The International Mind

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 47, 5 June 1931, Page 3

The International Mind

So

impressed was I by the talk, on Monday

by Dr.

E. N.

Merrington

Master of Knox College, Dunedin, that I asked the editor to afford

space for its appearance as an article. By courtesy of the doctor in providing the notes of his address, this valuable contribution is now placed permanently on record for our readers. It must, of necessity, lose much of its effect through the inability of the printed word to carry the same power and vivid force as the spoken word. This lecture was one of the most effective to which I have had the pleasure of listening. Its particular value lies in the fact that it places the theories of the idealist well within the bounds of possibility.-Critic.

=] HE great aim of all lovers of k@)| their. fellow-men to-day is to i avert the possibility of another S| war. That is a sentiment that 4\)| Meets with warm applause >) when proclaimed at any public "2. meeting. Our men who fought and died in the Great War enlisted with that noble ambition in their minds.‘ The struggle between the Allies and _ the Central Powers of Europe’ was almost unigersally regarded as "a war to end wars’ The Treaty of Peace and __ the establishment of the League of Nations _ which terminated the war-period clearly recognised the supreme importance of drawing the nations together into a covenant with a view to common action and the substitution of arbitration for hostilities in future disputes between the countries of the world. For about twelve years the League of Nations has been in existence, and although it has not accomplished everything that might have been hoped for in the realisation of its objects, it has become a great, and in fact, a unique centre of influence in the direction of peace and the furtherance of humanitarian measures. It has already averted several wars, and it has fostered far.reaching international interests. With the aid of the Kellogg Pact, binding the nations to banish war from their policies, it has considerably brightened the hopes of mankind for the establishment of.a lasting peace. Mind to Control Force. NE thing is, however, becoming more and more clear in the study of current affairs, and that is the need of the International Mind as a force in the world. The abolition of the causes of war cannot be brought about merely by political and diplomatic means. . We need to educate the people to think internationally, to see the other fellow’s point of view, and to’ show hospitality to all great ideas, from whatever quarter they may take their origin. The aim of the friends of the human race to-day is not merely to banish war, to prevent the outbreak of hostilities; in fact," cannot be summed up in negative terms at all. That aim is positive, constructive, and educational. Our purpose is to establish peace on the foundations of goodwill, mutual understanding and respect. And it is only by putting something better, something more generally accepted in the place of war that the old fighting instinct in human nature can be sublimated. The League of Nations, Disarmament Conferences and the settlement of burning issues between the powers can achieve the object of world peace only as the thought and feeling of mankind are. educated up to loftier standard, and as public opinion ie the world is trained to folthe lead of the most clear-sighted men and women. This is thoroughly understood by the advocates of world peace. The leaders of the various nations realise that they cannot move far in advance of their times. They must be enabled. to feel that they can carry the people with them, not only. in times of tranquillity, but in periods of storm and stress.

Many of the warmest friends of peace among the national leaders find themselves hampered on many sides by the lack of common opinion and enthusiastic allegiance to the best interests of humanity. Hence several organisations have been formed with the object of teaching the people to think internationally. The League of Nations has its Committee on Intellectual Co-operation, as well as its Sub-committee of Experts, who were appointed in 1925 "to consider the best methods of co-ordinating official and non-official efforts designed to familiarise young people throughout the world with the principles and work of the League, and to train the younger generation to regard international co-operation as the normal method of conducting world affairs."

Starting in the Schools. HAT introduces us to the schools, "both primary and secondary, as the first field of endeavour in this enterprise. Education must cope with those prejudices, dislikes, aversions, and evefi hatreds which grow up like weeds in the child-mind, and serve as the prolific breeding-grounds of national suspicions and antagonisms. The attitude of the teacher himself is very important in this task. If he is narrow in his outlook, the pupils will undoubtedly reflect many of his prejudices. Hence we must look to the teachers to set a high standard of openmindedness and fairness to peoples other than their own. The methods of teaching also need to be revised-in fact, they are being revised. Such subjects as his-

tory, and geography in particular, should be taught from a less biased standpoint than has been customary in the past.-: As the declaration of the educational authorities of Great Britain, at a-con-ference held in 1927 stated: "Particularly the growing sense of the interdependence of communities, as shown, eg., in the work of the League of Nations, should receive due prominence." If all the nations and races of the world can be induced to adopt this aim of creating in the minds of the next generation a feeling of human brotherhood, a very influential contribution towards bringing in a better and more peaceful era will have been accomplished. .I would like to pay a tribute here to the work of the W.E.A. and the League of Nations Union, which undoubtedly has pride of place in the propaganda for world peace. Study in the Universities. pass on to the universities from which many of the leaders of thought will emerge. What is being done to train the students of the world to think internationally? Such agenciees as the World Student Christian Federation -of which Dr. T. Z. Koo is a distinguished representative-and the National Union of Students have already accomplished much in the way of preparing the ground. In addition, we may count upon wise leadership from most of the professors who have been brought into touch with the subject. In the Institute of Pacific Relations we have a fruitful movement, which studies the facts and problems of ail countries bordering upon the Pacific Ocean, and has made a strong appeal to university men and women. But besides these, we find that professorial chairs have been established in Great Britain, Europe and America for direct treatment of world problems. At Oxford, for ex~ample, a highly distinguished thinker, Professor Alfred Zimmern, has recently been appointed to fill the newly-estab« lished chair of International Relations. Professor Shotwell, of Columbia University, New York, who has already done remarkable work for world peace, inclusive of suggesting the original idea of the Kellogg Pact for the renunciation of war, has recently suggested that an institute for studying European affairs on the lines of the Pacific Institute should be inaugurated. The difficulties are immense; but the conception may bear fruit in the near future. All these are signs of the changing times and the widespread desire for what Lessing called in his famous title "The Education of the Human Race." Need to Control Science. UT valuable as all such agencies are, the interests of humanity must lead us further. The savants and the experts are sometimes afflicted with "a blind spot" which is as dark as night. Specialists who are unable to see beyond their own subjects are among the worst victims of limited vision on world topics. In philosophy, too, there are national schools of thought which never look beyond their own national representatives, and never quote from those who (Concluded om baae 29.) /

