THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES m l -- ^PSYCHOLOGY AND ACHIEVEMENT I Being the First of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the Applications of Psychology to the Problems of Personal and Business Efficiency BY WARREN ^HILTON, A.B., L.L.B. FOUNDER OF THE "SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE LITERARY DIGEST FOR teotttty ot Applied NEW YORK AND LONDON 1919 Ed. - Psycfi. Library PREFATORY NOTE Lest in the text of these volumes I /f i /i credit may not always have been given where credit is due, grateful acknowl- edgment is here made to Professor Hugo Miinsterberg, Professor Walter Dill Scott, Dr. James H. Hyslop, Dr. Ernst Haeckel, Dr. Frank Channing Haddock, Mr. Frederick W. Taylor, Professor Morton Prince, Professor F. H. Gerrish, Mr. Waldo Pondray Warren, Dr. J. D. ^uackenbos, Pro- fessor C. A. Strong, Professor Paul Dubois, Professor Joseph J as trow, Pro- fessor Pierre Janet, Dr. Bernard Hart and Professor G. M. Whipple, of the indebtedness to them incurred in the preparation of this work. CONTENTS Chapter I. ATTAINMENT OF MIND CONTROL rage THE MAN OF TOMORROW 3 THE DOLLARS AND CENTS OF MENTAL WASTE 4 THE MEANS TO NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT J A PROCESS FOR MAKING GOOD" 6 INADEQUACY OF BODY TRAINING J INADEQUACY OF BUSINESS SPECIALIZATION 8 FUTILITY OF ADVICE IN BUSINESS n THE WHY AND THE HOW IO FUNDAMENTAL TRAINING FOR EFFICIENCY I I THE VIRUS OF FAILURE I 2 PRACTICAL FORMULAS FOR EVERY DAY 15 YOUR UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES 14. MAN'S MIND MACHINE I 5 ABJURING MYSTICISMS I 6 PSYCHOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIPS I J ABODE AND INSTRUMENT OF MIND I 8 MANNER OF HANDLING MENTAL PROCESSES I 9 FUNDAMENTAL LAWS AND PRACTICAL METHODS 2O SPECIAL BUSINESS TOPICS 2 I A STEP BEYOND COLLEGIATE PSYCHOLOGY 22 THE ETERNAL LAWS OF INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVE- MENT 2 2 HOW TO MASTER OUR METHODS 34 Ccntc?its Chapter II. TWO LAWS OF SUCCESS -ACHIEVE- MENT Pa<. THE ONE-MAN BUSINESS CORPORATION 2<) i, 'SINESS AND BODILY ACTIVITY 30 THE ENSLAVED BRAIN 32 FIRST STEP TOWARD SELF-REALIZATION 33 III. RELATION OF MIND ACTIVITY TO BODILY ACTIVITY SPECULATION AND PRACTICAL SCIENCE 37 PHILOSOPHIC RIDDLES AND PERSONAL EFFECT- IVENESS 3 8 WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW 39 SPIRITUALIST, MATERIALIST AND SCIENTIST 40 SCIENCE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT 4! CAUSES AND "FIRST" CAUSES 42 A COMMON PLATFORM FOR ALL 43 THOUGHTS TREATED AS CAUSES 44 SCIENTIFIC METHOD WITH PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 45 USES OF SCIENTIFIC LAWS 46 IV. INTROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY DOING THE THING YOU WANT TO DO 49 SOURCE OF POWER OF WILL 5 IMPELLENT ENERGY OF THOUGHT 5 I BODILY EFFECTS OF MENTAL STATES 5 2 ILLUSTRATIVE EXPERIMENTS 53 SCOPE OF MIND POWER 54 BODILY EFFECTS OF EMOTION $& Contents Chapter Pl * BODILY EFFECTS OF PERCEPTION 57 EXPERIMENTS OF PAVLOV 5^ TASTE AND DIGESTION 59 BODILY EFFECTS OF SENSATIONS 60 THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF EXPRESSION 6 2 V. PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY INTROSPECTIVE KNOWLEDGE 67 DISSECTION AND THE GOVERNING CONSCIOUS- NESS 68 SUBORDINATE MENTAL UNITS 69 WHAT THE MICROSCOPE SHOWS 7 THE LITTLE UNIVERSE BEYOND 7 1 THE UNIT OF LIFE 7 2 CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING CELLS 74 THE BRAIN OF THE CELL 75 MIND LIFE OF ONE CELL 7^ THE WILL OF THE CELL 77 THE CELL AND ORGANIC EVOLUTION 7^ EVOLUTIONARY DIFFERENTIATIONS 79 PLURALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL 80 COMBINED CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE MILLIONS 8 I EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN ORGANISM 8 2 THE CROWD-MAN 83 FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT HUMAN CELLS 84 CELL LIFE AFTER DEATH 86 EXPERIMENTS OF DR. ALEXIS CARRELL 87 MAN-FEDERATION OF INTELLIGENCES CREATIVE POWER OF THE CELL 89 Contents Chapwi p ag , LAVING THE FOUNDATION FOR PRAC- TICAL DOING 90 THREE NEW PROPOSITIONS 9! AN INSTRUMENT FOR MENTAL DOMINANCE 92 GATEWAYS OF EXPERIENCE 93 COURIERS OF ACTION 94. NERVE SYSTEMS 95 ORGANS OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND SUB- CONSCIOUSNESS 96 LOOKING INSIDE THE SKULL 99 DRUNKENNESS AND BRAIN EFFICIENCY IO2 SECONDARY BRAINS 104 DEPENDENCE OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 105 UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND SUBCONSCIOUS- NESS IO7 SYNTHESIS OF THE MAN-MACHINE 109 SUBSERVIENCY OF THE BODY 1 I I VI. THE SUPREMACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS STRIKING OFF THE MENTAL SHACKLES I I 5 THE AWAKENING OF ENLIGHTENMENT I I 8 THE VITAL PURPOSE I I 9 YOUR RESERVOIR OF LATENT POWER I 2O ATTAINMENT OF MIND CONTROL CHAPTER I ATTAINMENT OF MIND CONTROL HE MEN of the nineteenth The Man of Tomorrow century have harnessed the .forces of the outer world. The age is now at hand that shall harness the energies of mind, new-found in the psychological labora- tory, and shall put them at the service of humanity. Are you fully equipped to take a valiant part in the work of the coming years? The greatest of all eras is at hand! Are you increasing your fitness to ap- A Applied Psychology altars predate it and take part in it, or are and Cents r of Mental you merely passing your time away? Take careful note for a week of the incidents of your daily life your methods of work, habits of thought, modes of recreation. You will discover an appalling waste in your present ran- dom methods of operation. How many foot-pounds of energy do you suppose you annually dump into the scrap-heap of wasted effort? What does this mean to you in dollars and cents? In conscious usefulness? In peace and happiness? Individual mental efficiency is an absolute prerequisite to any notable personal achievement or any great in- dividual success. Your mental energies are the forces with which you must Psychology and Achievement r wage your battles in this world. Are rhe 'to Notable you prepared to direct and deploy Achievement these forces with masterful control and strategic skill? Are you prepared to use all your reserves of mental energy in the crises of your career? A Mighty and Intelligent Power resides within you. Its marvelous resources are just now coming to be recognized. Recent scientific research has re- vealed, beyond the world of the senses and beyond the domain of conscious- ness, a wide and hitherto hidden realm of human energies and resources. These are mental energies and re- sources. They are phases of the mind, not of the "mind" of fifty years ago, but of a "mind" of whose operations 6 Applied Psychology A Process for you are unconscious and whose mar- "^f/ii'iti " 'oof' ve l us breadth and depth and power have but recently been revealed to the world by scientific experiment. In this Basic Course of Reading we shall lay before you in simple and clear-cut but scientific form the proof that you have at your command mental powers of which you have never before dreamed. And we shall give you such specific directions for the use of these new- found powers, that whatever your environment, whatever your business, whatever your ambition, you need but follow our plain and simple instruc- tions in order to do the thing you want to do, to be the man you want to be, or to get the thing you want to have. Psychology and Achievement j If you have any thought that the con- r jo Inadequacy trol of your hidden mental energies is to f Bod y , . . , ... Training be acquired by mere hygienic measures, put it from you. The idea that you may come into the fulness of your powers through mere wholesome liv- ing, outdoor sports and bodily exercise is an idea that belongs to an age that is past. Good health is not necessary to achievement. It is not even a positive influence for achievement. It is merely a negative blessing. With good health you may hope to reach your highest mental and spiritual development free from the harassment of soul-racking pain. But without good health men have reached the summit of Parnassus and have dragged their tortured bodies up behind them. 8 Applied Psychology inadequacy Nor does success necessarily follow r n or require long preparation in a par- ticular field. The