more intelligent validation of and generating numbers is well known to you. In new facts. On the other hand, as indicated on the terms of the Chart, communications were made as right-hand side of the diagram, imaginative study exact as possible. Mathematics became the of the facts suggested applications that enhance vehicle for communication and deduction. our physical powers through training, development The fourth approach laid great emphasis on the of new skills, and design of instruments to .interact ordering of facts through construction of mental more certainly and intelligently with the physical models, whose validity was checked by the estab­ world, adding to the flow of new experience that lishment of a detailed correspondence between the comes in through our senses. This activity goes content and consequences of the model and the by many names, but I shall refer to it as " basic information about the physical environment that scientific research, " or just scientific research. It comes in through our senses. The success of these begins when an individual's curiosity is aroused by models gave us the power to comprehend and the observation or description of natural understand the complex phenomena of the physi­ phenomena. It is usually spurred on by an irrita­ cal world . Furthermore, the understanding tion produced by a gap in knowledge or a sharpened judgment, which in turn fed back to discrepancy between observations and precon­ new criteria for greater skill in validation. In order ceived ideas, whose objective is to seek out valid to produce viable mental models, the elements by facts and fit them into the pattern of established which they were constructed were completely sound knowledge. When this is done, we say we revised and chosen from the primary properties understand the phenomenon. of matter-that is properties that may be regarded It is an activity of heavy private responsibility­ as intrinsic to matter itself and do not depend the responsibility.that falls on a man who professes on interactions between matter and an observer. to search for . This responsibility demands These properties were used in the construction of that no pains be spared to separate the signal theoretical models of observed phenomena. Thus, from the noise in the acquisition of information; particles, motions, forces, and geometry were used to separate the gold from the dross in mining the

4 APL Technical Digest ------~

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

• . . • . .

ACQUISITION OF EXPERIENCE

UNDERSTANDING NEW POWERS .. ~ COMMON SENSE OF ACTION

MIND BODY

ASPIRATION ASPIRATION TO KNOW TO DO

nugget of truth from nature. The establishment of man's interactions with the physical universe, the validity of one set of facts may take years of scientific research has produced at an exponen­ hard, exacting work. The fitting of valid facts into tially increasing rate a fabulous amount of sound a viable, comprehensive, and aesthetically satisfy­ systematic knowledge during the past 300 years ing pattern is an artistic achievement of the highest and has ordered this knowledge into powerful and order. The responsibility also carries with it the viable patterns of understanding. We have duty to communicate valid facts and sound developed theoretical structures into which theories to sophisticated colleagues (human myriads of facts can be neatly fitted, facts ranging environment) for their scrutiny, criticism, and from studies of the very small- atoms and sub­ reproduction should doubts arise. It takes more atoms-to the very large, e.g., the extra galactic than one mind to clear the noise from our com­ nebulae. The job is by no means finished. Indeed, munications or the dirt from our facts. it would be unwise to say we have acquired any­ Premature publication for the sake of publicity thing like a complete understanding of our or newspaper fame is a violation of this responsi­ physical surroundings. We have a very satisfactory bility of the seeker after truth. It is a professional and viable systematic view of knowledge that crime that adds noise and dirt to knowledge by gives a good partial understanding, but as we those whose responsibility is to eliminate them. I penetrate further and deeper into the universe, we realize that these comments may be hoplessly out discover facts that lead us to suspect that changes of fashion-the mutterings of an old man. How­ in our theories may be expected. The old ques­ ever, I still think some traditions are worth pre­ tions, namely the nature of the cosmos, the nature serving and I take hope from the remark of the of matter, and the nature of life still present in­ old Mammy to her young charge: "Mind your triguing problems that challenge our highest pow­ manners, honey, someday they'll be coming back ers of imagination and skill. in style." However, even this partial understanding has The success of scientific research in broadening had a revolutionary effect on the rate of progress and deepening man's understanding and knowl­ of exploratory development and engineering . You edge of his physical environment is now one of remember that exploratory development and the established facts of history. In the area of engineering used to be known under the name

