BUSINESS AND LIFE

Evening Star, Issue 22277, 2 March 1936, Page 2

BUSINESS AND LIFE

WEEK-END PSYCHOLOGY LECTURES IMMENSE INTEREST MANIFESTED The two series of lectures which the psychologist, Mr W. ShakespeareBinks, has been delivering in Dunedin have obviously aroused tremendous interest. This fact was proved particularly during the week-end, when not only was the Town Hall Concert Chamber filled to overflowing on each occasion, but the main Town Hall, which was used on Saturday, was comfortably filled with an. audinece which repeatedly demonstrated its approval. As the' lecturer himself remarked, all this clearly proveo" how hungry people of to-day were for tcr.?hings of a higher, more scientific, more practical, and effective nature than those to which the average person had been accustomed in the past. f On Saturday afternoon Mr Shake-speare-Binks lectured on ' Success Always Easier than Failure: Why?' The answer to' this question, said the lecturer, was that the road of the successful man or woman was always made smooth and pleasant. It was true that nothing succeeded like success. But to succeed it was necessary to know the rules of success, and these rules were embodied in the science of " humanology." Having acquired knowledge of these rules, no person, old or young, need be a failure in life. There was no " chance " about this, said Mr Shakespeare-Binks; it was as certain as the laws of Nature, because those laws worked for the good of mankind, not to his undoing, once they were-under-stood or accepted. SUCCESS IN BUSINESS. A special lecture dealing with the psychlogy of business and entitled'' The One Greatest Asset of Every Successful Man ' was? delivered by Mr Shake-speare-Binks on Saturday evening in the main Town Hall, and as proof of the wonderful interest which these lectures have aroused in the community there was an attendance of some 2,000 people. The lecturer dealt with this subject in the same masterly manner as that in which he had handled the various other subjects forming the syllabus of the lecture season. Not only did he give practical illustrations of the value of human analysis in business, of the necessity for " knowing your man " in dealing With him, but he stressed the ethical side of dealing also, showing that straightforwardness in business was not only the right thing from the point of view of morals, but that " it paid to be straight." Business, said Mr Shakespeare-Binks, was to-day on a much higher level than it had been at any previous time in the history of the world, and all the old ideas of salesmanship had gone by the board. It was no longer considered smart or clever to sell a man something he did not w^ant; it_ had been' found that in such cases it was the customer who had been " sold," and that a person so treated was unlikely to come back. Even exaggerated statements were unprofitable, said the lecturer, for here again the customer lost confidence in the seller. "If truth won't sell it don't sell it " was a good business maxim. Competition in business these days was keen, and it was a case of giving service, and faithful service, in order to retain custom. While it was undoubtedly profitable to trade on the principle of " honesty is the best policy," said Mr Shake-speare-Binks, it was better still to hold that point of view in the higher sense, for if ever honesty of purpose and high thinking was needed in the world it was now, when affairs generally appeared to be in the melting pot; and if one had honesty he had something which formed a very strong foundation for life. The business man's greatest asset, and one upon which all up-to-date business concerns were based, was the correct judgment of human nature. All the great leaders of men had been and were readers of men. Every living person was a salesman or saleswoman in some sense, for salesmanship was the art of persuasion. A baby cried because it found that by so doing it was taken notice of, children used persuasion on their playmates, husbands and wives on each other; employees on employers or prospective employers ; and most of all . sellers on buyers. If one could put an idea over into the other's mmd, then he was a good salesman.

