Explains Effect Of Fear, Noise On Human Character

Northern Advocate, 5 September 1941, Page 8

Explains Effect Of Fear, Noise On Human Character

Consideration of the elements of fear and noise in their relationship with the human character was given by Mr. A. Marsden Woods in an instructive lecture to the law and order section of the Whangarei Emergency Precautions Organisation. Mr. Woods also dealt svith popular fallacies concerning imminent death. After self-preservation, the most powerful instinct to which human beings were subject was that of fear, said Mr. Woods. It had been established that I persons were born with only two fears, namely that of falling and that of noise. As the personality developed these causes were added to by two others, namely fear of anything sudden or that of anything unexpected, but the fear of anything noisy was still the most potent of them all. Normal Reaction The normal reaction at once was that of movement and this was indicated by the word emotion, which was a physical as well as a mental act. It had recently been discovered that the exact movement and its extent were determined by two adrenal glands, one of which was placed immediately above each kidney. Each gland was composed of an outside shell called cortex, which was the plus or masculine element, and a kernel called the medulla, which was the minus or feminine characteristic, and the proportion of these two determined the character of the individual in relation to ; fear and courage. Unknown Among Barbarians Those who were combative had a large cortex and timid people had a large medulla, and if the gland as a whole was large in relation to the kidney, a timid, forceful person resulted. Such people betrayed their characteristics by shyness reinforced by an assumed air of superiority sometimes pushed to the point of arrogance. This was frequently noticeable in the case of young men lacking' in the experience of poise and in the last few decades in young women as well. Shyness, however, was largely racial and was determined by climate and the opportunities of social intercourse. The latter assumed that the classes were on a reasonably equal footing, so that the faculty was negligible in Eastern races and unknown among barbarians, who had no artificial distinctions at all. Fear Infectious Fear, then, was organic and not always controllable. It was most noticeable, however. that it was infectious, and there was a theory that the human body, acting under such impulse, gave off a characteristic odour which was recognised by come of the lower animals. It was a common experience that dogs knew those who were afraid of them. The converse was also true, and confidence was enforced even when assumed, co that one of the first principles to be adopted by those likely to be in authority in a crisis was the desire and willingness to impart confidence to those giving away to fear. Element of Noise Noise Was the strongest element in fear and this was well understood by the Germans, who had made great use of ,'creaming bombs which had attached to them whistles under the same principle as an organ pipe which has the wind forced through it. But modern civilisation itself seemed inevitably bound up with noise, and the more it progressed the noisier it became. Harper Spencer, - the Victorian philosopher, had said that it was possible to judge intelligence by the tolerance of unnecessary noise. In these days people learned to tolerate it when it was found necessary and inevitable, but everyone knew how difficult it was to try and talk against the continuous broadcasting customary in many houses.

Train Experiences It might also be mentioned that a great deal of unnecessary nervous strain could be saved if there were a universal note for motor horns. This had already been done with train whistles and was a decided improvement. A simple experiment would show that the fatigue of a long rail journey was due mostly to noise registered subconsciously in the brain. The new air-conditioned carriages being quieter therefore were much more comfortable and a similar result could be achieved by plugging the ears with cotton wool. Excess stimulation of the auditory centres in extreme cases produced deafness, which was a common complaint with engine drivers and others exposed to continuous loud sounds. Even deaf people sometimes had their nerve centres excessively stimulated, in which case they had a sensation of hearing whistling, roaring, crashing or jingling noises, and this was one of their worst tortures. The only good thing about noises heard by ordinary people was when it was regular and not toe obtrusive, as it then induced sleep. Fallacies “It is commonly believed that when a person falls from a great height he loses consciousness before reaching the ground and this was so widely held that some years ago the ‘Lancet’ held an investigation which disproved the theory,” continued Mr. Woods. “Since then it has been common for parachutists to drop several miles before opening their appliances, and they have remained fully conscious throughout.” That a drowning person rose to the surface three times was another fallacy. There is no such rule, as they might come up many times or not at all, depending upon the general circumstances, such as the kind of water, its coldness and the' clothing the person w'as wearing, and the amount of struggling. The specific gravity of the human body was a little greater than that of water and there was a tendency to sink, but it was always unwise to wait for the body to arise before attempting rescue. When death did come it did so placidly and quickly from suffocation. Reactions at Death

The fallacy that at the moment of death events were speedily recalled had been disproved by many persons who had narrowly escaned death and reported nothing of the kind. In some cases the mind simply ceased to function, but it w'as generally knowm that those who remained conscious thought only of escape. The idea that the person about to die suffered agony had been believed for centuries, but was quite wrong, as had been proved many times. In an authenticated case the observer had thought it his duty' to make the facts known. The chief actor in the scene was almost always unconscious, even if he appeared to be struggling, and the distressing efforts were due chiefly to noisy breathing, which could be avoided by putting the patient on his side.