March - April 1968 5 of the "useful arts" and has been practiced worked word-and it is most difficult to obtain since civilization began and perhaps before. perspective inside a fireball. How far can basic The realization of a human need, or an oppor­ research carry us in developing systematic knowl­ tunity for gain, has always inspired ingenious men edge and understanding of man as an individual and women to marshall all the empirical knowl­ organism? edge available, valid or invalid, to devise a means I think we can safely say that a straightforward of fulfilling this need by a technique, a commodity, extension of the methods of thought and action or a service. The incentives for such activities now characteristic of scientific research can lead might be selfish or unselfish but they were always us to an understanding of the mechanisms of directed towards supplying a useful or profitable heredity, of the mechanisms whereby the body tangible contribution to human security, welfare, itself functions in growth and viability, and indeed, comfort, or luxury. All branches of the "useful of the mechanisms by which the brain and central arts," including the mechanical arts, medicine, nervous system control the actions and reactions agriculture, and transportation, are replete with of the organism, interpret the signals that come the success of these efforts, but the path of history in through the senses, operate the defensive is also strewn with the failures. mechanisms, remember, catalogue, and reassociate experience in the imagination, and translate After scientific research in private laboratories sophisticated thought into sophisticated action. or studies had been in progress for almost a cen­ However, serious students of science raise the tury and a half, it began to uncover valid knowl­ question of certain fundamental limitations to the edge and understanding that found application in applicability of present methods of thought and the useful arts, thereby increasing and sharpening experiment to acquire an understanding of our powers to manipulate the forces of nature and problems arising in man's interactions with the use them with greater to serve our will. physical environment. Such problems involve the With these powers, we can fortify our senses and boundaries of the universe, I the limits of space, muscles to penetrate into hitherto inaccessible or the beginning of time as well as fundamental regions of the universe; we can obtain vast and characteristics of the human organism, such as cheap supplies of energy for all kinds of purposes. consciousness and . Vannevar Bush2 states The whole range of materials available to the his view clearly. " Then it (science) comes to artist, the architect, even the dress designer has questions of consciousness and free will-and there been extended beyond previous imagination; by it stops. No longer can science prove or even bear our understanding of the motion of individual evidence. Those who base their personal philoso­ electrons in vacua and in solids, communications phies or their religion upon science are left, beyond among ourselves and with the physical and bio­ that point without support. " logical universe have been revolutionized. We have If this view is correct, and I have no reason to freed mankind from the scourges of many diseases; doubt it , it seems that present scientific methods we can spy and kill with staggering efficiency. We of thought and experiment will require thorough­ could spend all morning and not exhaust a going revision and extension before we can accept catalogue of powers acquired from the application the phrase, " Science-the New Humanism," as of science-powers that have literally changed the meaning the complete study of man, but we can whole character of human society. certainly regard science as occupying a key place In the area of our knowledge of ourselves as in the New Humanism. animal organisms, scientific research has built up a rapidly growing store of systematic knowledge and In teractions with the Social understanding of the mechanisms by which this Environlllent organism functions, the disturbance that causes In those fields of study that deal with the inter­ malfunctions, and mechanisms by which it inter­ actions of man and his social environment, there acts with its environment. We are now beginning is no dearth of empirical knowledge and experi­ to understand how such a mechanism is controlled ence. People have observed these interactions for through the brain, and also the inheritance that thousands of years, pondered deeply and specu­ gives such a variety and range of potential to the lated about them, trying to discern patterns by separate organisms that make up the "living" which the complex observations could be at least world. It is hard to assess the present or future of the products of basic research in this area; the ISee C . Hinshelwood, President's Address to the British Association­ increase in systematic knowledge of the origin, "Science and Scientists," Nature 207, 1965 , 1055-1061. development , and functions of the human 2Vannevar Bush, Science is Not Enough, William Morrow & Co., New organism is truly explosive- to use an over- York, 1967, p. 27.