The International Mind

(Continued from page 3.)

are not their predecessors or followers. The same tendency may be observed in psychology, ethics, and economics. The meaning of the great. values of lifegoodness, beauty, and truth-should be disseminated to "the utmost bound of human. thought." There. should be no inferiority in this respect as between philosophy. and-science. That which is covered should be revealed; that which is hidden should be made known; and that which is spoken in the ear should be proclaimed upon the house-tops. This is what happens with the discoveries of science. We have a great ounding-board for the progress of "Shysical investigation. The scientific journals, the latest text-books, and even the daily press: make new advances common property in a -very short time. "Science,". it has been said, "has no frontiers." "Unless the new marvels of chemistry and dynamics are sold to governments for the purposes of future employment in. warfare, they are quickly. propelled through the air and over the seas to the ends of the earth. Now, this is.at once an object-lesson of the International Mind, anc at the same time a terrible menace to International Peace. The Great War proved what a frightful scourge to humanity science can become when it ig used by the war-lords. Annihilation, suffering to combatants and noneombatants alike, destruction of life and property on land, the high seas, \. and in the air follow in the wake of the wizards of science who have been commandeered to accompany the armjes and navies of belligerents. The absolute control of the powers unleashed by science is necessary togsave the race from suicide. Like fire, scientific invention is a good servant, but a bad*master. And the question at once rushes to the front: How are the destructive possibilities of science to be governed, moderated and, if need be, crushed, in the interests of human welfare? The answer is to be found in the dominance of Spirit over Matter, the rule of Reason over the human passions, the ascendancy of Idealism, Internationalism and Religion over the ruthlessly calculating and devastating operations the Moloch of War. Mind Over Matter. THE. International Mind must be strengthened to regulate the mighty ramifications of physical activity as the individual mind is trained to rule over the body. With man’s conquest of the ether, the air, the atom, and the titanic forces of chemical and physical nature, there must proceed pari passu man’s conquest over himself. The alternative in the event of war is the destruction of civilisation. There can be no such control if nation is warring with nation, kingdom with kingdom. The will to live is thus split into contending fragments. The \

newly-acquired powers of science must be governed or, like a brainless mam~ moth, will mow down the human race with maniacal movements, -resembling the revolving scythes on huge chariot wheels. This may seem to be a dreadful picture of the future; but it can be averted only by the dominance of the Spirit. Reference has: already been made to the illustration given in the recent war, which would be out-Heroded in another such. struggle. But man’s. reason, divinely illumined and linked. with tenderness, can and. must assert itself as the arbiter of human destinies. Of the prospect of man’s frustration. by the forces which he hag cleverly elicitted from the vasty deep of Nature, we may surely say with the poet Wordsworth, in his "Hxcursion" :- "Believe it not; The primal duties shine aloft, like stars; ; . The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless : Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers." The World a Whispering Gallery. ASK, in conclusion, how this universal mind is to come to itself, ‘surveying the boundaries that divide nation from nation and race from race, as the navigator regards latitude and longitude, the Equator, the Tropics and the Arctic Circle, as convenient, albeit imaginary lines on the globe, rather than as absolute divisions. The reply must be that the International Mind must use and interpret all knowledge and skill, including,.of course, science, pure and applied, and all its agencies, in relation to the service of mankind. , Radio, with its growing marvels, of which we have touched only the fringe as yet-a fringe of invisible filaments, it is true. encompassing the earth and evoking mysterious’ and awe-inspiring echoes from distant space-television, which soon will revolutionise our press and our entertainments and all kinds of communications; aviation, the films, and swift transport on land and sea; these and other agents of science are rapidly bringing us all closer together and making the world into a huge whispering-gallery. In this proximity of nations, races and creeds, "Grace and Truth" are needed to sweeten the changed relationships of mankind, World citizenship can be established only by the dissemination of illuminating ideas and the cultivation of fellowship by international goodwill and mutual understanding. These are essential to the solution of "the common problem, yours, mine, und everyone’s," and this spirit must be promoted by old and young, by Huropean, American, Oriental, African and. Antipodean, if. the world is to be made safe for humanity. Tf this higher point of view is steadfastly inculeated, we may reasonably hope for the fulfilment of the prophecy which President Woodrow Wilson voiced at the Peace Conference when he said that "he looked forward to tie time wnen men would be as ashamed of being

disloyal to humanity as they were now of being disloyal to their country."