first occupation of the successful man is rarely the one in which he achieves his ultimate tri- umph. In the changing conditions of our day, one needs a better weapon than the mere knowledge of a particu- lar trade, vocation or profession. He needs that mastery of himself and others that is the fundamental secret of success in all fields of endeavor. It is well to tell you beforehand that in this Basic Course of Reading we shall be content with no mere catalogu- ing of the factors that are commonly re- garded as essential to success. We shall do no moralizing. You will find here no elaboration of the ancient aphor- Psychology and Achievement Q isms, " Honesty is the best policy." and F ^*y of J Advice in " Genius is the infinite capacity for tak- Business ing pains." The world has had its fill of mere exhortations to industry, frugality and perseverance. For some thousands of years men have preached to the lazy man, "Be industrious," and to the timid man, "Be bold." But such phrases never have solved and never can solve the problem for the man who feels himself lacking in both industry and courage. It is easy enough to tell the salesman that he must approach his "prospect" with tact and confidence. But tact and confidence are not qualities that can be assumed and discarded like a Sunday coat. Industry and courage and tact Applied Psychology and confidence are well enough, but we HOW must know the Why and the How of these things. It is well enough to preach that the secret of achievement is to be found in "courage-faith" and "courage-confi- dence," and that the way to acquire these qualities is to assume that you have them. There is no denying the un- doubted fact that men and women have been rescued from the deepest mire of poverty and despair and lifted to planes of happy abundance by what is known as " faith." But what is " faith " ? And "faith" in What? And Why? And How? Obviously we cannot achieve certain and definite results in this or any other field so long as we continue to deal with Psychology and Achievement \ \ materials we do not understand. Yet Fundamental that is what all men are doing today. Training for Efficiency The elements of truth are befogged in vague and amateurish mysticism, and the subject of individual efficiency when we get beyond mere preaching and moralizing is a chaos of isms. The time is ripe for a real analysis of these important problems, a serious and scientific analysis with a clear and practical exposition of facts and prin- ciples and rules for conduct. Men and women must be fundament- ally trained so that they can look deep into their own minds and see where the screw is loose, where oil is needed, and so readjust themselves and their living for a greater efficiency. The embittered, the superstitious, the j 2 Applied Psychology The virus prejudiced, all those who scorpion-like f sting themselves with the virus of fail- ure, must be given an antidote of understanding that will repair their deranged mental machinery. The conscientious but foolish busi- ness man who is worrying himself into failure and an early grave must be taught the physiological effects of ideas and given a new standard of values. The profligate must be lured from his emotional excesses and debauch- eries, not by moralizings, but by show- ing him just how these things fritter his energies and retard his progress. It must be made plain to the success- ful promoter, to the rich banker, how a man may be a financial success and yet a miserable failure so far as true happi- Psychology and Achievement j o ness is concerned, and how by scientific Practical Formulas self-development he can acquire great- for er riches within than all his vaults of L steel will hold. This Basic Course of Reading offers just such an analysis and exposition of fundamental principles. It furnishes definite and scientific answers to the problems of life. It will reveal to you unused or unintelligently used mental forces vastly greater than those now at your command. We go even further, and say that this Basic Course of Reading provides a practicable formula for the everyday use of these vast resources. It will en- able you to acquire the magical quali- ties and still more magical effects that spell success and happiness, without I A Applied Psychology straining your will to the breaking Resources point and making life a burden. It will give you a definite prescription like the physician's, "Take one before meals," and as easily compounded, which will enable you to be prosperous and happy. In the development of one's innate resources, such as powers of observa- tion, imagination, correct judgment, alertness, resourcefulness, application, concentration, and the faculty of taking prompt advantage of opportunities, the study of the mental machine is bound to be the first step. It must be the ultimate resource for self-training in efficiency for the promoter with his appeal to the cupidity and imagina- tions of men as surely as for the artist in his search for poetic inspiration. Psychology and Achievement \ r No man can get the best results from Machine any machine unless he understands its mechanism. We shall draw aside the curtain and show you the mind in oper- ation. The mastery of your own powers is worth more to you than all the knowl- edge of outside facts you can crowd into your head. Read and study and practice the teachings of this Basic Course, and they will make you in a new sense the master of yourself and of your future. In this Basic Course of Reading we shall begin by giving you a thorough understanding of certain mental opera- tions and processes. We shall lead your interest away from " vague mysticisms " and empha- 1 6 Applied Psychology Abjuring s j ze suc h phases of scientific psycho- Mysticisms logical theory as bear directly on prac- tical achievement. We shall give you a practical work- ing knowledge of concentrative mental methods and devices. We shall clear away the mysteries and misapprehen- sions that now envelop this particular field. In the present volume we shall begin with a discussion of certain aspects of the relation between the mind and the body. However we look at it, it is impos- sible to understand the mind without some knowledge of the bodily machine through which the mind works. The investigation of the mind and its condi- tions and problems is primarily the Psychology and Achievement \ y business of psychology, which seeks to Psychology, describe and explain them. It would j seem to be entirely distinct from physi- Relationships ology, which seeks to classify and ex- plain the facts of bodily structure and operation. But all sciences overlap more or less. And this is particularly true of psychology, which deals with the mind, and physiology, which deals with the body. It is the mind that we are primarily interested in. But every individual mind resides within, or at least ex- presses itself through, a body. Upon the preservation of that body and upon the orderly performance of its func- tions depend our health and comfort, our very lives. Then, too, considered merely as part 1 8 Applied Psychology Abode and Q t tne outs ^ e world of matter, man's instrument b o dy is the physical f act with which he of Mind . J , ,. , is most in contact and most immediately concerned. It furnishes him with infor- mation concerning the existence and operations of other minds. It is in fact his only source of information about the outside world. First of all, then, you must form definite and intelligent conclusions concerning the relations between the mind and the body. This will be of value in a number of ways. In the first place, you will un- derstand the bodily mechanism through which the mind operates, and a knowl- edge of this mechanism is bound to en- lighten you as to the character of the mental processes themselves. In the Psychology and Achievement \ g second place, it is worth while to know Banner f Handling the extent of the mind's influence over Mental the body, because this knowledge is the first step toward obtaining bodily ef- ficiency through the mental control of bodily functions. And, finally, a study of this bodily mechanism is of very great practical importance in itself, for the body is the instrument through which the mind acts in its relations with the world at large. From a study of the bodily machine, we shall advance to a consideration of the mental processes themselves, not after the usual manner of works on psychology, but solely from the stand- point of practical utility and for the establishment of a scientific concept of the mind capable of everyday use. 2,0 Applied Psychology fundamental The elucidation of every principle of Laws and Practical mental operation will be accompanied * by illustrative material pointing out just how that particular law may be employed for the attainment of specific practical ends. There will be numer- ous illustrative instances and methods that can be at once made use of by the merchant, the musician, the salesman, the advertiser, the employer of labor, the business executive. In this way this Basic Course of Reading will lay a firm and broad foundation, first, for an understanding of the methods and devices whereby any man may acquire full control and direction of his mental energies and may develop his resources to the last degree; second, for an understanding Psychology and Achievement 2, 1 of the psychological methods for sue- special .