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“PERSONALITY.”

W.E.A. LECTURE. The usual weekly gathering of the Levin branch of the “W.E.A.” was held in the Band Room, Levin, on Tuesday, the 3rd inst., at 7.30. There was a good attendance of members and visitors presided over by Mr R. McAllister. In opening his lecture Mr McArthur pointed out that although of the very | earliest period of infancy our memI ories retain absolutely no trace, yet |in the first two or three years the ! structural lines are laid down and the k individual tendencies of the subsequent development of character are largely determined. In these unremembered years of infancy nature finishes, in the main, the work of making us, and w.e begin to make ourselves. In the early hours of life just before the dawn of clear selfconsciousness the secret of puir origin lies unrevealed, and no sign appears to tell us whence we came and whither we go. All the more eagerly therefore must we search the natural history of the growth of personality from the earliest moments of distinct self -consciousness for indications, even the slightest, of its meaning and destiny. The development of conscious personal being from its first observed beginnings has proceeded along two lines—the physiological and the mental, and we must keep to these in . order to find out what.we can concerning it. Candour compels the admission that when eve ask the questions “Is mind in the brain?” “Where is mind when we are asleep?” no absolute answer can be given. It is generally conceded that at the age of seven the normal brain has reached just about its full size and weight, although structural changes take place in later years in the nervous system which becomes finer and more complex. The brain gets its larger capacity, not through any addition t,o the number of cells, but through betj ter organisation. But after science has said all she can at present say, j it is still evident that no one knows where the life is, no anatomist’s hand has opened, no microscope -has disclosed any last retreat and secret abiding place of the mind. WHAT IS PERSONALITY? J We know that people differ mot only jin intelligence and efficiency, but in j a something which is kiiown as iper- , sonality. In giving an honest reference concerning any person, one may say concerning him .that he is energetic, clean, modest, self-reliant, “gets on well” with others, etc. All these and other traits are included under the head of personality.. While psychology has at present no very definite statement tq make regarding the factors in this matter we attempt an analysis. Wo find, first, that personality depends somewhat on the physique of the man. The size of a man affects people. H.ow often the big man affects people. How often the big man"dominates just by virtue of his size. He is usually easy-going —while 'Often the little fellow is selfassertive. Second, the next is what is known as temperament, a trait difficult toi analyse. A man is “excitable” or, jovial, or quarrelsome or calm. These dispositions were accounted for by the lancients by a surplus of any one of the four great fluids of the body. Thusly, the “sanguine” individual was so because he Tiad a surplus of blood, the choleric, of bile; the' phlegmatic, of phlegm, and the melancholic, of spleen. While this is not now taken as an explanation, we must admit that, the chemical substances carried round in the body must have some effect on the teinperaanent. We know something of the effect of the secretions from the thyroid and adrenal glands, winch exexeite qnd energise. The instincts also affect personality. One is sociable, or masterful, or motherly, or humorous. Intelligence also must find a place. Generally speaking, one who is slow to iearn, and finds it hard to adapt himself to others, often remains quite out of touch with his social surroundings. Tact, the name of this trait best known, is partly an instinctive liking for society, partly imagination, or the power to put oneself in the place of others, and partly ability to perceive what others want. In a recent issue of the "Scientific American’’ Dr. Moss contributes ,un article on “How to get along with others,” and demonstrates the difference between ‘abstract” and “social” intelligence. The former is abil- ; ity to deal with ideas, the latter the ’ ability to get things done. It is the | ready eye, the quick ear, the judging | taste, the keen smell and the lively \ touch. It helps to negotiate difficul- ! ties and to avoid conflicts. This, in the practical affairs of everyday wins out every time. In rhany universities | in the States, the ireshman is put through a test in social intelligence—l can he remember names and faces, can he size up a social situation, can ' he exercise a correct judgment m } meeting a difficult social .problem; ' can he appreciate correctly the rnen--3 tal state back of certain facial ex--5 pressions;. or of the motives ait the " back of words? Behind all this abil- ' ity is the knowledge factor—the more s things with which a person is ac--1 quainted and in which he is mter- " tested, the more able will he be to * appreciate the interests of others. e Over a number of years, statistics 1 show in one university that women ;t rate higher by 5 points than men, and this is explained on the grounds t a ’• for countless ages women had to by tact arid intuition what men have done by brute strength. ’

