Stewart, Bob

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MANUSCRIPTS 43open doors to all fields of learning and discover secrets availableto no one else. Without the ability to think, Shakespeare could neverhave transformed his reverie into the works which the world hasadmired and enjoyed for four centuries; Beethoven would neverhave written his symphonies; and Einstein could never have formu-lated his theory of relativity. If men throughout history had failedto use their creative powers, libraries would be non-existent andschools useless. There would be no education and no progress.As James Harvey Robinson has stated, then, creative thoughtis the only hope of the future. We must try to develop it in ourselvesand force ourselves out of our complacency. Too many personsfeel, as I often do, that all we in the twentieth century need to do isto relax and to use the luxuries which science has given us. vVeare contented because we have refrigerators, automobiles, televisionsets, and electric heating. We ask ourselves, "What could I possiblydiscover that has not been discovered already in this era of progress ?"and do not attempt to find an answer. With awe we read of recentscientific developments and marvel at the amazing complexity of newmachines. Yet we fail to realize that the human mind has capacitiesfar beyond our comprehension; that many fields remain unexplored;that knowledge will never reach a limit. Few of us understandthat discoveries have been made by men not necessarily more in-telligent than we; that the only real difference between them and ushas been their willingness to use their minds. We do not realize thatall machines consist of variations of the simple machines put togetherby men who were not satisfied by the progress that had been madealready. If everyone had believed that no one could improve thehorseless carriage, we would never see the sleek automobiles whichmove along the streets at speeds which forty years ago would havebeen considered maniacal; and if all persons had thought of theWright brothers' invention as the ultimate in transportation, flightsin space would certainly not be possible today. Of course we can notknow what astounding feats will be performed in the future. If ~elearn to think creatively, however, we can be sure that progress willcontinue to exist.The TragicBob StewartTHERE is ~n appa!ling obsession spreading in the minds of mentoday which, until recently, solved only a few problems but nowseems to solve all. The obsession is objectiveness. Man has losthimself in certainties, axioms, proofs, and all other manifestationsof an indubitable character. Today there is only one doctrine forexpressing the correct answer-irrefutability.However, there are people who do not consider this a contemptibleattitude, and they are the real bores one confronts in life. They willagree that not all problems have a definite, final answer, but they44 lV1;, NUSCRIPTSview everything as an object of thought, and thus supersede sub-jectiveness with objectiveness. It seems that they can not or willnot express what they feel, but rather what is acceptable in the eyesof society. Their lives follow a rather stoic system of action, andbefore they realize it they are regarding themselves as objects. Thus,forgetting that they are existing human beings, they approach life asa series of problems that must be solved, rather than a joy that mustbe experienced. They spend their entire lives in practicalities,whether the results be success or failure, seldom facing the unanswer-able questions which they forgo as prosaic trivialities, questions suchas these: Why is the sky so blue? What makes a poem so. lovely?What is faith? Why is life gay at times, and sad at others? It isobvious the answers to these questions are not lasting certainties, butat best, only poetic descriptions of emotions and passions. Theywill not prove to be useful for the accomplishment of any deed; theysimply exist as paradoxes which man must face with awe and affec-tion. Yet, a great many people examine these questions with anexanirnate attitude of knowledge and assuredness, always giving arational explanation of the unknown. They pass through life nevergrasping the true meaning of its mysteries, constantly attemptingto put limits on its infinity.Now, perhaps some people do not feel that this problem is reallyso serious as I have made it appear to be. I agree that it is notgoing to cause any external disturbance, except between individualsof opposite attitudes, but that cloes not mitigate its tragic quality.The tragedy lies in the soul of the individual who constantly turnsto objective rationalism and never to subjective aestheticism. Thefact is that he is 110t sensitive to the truly lovely things which exist,or if he is, he is too practical to let it be known that he is awed bysomething he can not explain.There is an answer to this problem, but it rests with each in-dividual in the most inward manner; any external change is purelysuperficial. The change must be a matter of intensification, that is,rejecting all extensiveness and reJying on one's subjective being forthe answer. No system of action is possible; it is purely becomingaware of the problem that will result in any transformation.Skepticism as a Key to RealitySandra CheshireINANCIENT Greece a wise man was considered by many individualsto be one who looked upon all knowledge with a ~el"ta~n.1~1easureof skept1Cl~m 0.1' doubtfulness; he accepted nothing, initially, tobe totally and Irrevocably certain or veritable. It was further main-tained by some skeptics at this time that man should not trust evenhis own senses, for his sensations were not considered to be reliableindicators of reality and truth. Pyrrho, one of the first believers111 skepticism as a doctrine, asserted that any real knowledge of life

The Tragic

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The Tragic

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