~ f . Business cess in any specific professional pursuit Topics in which he may be particularly inter- ested; and third, for an understanding of the methods of applying psychologi- cal knowledge to the industrial prob- lems of office, store and factory. The first of these that is to say, in- struction in methods for the attainment of any goal consistent with native abil- ity will follow right along as part of this Basic Course of Reading. The sec- ond and third that is to say, the study of special commercial and industrial topics are made the subject of special courses supplemental to this Basic Course and for which it can serve only as an introduction. In this Basic Course of Reading we Applied Psychology A step s hall show you how you may acquire Beyond perfect individual efficiency. And, most Psychology remarkable of all, we shall show you how you may acquire it without that effort to obtain it, that straining of the will, that struggling with wasteful in- clinations and desires, that is itself the essence of inefficiency. The facts and principles set forth in this Basic Course are new and wonder- ful and inspiring. They have been established and attested by world-wide and exhaustive scientific research and experiment. You may be a college graduate. You may have had the advantage of a col- lege course in psychology. But you have probably had no instruction in the practical application of your knowl- Psychology and Achievement edge of mental operations. So far as we The Eternal i r ... ^aws of are aware, there are few universities in the world that embrace in their curric- Achievement ula a course in "applied" psychology. For the average college man this Basic Course of Reading will be, therefore, in the nature of a post-graduate course, teaching him how to make practical use of the psychology he learned at col- lege, and in addition giving him facts about the mind unknown to the college psychology of a few years ago. In these books you will probe deeply into the normal human mind. You will see also the fantastic and distorted shape of its manifestations in disease. You will learn the Eternal Laws of Individual Achievement. 2, A Applied Psychology low to And you will be taught how to apply Master J Our Methods them to your own business or profes- sion. But mark this word of warning. To comprehend the teachings of this Basic Course well enough to put them into practice demands from you careful study and reflection. It requires per- sistent application. Do not attempt to browse through the pages that follow. They are worth all the time that you can put upon them. The mind is a complex mechanism. Each element is alone a fitting subject for a lifetime's study. Do not lose sight of the whole in the study of the parts. All the books bear upon a central theme. They will lead you on step by step. Gradually your conception of Psychology and Achievement 2 C your relations to the world will change. How to ... - ... Master A new realization of power will come our Methods upon you. You will learn that you are in a new sense the master of your fate. You will find these books, like the petals of a flower, unfolding one by one until a great and vital truth stands revealed in full-blown beauty. To derive full benefit from the Course it is necessary that you should do more than merely understand each sentence as you go along. You must grasp the underlying train of thought. You must perceive the continuity of the argument. It is necessary, therefore, that you do but a limited amount of reading each day, taking ample time to reflect on what you have read. If any book is not 2, 6 Applied Psychology HOW to entirely clear to you at first, go over it Our ^Methods again. Persistence will enable any man to acquire a thorough comprehension of our teachings and a profound mas- tery of our methods. TWO LAWS OF SUCCESS-ACHIEVEMENT Corporation CHAPTER II TWO LAWS OF SUCCESS-ACHIEVEMENT A S A working unit you are a kind The One-Man /m of one-man business / i I % poration made up of two _jL M^ departments, the mental and the physical. Your mind is the executive office of this personal corporation, its directing " head." Your body is the corporation's " plant." Eyes and ears, sight and smell and touch, hands and feet these are the implements, the equipment. We have undertaken to teach you how to acquire a perfect mastery of 29 o Q Applied Psychology Business your own powers and meet the practi- Bodity ca l problems of your life in such a way that success will be swift and certain. First of all it is necessary that you should accept and believe two well- settled and fundamental laws. I. All human achievement comes about through bodily activity. II. All bodily activity is caused, con- 'tr oiled and directed by the mind. Give the first of these propositions but a moment's thought. You can con- ceive of no form of accomplishment which is not the result of some kind of bodily activity. One would say that the master works of poetry, art, philoso- phy, religion, are products of human Psychology and Achievement 3 j effort furthest removed from the ma- Business terial side of life, yet even these would dil have perished still-born in the minds Activity conceiving them had they not found transmission and expression through some form of bodily activity. You will agree, therefore, that the first of these propositions is so self-evident, so axio- matic, as neither to require nor to ad- mit of formal proof. The second proposition is not so easily disposed of. It is in fact so diffi- cult of acceptance by some persons that we must make very plain its absolute validity. Furthermore, its elucidation will bring forth many illuminating facts that will give you an entirely new conception of the mind and its scope and influence. 2 2, Applied Psychology Remember, when we say " mind," we are not thinking of the brain. The brain is but one of the organs of the body, and, by the terms of our proposi- tion as stated, is as much the slave of the mind as is any other organ of the body. To say that the mind controls the body presupposes that mind and body are distinct entities, the one belonging to a spiritual world, the other to a world of matter. That the mind is master of the body is a settled principle of science. But we realize that its acceptance may require you to lay aside some preconceived pre- judices. You may be one of those who believe that the mind is nothing more nor less than brain activity. You may believe that the body is all there is to Psychology and Achievement o i man and that mind-action is merely one First step f . f . Toward Self- Of itS functions. Realization If so, we want you nevertheless to realize that, while as a matter of phil- osophic speculation you retain these opinions, you may at the same time for practical purposes regard the mind as an independent causal agency and be- lieve that it can and does control and determine and cause any and every kind of bodily activity. We want you to do this because this conclusion is at the basis of a practical system of mental efficiency and because, as we shall at once show you, it is capable of proof by the established methods of physical science. RELATION OF MIND ACTIVITY TO BODILY