6 APL Technical Digest partially comprehended. Our own heritage from of basic understanding of the physical world, the the Chaldeans, the Jews, the Arabs, the Greeks, progress of the useful arts was slow and uncertain the Romans, and the Europeans is rich enough. but nevertheless there was progress. We have When we add the constant output of the anthro­ noted how understanding generated by scientific pologists and the ethnologists, the wealth becomes research sharpens our abilities to pursue the use­ overpowering. Libraries have been filled with ful arts with greater certainty and speed. However, observations of and speculations about the inter­ we should also note that it is only in fighting actions of man with social environments. The against time in a competitive world that the com­ situation is reminiscent of the state of our knowl­ bination of scientific research and the useful arts edge and understanding of the interactions of man (engineering) really reaches its highest impor - and the physical environment prior to the advent tance. From time immemorial attempts have been of modern scientific research. We know a lot but made to change the interactions of the individual understand very little. Theories rise and fall , or of groups of individuals with their human human authority has not yet given way to the environment in order to remove conflicts and ten­ authority of valid facts, controlled experiment is sions, and promote the welfare, happiness, and still in an elementary state, and units of measure­ harmony of a majority or a minority of the ment permitting quantitative expression and individuals concerned. Remedies were based on mathematical treatment are not yet common, what could be deduced or surmised from past although much emphasis has been placed on non­ experience. If there were a systematic body of rationalized units and statistics. Finally, it is hard knowledge built into a coherent and aesthetic to find concepts inherent in social systems, such as structure by basic research on the interactions of the masses, motions, shapes, and sizes, and man with his social environment, we might well arrangements in physical systems which may be call these activities " Applied Social Science," but regarded as intrinsic properties of the system and in the absence of such a background, it seems best not dependent on interactions of the systems with to use the term " Social Arts," or if this is ambig­ an observer. Can the methods of basic research uous, " Social Engineering. " The interactions of which have been so powerful in developing an the individual with his environment may be understanding of natural phenomena be applied to changed in a number of ways: we may adjust the develop an equally fundamental understanding of individual's outlook and aspirations by education; social phenomena? Are we willing to devote time we may prescribe individual interactions by and energy to the study of very simple and legislation; and we may change the environment seemingly irrelevant questions, confident that by political means. Indeed, we can discern many eventually we can arrive by steps from the simple, fields of social engineering. In order of age, we to the understanding of the more complex, follow­ may mention a few of these. The first, and ing the centuries of slow monotonic progress of the undoubtedly the oldest, is that of education; the physical ? Anthropology, ethnology­ second is probably that of military organizations; critical studies of real facts in the history of the the third, that of priestcraft; the fourth, that of rise and fall of human societies-may lead us politics and statecraft; the fifth, the formulation, towards a more basic understanding of social study, and practice of law; the sixth, the study problems. and practice of economics; the seventh, industrial A basic understanding of man's interactions organization and management. You could supply with his social environment is imperative, if we many others. All of these activities are primarily are really to develop a new humanism. It is a concerned with the solution of practical problems very noisy environment where the signals of truth arising from man's interactions with the human are drowned by the noisy clamors of selfishness environment. and human perversity. This makes the task It may be worth noting several differences difficult but, I hope, not impossible. We can try between studies of the physical environment to apply the techniques used in developing an (including biology) and the social environment. understanding of the physical environment. Other­ First, basic research has progressed far in the wise,. we must look for new methods of thought physical sciences in its scope and power to deliver and action, at present as unexplored as were those valid systematic knowledge and understanding; now familiar to us before the times of Bacon and basic research is still in its infancy in the social Galileo. sciences, having barely progressed into the descrip­ tive stage. THE SOCIAL ARTs-We have seen that through the useful arts empirical knowledge was applied to Second, and largely as a result of the first, the enrich the material life of mankind. In the absence studies of the physical world (science), its applica-

