MENTAL ATTITUDE

Evening Star, Issue 22274, 27 February 1936, Page 15

MENTAL ATTITUDE

SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE SCIENCE OF HUMAN ANALYSIS So stupendously important to the health, happiness, business success, and spiritual welfare of the race is a proper mental outlook that it is surprising that much greater elforts are not made by tbe individual to adjust his life by this means. But the answer to the riddle is that the scientific methods by which this mental adjustment must be made are unknown to the great majority of people. It is therefore not so surprising, in view of the existence of an awakening consciousness that all is not well with the world and its people, that, when a noted psychologist and teacher comes among us with the object of imparting his knowledge regarding human analysis to those who would accept of it, the response will be a spontaneous and enthusiastic one. And it certainly has been so in the case of Mr W. Shake-speare-Binks, whose season of public lectures in the Town Hall Concert Chambers is towards its close. Last night' the hall was again crowded. The subject of the lecture on this occasion was, 1 Your Predominant Attitudes; What They Are Doing to Your Life.’ / ’ Mr Shakespeare-Binks, who, by the way, has, during his season here, strongly impressed his audiences as being a teacher who practices what he teaches, dealt nimbly and logically with the various phases of mental adjustment, pointing out the absolute necessity for the assumption of the right attitude of mind if one was to extract from life anything at all worth the having. But the lecturer did not leave the matter there; he was not content with genei'Slities, but went on to explain how the untutored mind could not be expected to take tbe broad view, to know the technique of constructive thought, or to be able to compel success to anything like the extent that a mind could which had learned how. For instance, few people would deny the desirability of a spirit of brotherhood in the community; yet how many possessed the courage and the knowledge, required in order to jettison their little suspicions and envies and prejudices and fill the vacant spaces with goodwill, helpfulness, and love for one’s neighbour? Even Mr Shakespeare-Binks, however, with all his sparkling optimism, lias to admit the existence of groups of “Did you hears,” in the community; husybodies who were never happy unless criticising their fellows, and whose stock-in-trade was innuendo, imputation, insinuation. And the, average person found it difficult to bring himself to look for the divine spark in this type, let alone to love it. Yet, said the lecturer, no matter how unlovable they may appear to he, these people, in common with tlie rest of mankind, possessed that divine spark, and it was in recognising this and exercising tolerance, in being positive, not negative, in one’s mental outlook, that one not only grew wise but commanded poise, with its corollary, happiness. Optimism, pure and unadulterated, was essential to a successful adjustment of outlook. v The unreliability of the average untrained mind was stressed by the lecturer, who illustrated his point with a number of lantern slides revealing optical illusions. Our viewpoint was limited and the law of relativity ruled, he remarked. For instance, if suddenly, say, in the middle of th night, we and everything on the earth were to be increased to 10 times our normal size, the fact, would not he noticed, because our viewpoint was always relative. Yet, when the proper method of mental adjustment had been applied, the world was, as it were, our oyster. We learned to see things with our own eyes; to look for the things we wanted to see in others; to recognise our objective, and to make straight for it; to banish from our lives the healthdestroying, ' mind-deadening fear which goes with confused, unconcentrated thought. The solution to practically all our problems, the answer to those riddles which were constantly puzzling us, the only thing that could brighten our own particular little world and help to brighten the world of every person with whom we came in contact, therefore, was—attitude. The lectures, are to he continued tonight, when the subject will be ‘ The Psychology of Health, Wealth, and Personality.’ Mr Shakespeare-Binks also desires to inform the public that the Saturday lectures, both in the afternoon and the evening, would be held in the Main Town Hall, not in the Concert Chamber. Also that the Sunday night lecture would begin at 7.30 and not at- 8, as previously announced. On every occasion admission is free, and there is no collection. The lecturer remarked to liis audience last night that, much as he would like to have done so, he would bo unable to furthe extend his Dunedin public lecture season, which would conclude on Monday evening of next week. In making this announcement, he expressed his appreciation of the warmth of tlie welcome ho had received in Dunedin, which had not been excelled in any other part of the Dominion that he had visited. It would probably be five years, be added, before his engagements would permit of a return visit to Dunedin, but He would never forget this city of warm-hr A people.