DYNAMIC THOUGHT/PART 3
CHAPTER III
THE UNIVERSALITY OF LIFE AND MIND
THE
writer has deemed it advisable to preface his consideration of "Mind"
in itself, as well as of Substance and Motion, with two chapters, the purpose
of which will be to demonstrate that Mind, in some form or degree, is to be
found in connection with all Things—and that Everything has Life—and that Mind
is an accompaniment of all Life. To many the term "Mind" means only
the "thinking quality" of man, or perhaps of the lower animals; and
"Life" the property only of such organic creatures. For that reason
it has been deemed advisable to point out that Life and Mind are found even in
the lowest forms of substance—even in the inorganic world.
In
this chapter and from now on, the writer shall use the term "the Mind,"
etc., to indicate the particular mental principle of the creature or thing—the
bit of Mind that is segregated from the rest, and which each person thinks of
as "mine," just as he thinks of "my" body, as distinguished
from the universal supply of Substance. The term "Mind" will be
used in its Universal sense.
And,
the writer intends to use Elmer Gates' term, "Mentation," in
the sense of "effort; action; or effect; in or of, the Mind"—in
short, "mental process." The word is useful and when one has learned
to use it, he will prefer it to the more complicated terms. Remember, then,
please—"Mentation" means "Mental Process." Mentation
includes that which we call "Thought," as well as some more
elementary forms of mental process that we are not in the habit of dignifying
by the term “Thought”, which latter we usually reserve for mental process of a
higher order.
So,
then, "Mind" is the something of which one's particular Mind is
composed; "The Mind" is that something possessed by one, by and
through which he "thinks"; "Mentation" is mental process;
and "Thought" is a advanced kind of Mentation. At least, the said words
will be so employed in this book, from now on.
In
this chapter, you are asked to consider the fact that Life is Universal—that
Everything is Alive. And, that Mind and Mentation is an attribute of Life, and
that, consequently, Everything has Mind, and is able to express a degree of
Mentation.
Forms
of Life, as we know them, are always seen as possessing two aspects, viz.,
(1) Body (Substance); and (2) Mentation (Mind). The two aspects are always
found in combination. There may be living creatures who occupy bodies of so
fine a form of Substance as to be invisible to the human senses—but their
bodies would be "Substance" just as much as is the "body"
of the granite rock. And, in order to "think," these beings would
need to have a material something corresponding to the brain, though it be
finer in quality than the rarest gas, vapor, of electric wave. No body, without
Mentation; no Mentation without a body. This last is the invariable law of the
world of Things. And naught but The Infinite—That-which-is-above-Things—can be
exempt from that law.
In
order to grasp the idea of the Universality of Mind, let us go back to the
elementary forms of Things, and, step by step, see how Mentation manifests
itself in every point on the scale from mineral to man—using bodies ranging
from the hardest rock to that finest form of known Substance—the Brain of Man.
As Mind advances in the scale of evolution it creates its own working
instrument—the body (including the brain) and shapes, and moulds it to admit of
the fullest possible expression of Mentation possible at that stage. Mind is
the moulder—body (and brain) that which is moulded. And Inclination, Desire,
and Will, are the motive powers leading to gradual Unfoldment, the impelling
cause being the craving for Satisfaction.
We
shall make our journey backward—and ignoring Beings higher in the scale, we
shall start with Man. Leaving out of the consideration, for the moment, the
fact of the existence of the "Ego," or "Spirit" of Man,
which is higher than Body or Mind—and considering "the Mind of Man,"
rather than the Man himself—we have our starting point on the downward journey
of investigation. We need not devote much attention to the consideration of the
Mind of Man, at this stage, although we shall have much to do with it, later
on.
But
we may undertake a brief consideration of the descending degrees of Mentation
as manifested by Man, as we pass down the scale in the human family,
considering in turn, the Newtons, Shakespeares, Emersons, Edisons, and their
brothers in intellect, in the field of mathematics, literature, music, art,
invention, science, statesmanship, business, skilled workmanship, etc.,
respectively. From these high levels we pass down, gradually, through the
strata of men of but a slightly lower degree of intellect—down through the
strata of the "average man"—down through the strata of the ignorant
man—down through the strata of the lowest type of our own race and time—down
through the strata of the barbarian, then on to the savage, then on to the Digger
Indian, the Bushman. What a difference from highest to lowest—a being from
another world would doubt that they were all of the same family.
Then
we pass rapidly through the various strata of the lower animal kingdom—from the
comparatively high degree of Mentation of the horse, the dog, the elephant,
etc., down through the descending scale of the mammals, the degree of Mentation
becoming less marked at each step of the journey. Then on through the bird
kingdom. Then through the world of reptiles. Then through the family of fishes.
Then through the millions of forms of insect life, including those wonderful
creatures, the ant and the bee. Then on through the shell-fish family. Then on
through the community of sponges, polyps, and other low forms of life. Then on to
the vast empire of the microscopic creatures, whose name is legion. Then on to
the plant life, the highest of which have "sensitive cells" that
resemble brains and nerves—descending by stages to the lower plant life. Then
still lower to the world of bacteria, microbes, and infusoria—the groups
of cells with a common life—the monera—the single cell. The mind that has
followed us in this descent of life, from the highest form to the cell-like
"thing" merely "existing" in the slime at the bottom of the
ocean, has acquired a sense of awe and sublimity not dreamed of by "the
man on the street."
The
degrees of Mentation in the lower animal kingdom are well known to all of us,
therefore, we need not devote much time to their consideration at this time.