March - A pril 1968 7 tions and the philosophy behind it, have acquired large part. It is a world created by the imagina­ a basis of worldwide acceptance, whereas the tion of the singers, the writers, the players, the underlying studies of interactions in painters, poets, musicians, the dreamers, and other the social environment differ widely and almost creative thinkers who consciously or intuitively irreconcilably as we pass from one region of the evaluated raw experience, extracted from it a world to another. Thus in Russia India nugget of truth to communicate to their fellows . In or Africa those who study man ~s an o;ganis~ particular, man's interactions with his physical and his interactions with his physical environment environments have greatly enriched this meta­ have the same objectives and use the same methods physical environment, an idea that was often sub­ as do those in Western or the United merged in the old humanism, which regarded States. Occasionally basic differences in philosophy scientists as a -less crew devoid of any real arise but they are evanescent. The results all con­ imagination or interest in human problems. tribute to one structure of systematic knowledge. As primitive man became conscious of the vast­ The same cannot be said about the philosophies, ness and complexity of his phys ical environment, objectives, and methods fundamental to the studies his attitude towards it was one in which wonder of man and his social environment. These differ and fear were intimately mixed. His imagination, widely from one area to another, and while they working on crude, unrefined experience, populated add to variety of experience, they cannot be said this world with creatures made in his own image, to lead to understanding or an integrated body of and clothed it with -his first attempt knowledge. at understanding. When experience became more refined and he realized more fully the grandeur Spiri tual En vironlllen t and the order, as well as the complexity, of the system of which he was a part, he became more We come now to the world of the splnt. I had and more attracted to the conviction that this considerable difficulty in selecting a name for this system was constructed according to a master environment. The term " Metaphysical Environ­ pattern and for a purpose. Late in time came the idea ment" was considered but rejected. "Cultural of the unity of the pattern and the purpose, sug­ Environment" suggested itself but there was some gesting a single author, called God. The unfolding ambiguity possible in the light of the first definition of this pattern and comprehension of this purpose of culture that I gave. I have chosen the term have inspired man's noblest thoughts and actions. "Spiritual Environment " hoping that you will It may be noted that through our interactions with understand that its meaning is much broader than our physical environment we seek to discover the the predominantly religious connotation that has been associated with the spirit. I am using the term pattern; through imaginative philosophy, we seek " Spiritual Environment" to describe the world of a purpose or objective for man's that is the intellectual and spiritual products of man's compatible with a master purpose of creation. imagination and experience. However, I would In the last few centuries the disciplines, methods, also have you understand that this is the world in and discoveries of science have added greatly to which the implements of refinement of thought and our spiritual environment by constructing a model action reside, the seat of the motives that lead of the pattern of creation which, as far as it goes , is to the highest cultivation of man's potential. In consistent and comprehensive. We must always other words, it is the place where we look for ele­ remember that this model is not complete-that it ments of culture, the of Humanism. is undergoing rapid extension and that modifica­ tions will be required to keep it consistent and It may seem strange to some of you that I dis­ comprehensive. While, therefore, we avoid dog­ tinguished the spiritual environment from the matic assertions about the eternal truth of the ~ocial e~vironment , for the two appear to be closely pattern science is revealing, we can have consider­ mtermmgled. However, I do so deliberately able confidence in believing that it has provided because I believe it aids our thinking to separate viable elements which are now integral parts of the for the moment the intangible atmosphere of ideas spiritual environment. Vannevar Bush states the and ideals from the seething ferment of inter­ situation as follows : " Science proves nothing actions of man with man, nation with nation from absolutely. On the most vital questions it does not which it is distillr.d. even produce evidence. But is all the labor of The spiritual environment that permeates our science vain to the thinker . . . ? By no means. lives is int.angible b,~~ nonetheless real. It comprises Science does two things. It renders us humble. the domain of the lmmediately apprehended," to And it paints a universe in which mysteries become use a phrase of Northrop, a domain where the ~ighlighted , in which constraints on the imagina­ emotions responding to or ugliness, tlOn have been removed and which becomes even harmony or discord, sacrifice or selfishness, playa more awe-inspiring as we gaze. "