ACTIVITY CHAPTER III RELATION OF MIND ACTIVITY TO BODILY ACTIVITY THE FACT is, one's opinion as to whether mind con- trols body or body makes mind-action depends alto- gether upon the point of view. And the first step for us to take is to agree upon the point of view we shall assume. Two points of view are possible. One is speculative, the other practical. The speculative point of view is that Speculation and Practical Science 37 a 8 Applied Psychology Philosophic of the philosopher and religionist, who id e r "% ponder the tie that binds "soul" and Effectiveness body in an effort to solve the riddle of "creation" and pierce the mystery of the " hereafter." The practical point of view is that of the modern practical scientist, who deals only with actual facts of human experience and seeks only immediate practical results. The speculative problem is the his- torical and religious one of the mor- tality or immortality of the soul. The practical problem is the scientific one that demands to know what the mental forces are and how they can be used most effectively. There is no especial need here to trace the historical development of Psychology and Achievement og these two problems or enter upon a dis- What We , ... <., 1-1 Want to cussion of religious or philosophical Krww questions. Our immediate interest in the mind and its relationship to the body is not because we want to be assured of the salvation of our souls after death. We want to know all we can about the reality and certainty and character of mental control of bodily functions because of the practical use we can make of such knowledge in this life, here and now. The practical scientist has nothing in common with either spiritualists, soul- believers, on the one hand, or material- ists on the other. So far as the mortality of the soul is concerned, he may be either a spiritualist or a materialist. Applied Psychology spiritualist, But spiritualism or materialism is to Materialist Dentist him only an intellectual pastime. It is not his trade. In his actual work he seeks only practical results, and so con- fines himself wholly to the actual facts of human experience. The practical scientist knows that as between two given facts, and only as between these two, one may be the "cause" of the other. But he is not interested in the "creative origin" of material things. He does not attempt to discover " first" causes. The practical scientist ascribes all sorts of qualities to electricity and lays down many laws concerning it without having the remotest idea as to what, in the last analysis, electricity may actu- ally be. He is not concerned with ulti- Psychology and Achievement A\ mate truths. He does his work, and Science of /"* J necessarily so, upon the principle that Effect for all practical purposes he is justified in using any given assumption as a working hypothesis if everything hap- pens just as if it were true. The practical scientist applies the term "cause" to any object or event that is the invariable predecessor of some other object or event. For him a "cause" is simply any ob- ject or event that may be looked upon as forecasting the action of some other object or the occurrence of some other event. The point with him is simply this, Does or does not this object or this event in any way affect that object or that event or determine its behavior? Applied Psychology Causes No matter where you look you will /j jj(/ 'First" Causes " n< ^ tnat every fact in Nature is rela- tively cause and effect according to the point of view. Thus, if a railroad en- gine backs into a train of cars it trans- mits a certain amount of motion to the first car. This imparted motion is again passed on to the next car, and so on. The motion of the first car is, on the one hand, the effect of the impact of the engine, and is, on the other hand, the "cause" of the motion of the second car. And, in general, what is an "ef- fect" in the first car becomes a "cause" when looked at in relation to the sec- ond, and what is an " effect" in the sec- ond becomes a "cause" in relation to the third. So that even the materialist will agree that "cause" and "effect" Psychology and Achievement A 2 are relative terms in dealing with any A Common , , -\r Platform series of facts in J\ ature. f or An A man may be either a spiritualist, believing that the mind is a manifesta- tion of the super-soul, or he may be a materialist, and in either case he may at the same time and with perfect con- sistency believe, as a practical scientist, that the mind is a "cause" and has bodily action as its " effect." Naturally this point of view offers no difficulties whatever to the spiritualist. He already looks upon the mind or soul as the "originating cause" of every- thing. But the materialist, too, may in ac- cordance with his speculative theory continue to insist that brain-action is the "originating cause" of mental life; A A Applied Psychology Thoughts yet if the facts show that certain thoughts are invariably followed by certain bodily activities, the material- ist may without violence to his theories agree to the great practical value of treating these thoughts as immediate causes, no matter what the history of creation may have been. Whatever the brand of your materi- alism or your religious belief, you can join us in accepting this practical- science point of view as a common platform upon which to approach our second fundamental proposition, that " all bodily activity is caused, controlled or directed by the mind." Ignoring all religious and meta- physical questions, we have, then, to ask ourselves merely: Psychology and Achievement A r Can the mind be relied upon to bring Scientific about or stop or in any manner influ- ence bodily action? And if it can, what Practical i, . n o Problems is the extent of the mind s influence ? In answering these questions we shall follow the method of the practical scientist, whose method is invariably the same whatever the problem he is investigating. This method involves two steps : first, the collection and classification of facts; second, the deduction from those facts of general principles. The scientist first gathers together the greatest possible array of experi- ential facts and classifies these facts into sequences that is to say, he gathers together as many instances as he can find in which one given fact follows A 6 Applied Psychology Uses of directly upon the happening of another Scientific . Laws S lven f act Having done this, he next formulates in broad general terms the common principle that he finds embodied in these many similar sequences. Such a formula, if there are facts enough to establish it, is what is known as a scientific law. Its value to the world lies in this, that whenever the given fact shall again occur our knowl- edge of the scientific law will enable us to predict with certainty just what events will follow the occurrence of that fact. First, then, let us marshal our facts tending to prove that bodily activities are caused by the mind. INTROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY CHAPTER IV INTROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY HE FIRST and most COn- Doing the spicuous evidential fact is T voluntary bodily action ; JL that is to say, bodily action resulting from the exercise of the con- scious will. If you will a bodily movement and that movement immediately follows, you are certainly justified in conclud- ing that your mind has caused the bodily movement. Every conscious, voluntary movement that you make, 49 r o Applied Psychology Source of and you are making thousands of them P W< Wiii ever Y hour, is a distinct example of mind activity causing bodily action. In fact, the very will to make any bodily movement is itself nothing more nor less than a mental state. The will to do a thing is simply the belief, the conviction, that the appro- priate bodily movement is about to occur. The whole scientific world is agreed on this. For example, in order to bend your forefinger do you first think it over, then deliberately put forth some special form of energy? Not at all: The very thought of bending the finger, if un- hindered by conflicting ideas, is enough to bend it. Note this general law: The idea of Psychology and Achievement r j any bodily action tends to produce the impellent Energy