SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF BRAINS TRUST

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5330, 18 February 1947, Page 7

SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF BRAINS TRUST

r _ THE NEW DISCUSSIQN EDUCATION AL ENTERTAINMEjNT HAS GREAT BOOM

Wlhile listening the otKer evening to the members of Britain's National Coal Board answering a radio correspondent's questions ahout the nationalisation of the mines, I reflected what an important parf'this new technique, which for lack of a ibetter term we call "Brains Trust," plays in the life of modern England, writes Phyllis Bently from London. A friend of mine who is history professor in one of the older universities' denounces the technique with violent animosity. He spends his life, he says, trying to inspire undergraduates with the salutary notion that the acquisation of knowledge is a long hard process requiring much perserverance • and self-discipline. Then along comes the Brains Trust and destroys this ; notion by pi'etending to offer quick ; answers to any and every question. ! But this is to mistake the purpose ! and method of Brains Trusts. Not in ! the least a "quiz," where the object ! is to eatch out the answerers by diffi- ! cult questions, not a test of know- ; ledge, not a repository of information, ► the Brains Trust is essentially a pro- > ces of discussion and elucidation, mod-

| ern and democratic. ; Millions of Listeners ! Its essential features are that any- > one may send in a question, which j should deal with a matter of opinion, | the questions are unseen before the ; session, so that the answers are spon- ; taneous and not censored hy second | thoughts, and the Trust is composed \ of several persons of eminence in different spheres of activity. j The original B.B.C. Brains Trust, the source'Vnd origin of all the rest, •held its first session in January, 1941. Its members> of both sexes and many ages, have comprised some of the most nota'ble personalities in modern British science, philosphy, art, music, literature, economics and politics, as well as some able wi£s who express pithily the comment of the amateur on the dogmatisms of the experts. Every Tuesday night during the winter months, millions in Britain listen to these brains trusts, whose members in the course of answering questions, selected from the thousands or so sent in weekly, fall to arguing about a wide range of contemporary problems. But this criginal trust is of less important than its progeny, which are innumerable. The British people are I only moderately fond of attending lectures; but advertise a brains trust and you are sure to fill the hal. In every town and villiage in Britain brains trusts r.re flourishing 'to-day; there are trusts on Russia, on America, on India, on modern literature, on science, on women; there are trusts organised by youth conferences, by churches, by luncbeon clubs and hy educational societies. I Great Money Raisers. If you want to raise money for some cultural purpose, a brains trust is sure to bring it in; if your aim is propaganda, the brains trust proves the most palatable jam for the propaganda pill. The questions, thoughtful and well framed, pour in; succinct and witty answers are greeted with applause; the long-winded are received with fidgeting impatience by the audience and gently but firmly interrupted by the Question Master.

Does the brains trust think women should unite in a political party of their own ? Should education continue till the age of 21 ? How do the powers of the American Senate compare with j those of the House of Lords ? Does architecture express the spirit of a place or an age? What do you consider the essential qualifications of a good novelist? These are the kind of topics on which audiences seek enlightenment and entertainment. That stimulating Scottish playwright, James Bridie, showed his appreciation of the popularity of the technique by using the brains trust form in his latest play, "It Depends What You Mean," to introduce a lively discussion on the perennial problems of married life. This impromptu discussion seems an admirable symptom of national health, both as regards matter and manner, conterft and form. Courteously Differing,

It is by no means unimportant that the technique of the brains trust is r stressing the value of oral expression. The art of coversaion is reviving under the stimulus, and there is hope that the Englishman will become again what he was before Kipling popularised the strong, silent man, namely, a sound and pithy talker.

Oral expression is very important in modern democracies, where citizens have to be persuaded and convinced | of the rightness of a course of action, not ordered into it. The exact use of words, and the power to judge of the exact mqaning of words, are abilities very nec^ssary to the Welfare of the modern world. The brains trust technique is a really powerful instrument towards this desirable articulacy. j As regards the content of these diseussions, j naturally their value varies. The small village often has one expert within its range hut cannot hope . to find the varied eruditions of I the large t.owns. But even although the wisdom of' Socrates may not always he displayed in questions and answers, the spectacle of four or five sensible persons courteously differing in opinion, offering

well-phrased reasons for their differences and gradually illuminating several diverse facets of a suhject is highly educative. Probably the technique has achieved its popularity here partly because it s6its so well British ideas of tolerance and fair play. "Playtime" Mental Activity. No picture of England to-day is complete without some' indication of the immense amount of "playtime" . mental activity which is in progress. The Workers' 'Education Associa- I tion has never flourished so strongly. J The Technical College evening classes al'e crammed. Intelligent societies are vigorously ihcreasing their membership — the Association of Yorkshire

Bookmen, for example, founded since World Wjar II for the discussion of literary subjects, has already 2000 members within the limits of a single riding. And in every puhlic hall in the land, brains trusts are discussing, before large audiences, every possible phenomenon of modern life. We may loofc shabby, in this islandt as to oiir clothes;; our meals may be boring, jur houses may lack paint; but our minds, I venture to think, are thoroughly eager, alert and lively, for never has discussion on sociological topics heen so widespread and so public as it is to-day.