In all reverence, said Mr Shaken speare-Binks, it might be said that th* great Nazarene had been a super-, salesman: He had appealed to people's imagination and stin-ed their high de-; sires. He wanted minds unspotted byl the world, and so He did no.t go to the lowly men he had ■ picked out to be Apostles and say: "Can I interest you in a proposition called ' Consciousness, " but He had gone; straight to the point with these simple fishermen and said, " Come, follow Me; I will make of thee fishers of men.' And they had followed him instantly j and with enthusiasm. Such human analysis was within the power and: reach of us all to-day, the lecturer added, and if any of us failed to demonstrate this after honestly trying on scientific lines to do so, then there was but one explanation—he or she was breaking some of the eternal laws of Nature oy which we lived, and without: observing which we could never succeed. : . These laws of Nature were quits simple when known, said'lhe lecturer,' wlio proceeded to mention that the classes which were held by him in every! centre in which he lectured had been so successful that in some cases ha' had been unable to accept all the applications for membership which had been received. At these classes, he said, the technique of human analysis and' of other branches of practical psycho- j logy were thoroughly taught in a newj system which was entirely different] from that of any other previously ex-' plotted. One class had already been., held in Dunedin, he said, and, by special request, another was being, formed, and would also be given his personal attention. 'This class would, begin to-morrow (Tuesday) evening. Mr Shakespeare-Binks, having delivered much more sound and logical advice concerning business methods, proceeded to further illustrate his system of human analysis by sketches of various types of faces. Following this, there was an interlude of community singing in which the huge • audience joined heartily. Another pleasing feature of the evening's proceedings was a recital on the-big organ by Mr Axel Newton.. ■ ; -" ;..-;.:;' : : .. ' SUNDAY LECTURES. Sunday afternoon's lecture was on, the subject of ' The Greatest Thing in the World.' • This, said Mr Shake-speare-Binks, was love. We had been, accustomed to be told, he said, that, the greatest thing in life was faith j faith had been the keynote of ortho-j ; dox, popular religion, but that idea was wrong. The teachings of Jesus, of Paul, John, and others stressed the fact that the greatest thing was love And character was love in the con crete, and so the grandest thing. Th< sermon on the mount could be reducei to the one word " love," so, indeed could the ten commandments, for wh would wish to kill, or steal, or bea false witness who had love in his heart All around us, and in us, an< through us, said the lecturer, wa divine love; we, as souls, floated ii one unfathomable, infinite ocean o divine" love. We could not get awa; from this Universal Spirit—which wa: God—if we wanted to,- for just as muci as we needed God, God needed us; _ But love had its attributes, the chie of these being patience, kindness, cours tesy, unselfishness, and optimism. Th way to attain to this state was to thin] right. Evil thoughts, unkind thoughts selfish. thoughts, should be displace* by good, kind, unselfish thoughts " Control your thoughts, control youl love," said the lecturer. " Whateve> things are true and just and pure am lovely, think of these things." Long before 7.30 last night ever; s«s&t in the Concert Chamber had beei taken, and large numbers of peopl were turned away. The lecturer deal with the subject of ' Happiness ii Love, Marriage, and Home,' and ii doing so covered a lot of ground anl gave an abundance of good, sound ad vice both to young, unmarried peopl" and to those who, having entered intc the bonds of matrimony, were stil seeking happiness; In the course of this surrey, M Shakespeare-Binks made an appeal _tc the better nature of husband and wife particularly. There was, he said, toe little attempt made to understand each other; too little consideration ii the way of expression of appreciation Indeed," this failure to express apprecia tion of service was not' confined tj husbands and wives, said the lecturei employers were often guilty, not knoT* ing that they were making a hug mistake in psychology. Mr Shakespeare-Binks also describe the various types of men and wome who should mate, or should not mati The great objective in .this case, hi said, was harmony; one partner shou] be the complement of the other; at other kind would produce discord, ju) as wrong notes in music or a clasnic of colours did. Throughout Natui there was a law of attraction and « pulsion, and these laws li learned; in other words a knowledge < human analysis was essential to ha: mony. - .«_ Mr Shakespeare-Binks will collclud his season of public lectures to-dai when there will be two sessions, bot in the Town Hall Concert Chamber: The subject in the afternoon will be ' Prosperity Ahead; Are You Read for,Your Share?' and in the evening ' ITifmaii Analysis in Everyday Life. Its Vast Power.' Admission, as b* fore, will be free, and there will l no collection.