8 APL T echnical Digest Not only is the pattern of creation being revealed in different parts of the world. This is very sig­ by scientific research an element of our spiritual nificant in our approach to the overall topic of this environment, but the processes by which this meeting, "Science in the New Humanism," for pattern has been developed deserve an equal, or even purpose and philosophy are intimately connected more prominent, place, in this cultural heritage. Referring with values, and problems of loom large in again to the Chart we emphasize that scientific studies of man's interaction with his social environ­ research has taught us the value of strict discipline ment, especially in the application of the social in using direct means to ensure that we extract arts. Values such as "good" vs. "bad," " benign" really valid facts from the which come vs. "malignant" have meaning only in terms of to us through our senses from the human and the objectives and purposes, and absolute meaning only physical environments, facts that are not con­ in terms of universal ol;>jectives. When we speak of taminated with irrelevant noise, and furthermore objectives we naturally assume the presence of a to use indirect means through the judgment chan­ system designed to attain these objectives. Any­ nel to confirm the validity of these facts by con­ thing that enhances the capacity of the system to sistency. It also suggests the power of the dis­ attain the desired objective is , by definition, good ciplined imagination nourished by valid knowledge and anything that poisons the ability of the system to put the facts in aesthetic order on the one hand to do its job is, by definition, bad. and to apply them intelligently on the other. It You see, therefore, that when we open up the also emphasizes the paramount importance of question of values we are immediately forced to exact communications, particularly with the think not only of objectives but also of the grand human environment, if for no other reason than system through which these objectives are to keep noise, fallacy, and irrelevance from the achieved. In particular, when we consider value loop involving facts, understanding, communications, judgments in man's interaction with the social human environment, back to facts. Surely this dis­ environment, we immediately think of this environ­ cipline in the acquisition of knowledge, in the ment as a system with an objective and perhaps imaginative ordering, application, and communi­ part of a larger system with whose grand objective cation of it are elements of our cultural environ­ the local ones must be compatible. Fragmentation ment which, though derived from man's inter­ of objectives and philosophies throughout the actions with his physical environment, are social environments of the world poses very diffi­ applicable in studying his interactions with the cult problems to the humanist, and particularly social environment as well. to the social engineer who takes a broad view of The symmetry of this diagram is meant to sug­ his subject. gest another thought, namely that the cultivation We are apt to bandy around the terms good and of imaginative practical skills to interact with the evil in a very cavalier fashion, without thinking physical world takes precedence alongside and not much about systems and objectives. For example, behind the mental processes leading to under­ I have been asked often whether scientific research standing and communication. We can never be has had, on balance, a good or bad influence on truly cultured as long as it is possible for a man to society. If you have followed what I have been admit without shame that he cannot drive a nail or saying, you will recognize at once that the wrong a woman that she can't cook, when they would be question was being asked, for scientific research, extremely embarrassed to admit inability to read being a purely intellectual pursuit in search of or write. knowledge and understanding, can have only one Earlier in this section, I suggested that another kind of impact on humanity-if it has any­ great quest in man's interaction with his environ­ namely, a good one. No one can long sustain the ment is the search for a purpose or objective for argument that ignorance and superstition are his existence that is compatible with a larger pur­ objectives of man's existence. The question that pose of creation. The existence of an overall might have been asked is: Have the products of purpose for creation probably requires a greater technology had a good or bad effect on mankind? act of now than does the in an overall To answer this question, one has to consider the pattern. Furthermore there is much greater effects of these socially inspired products on the unanimity throughout the world concerning the system as a whole. We really do not know whether value and methods of scientific research, than there a technological advance is good or bad until we is concerning the value and methods for ascertain­ have determined how the whole system reacts to it ing the purpose of man's existence. Indeed, there or can be influenced to react to it and what its is no agreement on this latter subject at all. Con­ short- and long-term effects may be. For example, templations of the long-range purpose of man's the prolongation of human life by the technical existence has led to entirely different philosophies advances in medicine and public health are

