KNOWLEDGE OR NOT?

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14601, 26 February 1921, Page 9 (Supplement)

KNOWLEDGE OR NOT?

CHANGED CONDITIONS. (By Martma.) A short time since a scientific man in England died, and left a sum of money to found a chair for the teaching of rational logic. The remarkable thin-i; about the bequest was the conditions attached to it. The professor who should be selected to teach logic was not absolutely ineligible if he knew German or Greek, but such knowledge was to be considered as a drawback to count against his other qualifications. The bequest has set the literary men speculating. Is knowledge considered to be a drawback to efficiency? Whe.i the question is thus put, the idea will be vigorously repudiated, but nevertheless it is to be feared that there are grounds for believing it exists. It is certain that the belief was widespread fifty years since and openly maintained, and although the public declaration of It may now be rare, there are indications that the old belief dies hard. A large number of people are prejudiced in favour of a man who knows his joh, and as little as possible outside it. They would distrust a lawyer who was interested in constitutional procedure, and would think that a business man who endeavoured to penetrate the mysteries of exchange was heading for the Bankruptcy Court. Dlsgulso Your Knowledge.

What is the cause or this curious tendency, for it can scarcely be questioned that it is commoner than we realise? It is true that the scholar of ancient days was too often regarded as a harmless incapable, and tales of his absence of mind and ignorance of common affairs were always enjoyed. It cannot be said, however, that such specimens of the class are common today. On the contrary, the ridicule they provoked has tempted the scholarof to-day to assume the tone of a man of the world, which may be for the better or may not. Whatever be the cause, It is safe to say that if any man be more widely read than common, he will do well to disguise the fact if he be looking for popular acceptance. If anyone in disposed to question this, let him reflect upon how often any University professor has been asked to sit upon a Royal Commission. Yet such commissions often sit to enquire Into matters on which the professor is constantly reading and teaching. Most people would say that they prefer plain common sense to book learning, which means that they refuse to profit by the experience of mankind, and Insist on making the mistakes that their fathers made before them. Intellect or Character.

It Is said that there is a perpetual feud between the schoolmaster and thi business man. The former is declared to believe that nothing should be taught that can afterwards be of value, and the latter to hold on the contrary that It is not worth while to teach anything that will not yield an immediate casli return. As in so many of such standing disputes, the true course lies in a judicious compromise, but it is possible that the prejudice against knowledge as such is due to the smattering of it acquired in a school career, which is ended all too soon. The fragments of Latin or Algebra acquired by the boy who leaves school early are insufficient to fit in with any broader ideas of life. What he knows, beyond the three R's, ho has acquired by observation or miscellaneous reading, and unless he differs from the majority, he will think that xny Knowledge beyond what he possesses himself is superfluous It is not an admirable frame of mind, and the best that can be said of it is that it is not quite so common or so outspoken as it was fifty years since. As a race we have scorned intellectual pursuits, though we have certainly produced Borne of the most renowned In this respect. It has never, however, had any general appeal, and for the success we have achieved as a race we must point to character. That is the justification of the schoolmaster's view of what should be taught, always supposing he holds such a view. But there is no real antagonism between knowledge and character, and no reason why both should not be equally cultivated.

A Life's Pursuit. In the middle ages, and the early days of the Renaissance, the sum of human knowledge was limited, and it was possible for exceptional minds to grasp much of It. Conditions have changed, and it Is not possible now for any man to be a general expert. It is possible, however, that he should have a lovj ol knowledge, and a desire to acquire, it. It is a very strange and wonderful world we live in, and an account of Its natural phenomena to-day, or of man's doings herein in the past, is full of interest, much fuller, in fact, than moat Imaginary - records of the loves and fortunes of commonplace persons. Yet there are many people who read largely of the latter class of book, but could not be induced to clip into anywork dealing with the former. Among the varied objects which are set before the teacher of either a primary or secondary school could not the imparting of some task in literature be inoluded? There are, of course, some cases where it would be hopeless to make the attempt, but there are many more where much could be done. The average boy looks forward to making a fortune and owning a motor car There is some satisfaction to be found In such an achievement, though it is 6eldom unalloyed joy. It is certain, however, that all cannot achieve fame In this manner, and must find their satisfactions in some other way. The commonest form is sport, against which we would say nothing except that it Is insufficient to fill any but the shallowest mind. Disraeli complained of the British aristocracy that their table talk was stable talk, which was unfortunately, true, and to it he owed the commanding position he filled, and they could not. We should be doing much for happiness and much for character if we could imbue the rising generation with a love of knowledge. V\'e of the older generation must admit that we are past hope. There is no real fear that we shall become a race of bookworms.