of action. Thought This conception of thought as im- pellent that is to say, as impelling bodily activity is of absolutely fun- damental importance. The following simple experiments will illustrate its working. Ask a number of persons to think suc- cessively of the letters " B," " O," and "Q." They are not to pronounce the letters, but simply to think hard about the sound of each letter. Now, as they think of these letters, one after the other, watch closely and you will see their lips move in readiness to pronounce them. There may be some whose lip-movements you will be un- able to detect. If so, it will be because r 2, Applied Psychology Bodily your eye is not quick enough or keen Effects of . Mental enough to follow them in every case. Have a friend blindfold you and then stand behind you with his hands on your shoulders. While in this posi- tion ask him to concentrate his mind upon some object in another part of the house. Yield yourself to the slightest pressure of his hands or arms and you will soon come to the object of which he has been thinking. If he is un- familiar with the impelling energy of thought, he will charge the result to mind-reading. The same law is illustrated by a familiar catch. Ask a friend to define the word " spiral." He will find it dif- ficult to express the meaning in words. And nine persons out of ten while Psychology and Achievement r i groping for appropriate words will un- Illustrative consciously describe a spiral in the air with the forefinger. Swing a locket in front of you, hold- ing the end of the chain with both hands. You will soon see that it will swing in harmony with your thoughts. If you think of a circle, it will swing around in a circle. If you think of the movement of a pendulum, the locket will swing back and forth. These experiments not only illustrate the impelling energy of thought and its power to induce bodily action, but they indicate also that the bodily effects of mental action are not limited to bodily movements that are conscious and vol- untary. The fact is, every mental state, r A Applied Psychology Scope of whether you consider it as involving Mind Power / an act of the 'will or not, is followed by some kind of bodily effect, and every bodily action is preceded by some dis- tinct kind of mental activity. From the practical science point of view every thought causes its particular bodily effects. This is true of simple sensations. It is true of impulses, ideas and emotions. It is true of pleasures and pains. It is true of conscious mental activity. It is true of unconscious mental activity. It is true of the whole range of mental life. Since the mental conditions that pro- duce bodily effects are not limited to those mental conditions in which there is a conscious exercise of the will, it Psychology and Achievement r & follows that the bodily effects produced scope of by mental action are not limited to mndPo * 1 ' movements of 'what are known as the voluntary muscles. On the contrary, they include changes and movements in all of the so-called involuntary muscles, and in every kind of bodily structure. They include changes and movements in every part of the physical organism,, from changes in the action of heart> lungs, stomach, liver and other viscera, to changes in the secretions of glands and in the caliber of the tiniest blood- vessels. A few instances such as are familiar to the introspective experience of everyone will illustrate the scope of the mind's control over the body. Emotion always causes numerous and r 6 Applied Psychology Bodily Effects intense bodily effects. Furious anger of Emotion t ,. may cause frowning brows, grinding teeth, contracted jaws, clenched fists, panting breath, growling cries, bright redness of the face or sudden paleness. None of these effects is voluntary; we may not even be conscious of them. Fright may produce a wild beating of die heart, a death-like pallor, a gasping motion of the lips, an uncover- ing or protruding of the eye-balls, a sudden rigidity of the body as if " rooted " to the spot. Grief may cause profuse secretion of tears, swollen, reddened face, red eyes and other familiar symptoms. Shame may cause that sudden dila- tion of the capillary blood-vessels of the face known as " blushing." Psychology and Achievement r 7 The sight of others laughing or Bodily Effects , of Perception yawning makes us laugh or yawn. The sound of one man coughing will be- come epidemic in an audience. The thought of a sizzling porter-house steak with mushrooms, baked potatoes and rich gravy makes the mouth of a hun- gry man " water." Suppose I show you a lemon cut in half and tell you with a wry face and puckered mouth that I am going to suck the juice of this exceedingly sour lemon. As you merely read these lines you may observe that the glands in your mouth have begun to secrete saliva. There is a story of a man who wagered with a friend that he could stop a band that was playing in front of his office. He got three lemons and gave half of a r 8 Applied Psychology Experiments i emon to eac h O f a num ber of street of Pavlov urchins. He then had these boys walk round and round the band, sucking the lemons and making puckered faces at the musicians. That soon ended the music. A distinguished German scientist, named Pavlov, has recently demonstrat- ed in a series of experiments with dogs that the sight of the plate that ordina- rily bears their food, or the sight of the chair upon which the plate ordinarily stands, or even the sight of the person who commonly brings the plate, may cause the saliva to flow from their sali- vary glands just as effectively as the food itself would do if placed in their mouths. There was a time, and that not long Psychology and Achievement r p ago, when the contact of food with the Taste and lining of the stomach was supposed to be the immediate cause of the secretion of the digestive fluids. Yet recent ob- servation of the interior of the stomach through an incision in the body, has shown that just as soon as the food is tasted in the mouth, a purely mental process, the stomach begins to well forth those fluids that are suitable for digestion. The press recently contained an ac- count of a motorcycle race in Newark, New Jersey. The scene was a great bowl - shaped motor - drome. In the midst of cheering thousands, when rid- ing at the blinding speed of ninety-two miles an hour, the motorcycle of one of the contestants went wrong. It climbed 60 Applied Psychology Bodily Effects the twenty-eight- foot incline, hurled its / Sensations .... . rider to instant death and crashed into the 'packed grandstand. Before the whirling mass of steel was halted by a deep-set iron pillar four men lay dead and twenty-two others unconscious and severely injured. Then the twisted en- gine of death rebounded from the post and rolled down the saucer-rim of the track. Around the circular path, his speed scarcely less than that of his ill-fated rival, knowing nothing of the tragedy, hearing nothing of the screams of warning from the crowd, came another racer. The frightened throng saw the coming of a second tragedy. The sound that came from the crowd was a low moaning, a sighing, impotent, uncon- Psychology and Achievement 6 1 scious prayer of the thousands for the Bodily Effects mercy that could not come. The second motorcycle struck the wreck, leaped into the air, and the body of its rider shot fifty feet over the handlebars and fell at the bottom of the track uncon- scious. Two hours later he was dead. What was the effect of this dreadful spectacle upon the onlookers? Confu- sion, cries of fright and panic, while throughout the grandstand women fainted and lay here and there uncon- scious. Many were afflicted with nausea. With others the muscles of speech contracted convulsively, knees gave way, hearts "stopped beating." Observe that these were wholly the effects of mental action, effects of sight and sound sensations. 