March - April 1968 9 regarded in many quarters as "outstandingly of local environments filling the needs of good," if not exemplary. This is so in a system people who inhabited the region, and that can react by increasing food supplies, oppor­ expressing their ideas of purpose and value. tunities for profitable and satisfying use of time by Technological advances such as rapid air old as well as young, without a runaway expansion travel and a widespread network of swift of population. However, in a system where pro­ wideband communications have made the longation of life leads to lower and lower standards world a very small place, broken down bar­ of existence, condemning millions to starvation, riers to geographic isolation. Will these com­ we may question its " goodness" and, indeed, make m1.mications bring about more unanimity on a case that in such cases the results are bad. problems of purpose and values or will they On the other hand there are many who consider accentuate to the breaking point tensions the large-scale release of atomic energy, particu­ caused by present differences? The answer to larly in the form of bombs, as being something this question poses one of the greatest chal­ "bad." Here again, the answer is by no means lenges in the study of Science and the New clear-cut unless we can determine it in the light of Humansim. its effect on the complete system of which we are a part, including past, present, and future. If Conclusion society uses these weapons for purely destructive It has become fashionable, through the influence purposes, one answer comes out. If, on the other of C.P. Snow, to speak of a world divided into two hand, the presence of atomic bombs deters irre­ between which an ever-widening gap sponsible people from waging wars at all, another exists. We must admit that there. is such a gap in answer comes out. our intellectual life but we might as well give it We are now learning, with the help of models its proper name. It is the gap that separates those and high-speed computers, to follow the effects of who think precisely and communicate clearly changes in parts on the overall behavior of a com­ according to a rigorous discipline from those whose plex system. It is too early to predict how far these thoughts and words are neither exact nor dis­ techniques will lead us in the study of the inter­ ciplined, in other words, loose. To borrow a action of man with his social environment. It may phrase from the bankers, it is the gap between lead to better value judgments in terms of assumed the areas of hard intellectual currency and soft purposes but we still come up against the baffling intellectual currency. It is the gap between those problem of what is the actual purpose of the uni­ who refine the dross from their experiences before verse and man's part in it. feeding them into their imagination or communi­ About the important components of the spiritual cation channels and those who do not. It is not a environment that come from revealed religion, I gap between the physical and biological sciences must needs say very little here. However, three on the one hand, and the on the other. points arising from a faith in the essential unity Representatives of both these, and indeed all other of this environment may be mentioned. walks of life, are to be found on both sides of the 1. Boundary problems in the physical universe, gulf. The invigorating climate of the hard intel­ problems of the nature of consciousness and lectual currency areas has, however, nourished the free will in man, problems of purpose and growth of the systematic knowledge we call values in society, all call for the exercise of science. It has cultivated the power of man to develop a broad and viable understanding of his faith. We turn to the philosophers and theo­ logians to provide us with a faith that can physical environment and to supply a store of material and intellectual riches to fill the needs satisfy our intellects and inspire our wills. and desires of the social environment, and to 2. Believing that man and the environment with adumbrate a pattern of creation that becomes part which he interacts form one large system, of his spiritual environment. it seems incumbent on the philosophers and As teachers of science, you have the privilege of the theologians to couch their teachings being able to pass on to your students an enthus­ within the framework of the patterns of the iasm for, and a desire to live in, the bracing atmos­ universe being unfolded by scientific phere characteristic of the regions of hard intel­ research, at least until another more con­ lectual currency with the attendant satisfactions it sistent and aesthetic pattern is revealed by brings. Not only is this discipline essential for methods not now known to us. those who seek careers in science-it is equally 3. The number, variety, and often incompati­ essential for the education of all who aspire to bility of the of the world arise enlightened leadership and service in any walk largely from the fact that they were products of life.

10 APL T echnical Digest