Although the degree of Mentation in some of the lowly forms of animal life, are
scarcely above that of the plant life (in fact, are inferior to that of the
highest plants), still we have accustomed ourselves to the use of the word
"Mind" in connection with even the lowest animals, while we hesitate
to apply the word to the plants.
It
is true that some of us do not like to think of the lower animals
"reasoning," so we use the word "Instinct" to denote the
degree of Mentation of the lower animal. The writer does not object to the
word; in fact, he shall use it for the sake of distinguishing between the
several mental states. But, remember, "Instinct" is but a term used
to denote a lesser form of "Reason"—and the "Instinct" of
the horse or dog is a fine thing when we consider the "Reason" of the
Bushman or Digger Indian. However, we shall not quarrel about words. Both
"Reason" and "Instinct" mean degrees or forms of
"Mentation," the word we are using. The lower forms of animal life
exhibit Mentation along the lines of sex-action; feeling and taste. Then by
degrees come smell, hearing and sight. And then something very like
"reasoning" in the case of the dog, elephant, horse, etc. Mentation
everywhere in the animal kingdom, in some degree. No doubt about Life and
Mentation, there.
But
what about Mentation and Life in the plant life? All of you admit that there is
"Life" there—but about Mentation, well, let us see! Some of you draw
the line at the word "Mind" in connection with plants, although you
freely admit the existence of "Life" there. Well, remember our
axiom—"no Life without Mentation." Let us try to apply it.
A
moment's reflection will give you instances of Mentation among the plants.
Science has called it "Appetency," rather than admit
"Mind," the word "Appetency" being defined as "an
instinctive tendency on the part of low forms of organic life to perform
certain acts necessary for their well-being—such as to select and absorb such
particles of matter as serve to support and nourish them." Well, that
looks like a degree of Mentation, doesn't it? Many young animals evidence
little or nothing more than "Appetency" in suckling. We shall adopt
the word "Appetency" to designate the Mentation in plant-life.
Remember this, please.
Anyone
who has raised trees or plants has noticed the instinctive efforts of the plant
to reach the water and sunlight. Potatoes in dark cellars have been known to
send forth shoots twenty feet in length in order to reach an opening in the
wall. Plants have been known to bend over during the night and dip their leaves
in a pot of water several inches away. The tendrils of climbing plants seek for
the stake or support, and find it, too, although it has been changed daily. The
tendril will retwine itself, after it has been untwisted and bent in another direction.
The tips of the roots of the tree are said to show a sensitiveness almost akin
to that of the limb of an animal, and evidently possess something akin to nerve
matter.
Duhamel
placed some beans in a cylinder of moist earth. When they began to sprout, he
turned the cylinder around quarter way of its circumference; then a little more
the next day; and so on, a little each day, until the cylinder had described a
complete revolution—had been turned completely around. Then the beans were
taken from the earth, and lo! the roots and sprouts formed a complete spiral.
With every turn of the cylinder the roots and sprouts had changed their
position and direction—the roots striving to grow "downward," and the
sprouts striving to grow "upward"—until the spiral had formed. Akin
to this is the boy's trick of uprooting a sprouting seed, and replanting it
upside down, in which case the sprouts begin to turn a semicircle until it is
able to grow straight up to the surface of the earth, while the roots describe
a semicircle until they can grow downward once more.
And
so on, story after story of "Appetency" or Mentation in plants might
be told, until we reach the insect-catching species, when even the most
conservative observer is forced to admit that: "Well, it does almost seem
like thinking, doesn't it?" Any lover of plants, flowers or trees, and who
has been able to study them at first hand, does not need much argument to prove
that plant-life exhibits traces of Mentation, some of it pretty far advanced,
too. Some lovers of plants go so far as to claim that one must "love"
plants before they will succeed in growing them, and that the plants feel and
respond to the feeling. But the writer does not insist upon this, but merely
mentions it in passing.
Before
leaving the subject of Mentation in plants, the writer is tempted to steal a
little more space and tell you that plants do more than receive sensations of
light and moisture. They exhibit rudimentary taste as well. Haeckel relates an
interesting story of an insect-catching plant. He states that while it will
bend its leaves when any solid body (excepting a raindrop) touches its surface,
still it will secrete its acrid digestive fluid only when that object happens
to be nitrogenous (meat or cheese). The plant is able to distinguish its meat
diet (its food being insectivorous), and while it will supply its gastric juice
for meat and cheese, as well as for the insect, it will not do so for other
solids to which it is indifferent. He also mentions the fact that roots of trees
and plants are able to taste the different qualities of soil, and will avoid
poor soil and plunge into the richer parts of the earth. The sexual organism
and life of plants also affords a great field for study to the student hunting
for evidences of "life" and "Mentation" in that kingdom.
The
motion or circulation of the sap in trees and plants was formerly considered to
be due to capillary attraction and purely "mechanical laws," but
recent scientific experiments have shown it to be a vital action—an evidence
of life and Mentation—the experiments having proven that if the
cell-substance of the plant was poisoned or paralyzed, the circulation of sap
immediately ceased, although the "mechanical principles" had not been
interfered with in the least.
And
now on to the mineral kingdom. "What," you may cry, "Mind and
Mentation in the mineral and chemical world—surely not?" Yes, even in
these low planes may be found traces of mental action. There is Life
everywhere—even there. And where there is Life there is Mind. Away back among
the chemical principles, and the minerals we may go in our search for Life and
Mind—they cannot escape us—even there!
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