“NOETICS CLUB”

Evening Star, Issue 22630, 23 April 1937, Page 13

“NOETICS CLUB”

NEW UNIVERSITY SOCIETY RELATION OF THE OCIENGES A new society known as the “ Noetics’ Club ” has been formed by a number of senior students and others connected with Otago _ University. At a meeting held last night an explanation of the purpose of the club and its justification was given by Mr C. 6. F. Simkin. Its- purpose, Mr Simkin said ti was to create a medium of ■ collaboration and co-operation between the various sciences and thereby to demonstrate that the sciences were in a real sense a society and not a collection of her-metically-sealed atoms maintaining their independence and purity in splendid isolation. It aimed at helping new ideas to permeate from particular sciences generally, and if possible to prove the value of such collaboration in practical studies of_ value to the community requiring in principle the help of more than one specific science. ■ _ ‘ All the-‘sciences, the speaker, con-; tinned, together with philosophy, were merely different aspects of one great adventure of the human mind to understand the universe and if possible to master it more or less completely. In this enterprise they required for the understanding of their own division of knowledge the ‘ co-operation or potential co-operation of other departments of knowledge and inquiry. Science was an attempt to explore systematically and fruitfully all reality. Reality was a whole, and_ we could never safely ignore the essential truth that things could only be understood when their relation to the rest of , the universe was known. It was necessary, that the sciences should mutually criticise one another and provide one another with material. Valid scientific ideas had potentially and often actually applications of wider generality than the particular sciences, which had given birth to them. Mr D. P. Kennedy was elected chairman of the club, Mr C. G. F. Simkin secretary, and Messrs F. W. Guest, F. H. Sim. and F. Lehaney members of the committee. It was decided to meet as far .as. possible every three weeks on a Friday night. The studies represented by members included physics, chemistry, Ijjology, medicine, mathematics, economics, History, philosophy, theology, literature, and the fine arts.