'ln personality as we see it to human life there are three primary elements:—Freedom: Nothing that is machine-made— imposed flr onl with-

, out merely routine—or traditional, has a “self” to realise and can live only where it has liberty. Ihis freedom is essentially an inward freedom —a freedom of the soul; it is also rational or moral. It is not the liberty of mere license. If a man be moral then his personality is moral. It is the responsibility of freedom that makes men free. Social.—A man by himself is hardly a person—he must be a social being and giving himself in the service of others, while a great genius may think it necessary to be selfish for his art’s sake, it is yet true that a great man is large-minded, and it 4s in man and not in genius that personality dwells. The more deeply a man is related to others in understanding, sympathy and service, the more is his own personality enriched Love, even when it seems to limit life, does not impoverish it, what impoverishes life is selfishness. Even when it promises .to liberate. Formative—This just means life, especially life’s calls, challenges, and crisis. A man is proved as he is found equal to life’s testings and emergencies. THE SUB-CONSCIOUS.

Concerning this, eminent psychologists are wary, holding that nothing has been proved. It is claimed by popular opinion that the seat of the sub-conscious mind Is the solar plexus and that if allowed to take con-

trol, this unconscious mind becomes almost infallible. The lecturer showed that a very great deal of life is made up of unconscious activities of various kinds, dove-tailing in with highly conscious activities. The popular idea of the power of the subconscious was then dealt with. You

try to recall a name, get stuck, drop

the matter, and, later the-name appears. Or a difficult situation arises, there seems no solution, you “sleep on it” and waken next morning with the course quite clear. The usual explanation is that tlie sub-conscious 'mind has wrestled with it and found the solution. But is it necessary to suppose that any work whatsoever has been done on the problem? The lecturer suggested that the difficulty arises from false cues, which block the course and continue to do so until the whole matter is laid aside, when they drop out of the way. A bowler in a test who- simply cannot strike form, takes a rest, next day he is in form; is it necessary to think that in the interval his subconscious mind has been practising pawling? The rest has restored freshness and combated “staleness.”

What does it mean for a man to live? To live means a vast range of activity—more than -can possibly be performed by any single individual. We are forced to limit the field of our activity—physically and mentally. Innumerable wishes have- to be laid aside—renunciation is the order of the day from childhood up to the age when weakness and Weariness super.

vene upon the zest for action and the

will to live fades out in the readiness to ‘die. Long ago Heraclitus taught

that life “is an eternal flux.” Those who complain that life lacks ease and restfulness must not forget that life is movement whether in the germ-cell or in the universe. We can never keep a sensation or an experience in one stage—each has its beginning, its culmination. What finally remains is a. deposit and* it is out of these deposits that one’s soul is built up. The world has been slowly grinding its lessons into our race —and one of the simplest is a gospel of the “other side.” Nature starts her chosen ones, upon drudgery. Literature has been alphabet, grammars and dictionaries; music offers no royal road—she does offer a ceaseless, pounding away at.

scales. Through 1 self discipline we come to power. Marcus .Aurelius, in reckoning up his supreme advantages does not speak of his accession to wealth and empire, but of the fact that as a youth he was taught to endure hardness to work with his hands and to mind his own business. Our AVishes, some of them' arising from the purely animal in us, must be dealt with on their merits. Are they for our good? For the' good of the race? If yes, then gratify them. If no, let them sink out of sight, and be forever forgotten.

A marked feature of the session has been the free and full discussion of the subject matter, and this again characterised Tuesday evening’s meeting.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SNEWS19260806.2.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Shannon News, 6 August 1926, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,683

“PERSONALITY.” Shannon News, 6 August 1926, Page 3

“PERSONALITY.” Shannon News, 6 August 1926, Page 3

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