62, Applied Psychology The Fund*- \yhy multiply instances? All that mental Law f Expression you need to do to be satisfied that the mind is directly responsible for any and every kind of bodily activity is to ex- amine your own experiences and those of your friends. They will afford you innumerable illustrations. You will find that not only is your body constantly doing things because your mind wills that it should do them, but that your body is incessantly doing things simply because they are the ex- pression of a passing thought. The law that Every idea tends to express itself in some form of bodily activity, is one of the most obviously demonstrable principles of human life. Bear in mind that this is but another way of expressing the second of our Psychology and Achievement 6 3 first two fundamental principles of The . mental Law mental efficiency, and that we are en- O f Expression gaged in a scientific demonstration of its truth so that you will not confuse it with mere theory or speculation. To recall these fundamental prin- ciples to your mind and further impress them upon you, we will restate them : I. All human achievement comes about through some form of bodily ac- tivity. II. All bodily activity is caused, con- trolled find directed by the mind. PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY CHAPTER V PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF MENTAL MASTERY E HAVE been considering introspective Knowledge the relationship between mind and body from the standpoint of the mind. Our investigation has been large- ly introspective ; that is to say, we simply- looked within ourselves and considered the effects of our mental operations upon our own bodies. The facts we had before us were facts of which we had direct knowledge. We did not have to go out and seek them in the mental and 6 7 5 8 Applied Psychology Dissection bodily activities of other persons. We Governing found them here within ourselves, in- herent in our consciousness. To observe them we had merely to turn the spot- light into the hidden channels of our own minds. We come now to examine the mind's influence upon the body from the stand- point of the body. To do this we must go forth and investigate. We must use eye, ear and hand. We must use the forceps and scalpel and microscope of the anatomist and physiologist. But it is well 'worth while that we should do this. For our investigation will show a bodily structure peculiarly adapted to control by a governing con- sciousness. It will reveal to the eye a physical mechanism peculiarly fitted Psychology and Achievement for the dissemination of intelligence Subordinate throughout the body. And, most of all, Units it will disclose the existence 'within the body of subordinate mental units, each capable of receiving, understanding and acting upon the intelligence thus submitted. And we shall have strongly corroborative evidence of the mind's complete control over every function of the body. Examine a green plant and you will observe that it is composed of numer- ous parts, each of which ha? some special function to perform. The roots absorb food and drink from the soil. The leaves breathe in carbonic acid from the air and transform it into the living substance of the plant. Every plant has, therefore, an anatomical Applied Psychology What the structure, its parts and tissues visible to ' the naked eye. Shows J Put one of these tissues under a mi- croscope and you will find that it con- sists of a honeycomb of small compart- ments or units. These compartments are called " cells," and the structure of all plant tissues is described as " cellu- lar." Wherever you may look in any plant, you will find these cells making up its tissues. The activity of any part or tissue of the plant, and consequently all of the activities of the plant as a whole, are but the combined and co-operating activities of the various individual cells of which the tissues are composed. The living cell, therefore, is at the basis of all plant life. In the same way, if you turn to the Psychology and Achievement j i structure of any animal, you will find The . Little Universe that it is composed of parts or organs Beyond made up of different kinds of tissues, and these tissues examined under a mi- croscope will disclose a cellular struc- ture similar to that exhibited by the plant. Look where you will among living things, plant or animal, you will find that all are mere assemblages of cellu- lar tissues. Extend your investigation further, and examine into forms of life so mi- nute that they can be seen only with the most powerful microscope and you will come upon a whole universe of tiny creatures consisting of a single cell. Indeed, it is a demonstrable fact that these tiny units of life consisting of but 72 Applied Psychology Unit a single cell are far more numerous than the forms of life visible to the naked eye. You will have some idea of their size and number when we tell you that millions may live and die and re- produce their kind in a single thimble- ful of earth. Every plant, then, or every animal, 'whatever its species, however simple or complicated its structure, is in the last analysis either a single cell or a confed- erated. group of cells. All life, whether it be the life of a single cell or of an unorganized group of cells or of a republic of cells, has as its basis the life of the cell. For all the animate world, two great principles stand established. First, that 'every living organism, plant or animal. Psychology and Achievement lt: grows, it reproduces its kind, it moves about, and it feels. It is a living, breathing, feeling, moving, feeding thing. The term "cell" suggests a walled-in enclosure. This is because it was orig- inally supposed that a confining wall or membrane was an invariable and essen- tial characteristic of cell structure. It is now known, however, that while such a membrane may exist, as it does in most plant cells, it may be lacking, as is the case in most animal cells. The only absolutely essential parts of the cell are the inner nucleus or kernel and the tiny mass of living jelly sur- rounding it, called the protoplasm. The most powerful microscopes dis- Psychology and Achievement j r close in this protoplasm a certain def- The 5ro * n f the Cell inite structure, a very fine, thread-like network spreading from the nucleus throughout the semi-fluid albuminous protoplasm. It is certainly in line with the broad analogies of life, to suppose that in each cell the nucleus with its network is the brain and nervous sys- tem of that individual cell. All living organisms consist, then, simply of cells. Those consisting of but one cell are termed unicellular; those comprising more than one cell are called pluricellular. The unicellular organism is the unit of life on this earth. Yet tiny and ul- timate as it is, every unicellular organ- ism is possessed of an independent and " free living" existence. 7 6 Applied Psychology Mmd Life T O b e convinced of this fact, just of One Cell ' J consider for a moment the scope of de- velopment and range of activities of one of these tiny bodies. "We see, then," says Haeckel, "that it performs all the essential life func- tions which the entire organism ac- complishes. Every one of these little beings grows and feeds itself independ- ently. It assimilates juices from with- out, absorbing them from the surround- ing fluid. Each separate cell is also able to reproduce itself and to increase. This increase generally takes place by simple division, the nucleus parting first, by a contraction round its circum- ference, into two parts; after which the protoplasm likewise separates into two divisions. The single cell is able to Psychology and Achievement move and creep about; from its outer The mil of surface it sends out and draws back ' again finger-like processes, thereby modifying its form. Finally, the young cell has feeling, and is more or less sen- sitive. It performs certain movements on the application of chemical and me- chanical irritants." The single living cell moves about in search of food. When food is found it is enveloped in the mass of proto- plasm, digested and assimilated. The single cell has the power of choice, for it refuses to eat what is un- wholesome and extends itself mightily to reach that which is nourishing. Moebius and Gates are convinced that the single cell possesses memory, for having once encountered anything 7 8 Applied Psychology The Ceil and dangerous, it knows enough to avoid it Evoh : wnen presented under similar circum- stances. And having once found food in a certain place, it will afterwards make a business of looking for it in the same place. And, finally, Verworn and Binet have found in a single living cell mani- festations of the emotions of surprise and fear and the rudiments of an abil- ity to adapt means to an end. Let us now consider pluricellular or- ganisms and consider them particular- ly from the standpoint of organic evo- lution. The pluricellular organism is nothing more nor less than a later de- velopment, a confederated association of unicellular organisms. Mark the de- velopment of such an association. Psychology and Achievement Originally each separate cell per- Evolutionary formed all the functions of a separate * r life. The bonds that united it to its fel- lows were of the most transient char- acter. Gradually the necessities of en- vironment led to a more and more permanent grouping, until at last the bonds of union became indissoluble. Meanwhile, the great laws of " adap- tation " and " heredity," the basic prin- ciples of evolution, have been steadily at work, and slowly there has come about a differentiation of cell function, an apportionment among the different cells of the different kinds of labor. As the result of such differentiation, the pluricellular organism, as it comes ultimately to be evolved, is composed of many different kinds of cells. Each has 80 Applied Psychology Plurality its special function. Each has its field of la b r - Each lives its own individual life. Each reproduces its own kind. Yet all are bound together as elements of the same " cell society " or organized " cell state." Among pluricellular organisms man is of course supreme. He is the one form of animal life that is most highly differentiated. Knowing what you now know of mi- croscopic anatomy, you cannot hold to the simple idea that the human body is a single life-unit. This is the naive belief that is everywhere current among men today. Inquire among your own friends and acquaintances and you will find that not one in a thousand realizes that he is, to put it jocularly, singularly Psychology and Achievement g x plural, that he is in fact an assemblage Combined Consciousness of individuals. O f the Not only is the living human body as miions a whole alive, but " every part of it as large as a pin-point is alive, with a separate and independent life all its own; every part of the brain, lungs, heart, muscles, fat and skin." No man ever has or ever can count the number of these parts or cells, some of which are so minute that it would take thousands in a row to reach an inch. " Feeling" or "consciousness " is the sum total of the feelings and conscious- ness of millions of cells, just as an or- chestral harmony is a composite of the sounds of all the individual instru- ments. In the ancient dawn of evolution, all 82, Applied Psychology Evolution of the cells of the human body were of the the Human n wr Organism same kind. But Nature is everywhere working out problems of economy and efficiency. And, to meet the necessities of environment, there has gradually come about a parceling out among the different cells of the various tasks that all had been previously called upon to perform for the support of the human institution. This differentiation in kinds of work has gradually brought about corre- sponding and appropriate changes of structure in the cells themselves, where- by each has become better fitted to per- form its part in the sustenance and growth of the body. When you come to think that these processes of adaptation and heredity in Psychology and Achievement 8 n the human body have been going on The for countless millions of years, you can readily understand how it is that the human body of today is made up of more than thirty different kinds of cells, each having its special function. We have muscle cells, with long, thin bodies like pea-pods, who devote their lives to the business of contrac- tion; thin, hair-like connective tissue cells, whose office is to form a tough tissue for binding the parts of the body together; bone cells, a trades-union of masons, whose life work it is to select and assimilate salts of lime for the upkeep of the joints and framework; hair, skin, and nail cells, in various shapes and sizes, all devoting them- selves to the protection and ornamenta- 8 A Applied Psychology Functions of tion of the body; gland cells, who give "cells their lives, a force of trained chemists, to the abstraction from the blood of those substances that are needed for di- gestion; blood cells, crowding their way through the arteries, some making regular deliveries of provisions to the other tenants, some soldierly fellows patrolling their beats to repel invading disease germs, some serving as humble scavengers; liver cells engaged in the menial service of living off the waste of other organs and at the same time converting it into such fluids as are required for digestion; windpipe and lung cells, whose heads are covered with stiff hairs, which the cell through- out its life waves incessantly to and fro; and, lastly, and most important and of Psychology and Achievement g r greatest interest to us, brain and nerve Functions of Different cells, the brain cells constituting alto- Human Cells gether the organ of objective intelli- gence, the instrument through which we are conscious of the external world, and the nerve cells serving as a living telegraph to relay information, from one part of the body to another, with the " swiftness of thought." Says one writer, referring to the cells of the inner or true skin : "As we look at them arranged there like a row of bricks, let us remember two things: first, that this row is actually in our skin at this moment; and, secondly, that each cell is a living being it is born, grows, lives, breathes, eats, works, de- cays and dies. A gay time of it these youngsters have on the very banks of a 86 Applied Psychology CtU Life stream that is bringing down to them Afttr Dtath every minute stores of fresh air in the round, red corpuscles of the blood, and a constant stream of suitable food in the serum. But it is not all pleasure, for every one of them is hard at work." And again, speaking of the cells that line the air-tubes, he says: "The whole interior, then, of the air-tubes resem- bles nothing so much as a field of corn swayed by the wind to and fro, the principal sweep, however, being al- ways upwards towards the throat. All particles of dust and dirt inhaled drop on this waving forest of hairs, and are gently passed up and from one to an- other out of the lungs. When we re- member that these hairs commenced waving at our birth, and have never for Psychology and Achievement 8 J one second ceased since, and will con- ^ , . , of Dr. Alexis tmue to wave a short time after our carrel death, we are once more filled with wonder at the marvels that surround us on every side." Remarkable confirmatory evidence of the fact that every organ of the body is composed of individual cell intelli- gences, endowed with an instinctive knowledge of how to perform their special functions, is found in the experi- ments of Dr. Alexis Carrel, the recip- ient of the Nobel prize for science for 1912. Dr. Carrel has taken hearts, stom- achs and kidneys out of living animals, and by artificial nourishment has suc- ceeded in keeping them steadily at work digesting foods, and so on, in his 8 8 Applied Psychology Federation of laboratory, for months after the death Intelligences of the bodies from which they were originally taken. We see, then, that every human body is an exceedingly complex association of units. It is a marvelously correlated and organized community of countless microscopic organisms. It is a sort of cell republic, as to which we may truth- fully paraphrase : Life and Union, One and Inseparable. Every human body is thus made up of countless cellular intelligences, each of which instinctively utilizes ways and means for the performance of its spe- cial functions and the reproduction of its kind. These cell intelligences carry on, without the knowledge or volition of our central consciousness that is to Psychology and Achievement gg say, subconsciously the vital opera- creative tions of the body. Power f the Cell Under normal conditions, conditions of health, each cell does its work with- out regard to the operations of its neighbors. But in the event of accident or disease, it is called upon to repair the organism. And in this it shows an energy and intelligence that " savor of creative power." With what prompt- ness and vigor the cells apply them- selves to heal a cut or mend a broken bone! In such cases all that the physi- cian can do is to establish outward con- ditions that will favor the co-operative labors of these tiny intelligences. The conclusion to be drawn from all this is obvious. For, if every individual and ultimate part of the body is a mind Applied Psychology Laying the organism, it is very apparent that the Foundation . . . , i ? f or body as a whole is peculiarly adapted Practical J Q contro i ana direction by mental in- Dotng J fluences. Do not lose sight of the fact that in proving such control ive are laying the foundation for a scientific method of achieving practical success in life, since all human achievement comes about through some form of bodily activity. We assume now your complete ac- ceptance of the following propositions, based as they are upon facts long since discovered and enunciated in standard scientific works: a. The whole body is composed of cells, each of which is an intelligent entity endowed with mental powers commensurate with its needs. Psychology and Achievement n i b. The fact that every cell in the Three New body is a mind cell shows that the body, by the very nature of its component parts, is peculiarly susceptible to men- tal influence and control. To these propositions we now ap- pend the following: c. A further examination of the body reveals a central mental organism, the brain, composed of highly differenti- ated cells whose intelligence, as in the case of other cells, is commensurate with their functions. d. It reveals also a physical mechan- ism, the nervous system, peculiarly adapted to the communication of intel- ligence between the central governing intelligence and the subordinate cells. e. The existence of this mind organ- p 2 Applied Psychology An instrument j sm an( j tm ' s me chanism of intercom- for -tni munication is additional evidence of Dominance , > the control and direction of bodily ac- tivities by mental energy. The facts to follow will not only demonstrate the truth of these proposi- tions, but will disclose the existence within every one of us of a store of mental energies and activities of which 4 we are entirely unconscious. The brain constitutes the organ of central governing intelligence, and the nerves are the physical means employed in bodily intercommunication. Brain and nerves are in other words the physical mechanism employed by the mind to dominate the body. Single nerve fibers are fine, thread- like cells. They are so small as to be Psychology and Achievement n * invisible to the naked eye. Some of Gateways of them are so minute that it would take twenty thousand of them laid side by side to measure an inch. Every nerve fiber in the human body forms one of a series of connecting links between some central nerve cell in the brain or spinal cord on the one hand and some bodily tissue on the other. All nerves originating in the brain may be divided into two classes accord- ing as they carry currents to the brain or from it. Those carrying currents to the brain are called sensory nerves, or nerves of sensation ; those carrying cur- rents from the brain are called motor nerves, or nerves of motion. Among the sensory nerves are the nerves of consciousness; that is, the Applied Psychology Couriers of nerves whereby we receive sense im- Action pressions from the external world. These include the nerves of touch, sight, pain, hearing, temperature, taste and smell. Motor nerves are those that carry messages from the brain and spi- nal cord on the one hand to the muscles on the other. They are the lines along which flash all orders resulting in bod- ily movements. Another broad division of nerves is into two great nerve systems. There are the cerebro-spinal system and the sym- pathetic system. The first, the cerebro- spinal system, includes all the nerves of consciousness and of voluntary action; it includes all nerves running between the brain and spinal cord on the one hand and the voluntary muscles on the Psychology and Achievement g q other. The second, the sympathetic Nerve . . , ,, , Systems nerve system, consists of all the nerves of the unconscious or functional life; it therefore includes all nerves running between the brain and sympathetic or involuntary nerve centers on the one hand and the involuntary muscles on the other. Every bodily movement or function that you can start or stop at will, even to such seemingly unconscious acts as winking, walking, etc., is controlled through the cerebro-spinal system. All other functions of the body, including the great vital processes, such as heart pulsation and digestion, are performed unconsciously, are beyond the direct control of the will, and are governed through the sympathetic nerve system. Applied Psychology Organs of I* * s obvious that the cerebro-spinal Consciousness nerve system is the organ of conscious- and Sub- J consciousness ness, the apparatus through which the mind exercises its conscious and volun- tary control over certain functions of the body. It is equally obvious that the sympathetic system is not under the im- mediate control of consciousness, is not subject to the 'will, but is dominated by mental inflences that act without, or even contrary to, our conscious will and sometimes without our knowledge. Yet you are not to understand that these two great nerve systems are en- tirely distinct in their operations. On the contrary, they are in many respects closely related. Thus, the heart receives nerves from both centers of government, and besides c (jprvical Plexus c' Middle Cervical Plpxus - C" Infer iorCprvica! Ganglion - Br Drachia! Plexus- dl Dorsal | Gallons ' PIZ J[*-0 Ciliary Ganglion -*-M Sphono-Pdlatinp Ganglion > PP Pharyng'edl L Lumbar Gallons Cr'Anferior Crurul Nerve Sacral Nnt Plexus- mi Ri^ht Pplvic Plexus v Network of Rectal F THE HUMAN BODY Psychology and Achievement Q y all this is itself the center of groups of Organs of ,_, , t i -^ Consciousness nerve cells. The power by which it and Sttb _ beats arises from a ganglionic center con - within the heart itself, so that the heart will continue to beat apart from the body if it be supplied with fresh blood. But the rapidity of the heart's beating is regulated by the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic systems, of which the for- mer tends to retard the beat and the latter tends to accelerate it. In the same way, your lungs are gov- erned in part by both centers, for you can breathe slowly or rapidly as you will, but you cannot, by any power of your conscious will, stop breathing al- together. Your interest in the brain and nerve system is confined to such facts as may gg Applied Psychology Organs of prove to be of use to you in your study of the mind. These anatomical divisions interest you only as they are identified with conscious mental action on the one hand and unconscious men- tal action on the other. It is, therefore, of no use to you to consider the various divisions of the sympathetic nerve system, since the sympathetic nerve system in its entirety belongs to the field of unconscious men- tal action. It operates without our knowledge and without our will. The cerebro-spinal system consists of the spinal cord and the brain. The brain in turn is made up of two prin- cipal subdivisions. First, there is the greater or upper brain, called the cere- brum; secondly, there is the lower or Psychology and Achievement gg smaller brain, called the cerebellum. Looking e , Inside the The cerebrum in turn consists of three skull parts: the convoluted surface brain, the middle brain and the lower brain. So that in all we have the surface brain, the middle brain, the lower brain and the cerebellum. All these parts consist of masses of brain cells with connecting nerve fibers. And now, as to the functions of these various parts. Beginning at the lowest one and moving upward, we find first that the spinal cord consists of through lines of nerves running between the brain and the rest of the body. At the same time it contains within itself cer- tain nerve centers that are sufficient for many simple bodily movements. These bodily movements are such as are in- I OO Applied Psychology Brain p ar/