the vested interests and the common man-第2章
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belief； the principles governing what is fact and what is
credible； are more intimately and intrinsically involved in the
habitual behavior of the human spirit than any factors of human
habit in other bearings。 Such is necessarily the case； because
the principles which guide and limit knowledge and belief are the
ways and means by which men take stock of what is to be done and
by which they take thought of how it is to be done。 It is by the
use of their habitual canons of knowledge and belief； that men
construct those canons of conduct which serve as guide and
standards in practical life。 Men do not pass appraisal on matters
which lie beyond the reach of their knowledge and belief； nor do
they formulate rules to govern the game of life beyond that
limit。
So； congenitally blind persons do not build color schemes；
nor will a man without an 〃ear for music〃 become a master of
musical composition。 So also； 〃the medieval mind〃 took no thought
and made no provision for those later…arisen exigencies of life
and those later…known facts of material science which lay yet
beyond the bounds of its medieval knowledge and belief； but this
〃medieval mind〃 at the same time spent much thought and took many
excellent precautions about things which have now come to be
accounted altogether fanciful； things which the maturer
insight； or perhaps the less fertile conceit； of a more
experienced age has disowned as being palpably not in accord with
fact。
That is to say； things which once were convincingly
substantial and demonstrable； according to the best knowledge and
belief of the medieval mind； can now no longer be discerned as
facts； according to those canons of knowledge and belief that are
now doing duty among modern men as conclusive standards of
reality。 Not that all persons who are born within modern times
are thereby rendered unable to know and to believe in such
medieval facts； e。 g。； as horoscopes； or witchcraft； or gentle
birth； or the efficacy of prayer； or the divine right of kings；
but； taken by and large； and in so far as it falls under the
control of the modern point of view； the deliberate consensus of
knowledge and belief now runs to the effect that these and other
imponderables like them no longer belong among ascertained or
ascertainable facts； but that they are on the other hand wholly
illusory conceits； traceable to a mistaken point of view
prevalent in that earlier and cruder age。
The principles governing knowledge and belief at any given
time are primary and pervasive； beyond any others； in that they
underlie all human deliberation and comprise the necessary
elements of all human logic。 But it is also to be noted that
these canons of knowledge and belief are more immediately exposed
to revision and correction by experience than the principles of
law and morals。 So soon as the conditions of life shift and
change in any appreciable degree； experience will enforce a
revision of the habitual standards of actuality and credibility；
because of the habitual and increasingly obvious failure of what
has before habitually been regarded as an ascertained fact。
Things which； under the ancient canons of knowledge； have
habitually been regarded as known facts； as； e。 g。； witchcraft
or the action of bodies at a distance； will under altered
circumstances prove themselves by experience to have only a
supposititious reality。
Any knowledge that runs in such out…worn terms turns out to
be futile； misleading； meaningless； and the habit of imputing
qualities and behavior of this kind to everyday facts will then
fall into disuse； progressively as experience continues to bring
home the futility of all that kind of imputation。 And presently
the habit of perceiving that class of qualities and behavior in
the known facts is therefore gradually lost。 So also； in due time
the observances and the precautions and provisions embodied in
law and custom for the preservation or the control of these lost
imponderables will also fall into disuse and disappear out of the
scheme of institutions； by way of becoming dead letter or by
abrogation。 Particularly will such a loss of belief and insight；
and the consequent loss of those imponderables whose ground has
thereby gone out from under them； take effect with the passing of
generations。
An Imponderable is an article of make…believe which has
become axiomatic by force of settled habit。 It can accordingly
cease to be an Imponderable by a course of unsettling habit。
Those elders in whom the ancient habits of faith and insight have
been ingrained； and in whose knowledge and belief the
imponderables in question have therefore had a vital reality；
will presently fall away； and the new generation whose experience
has run on other lines are in a fair way to lose these articles
of faith and in。 sight； by disuse。 It is a case of obsolescence
by habitual disuse。 And the habitual disuse which so allows the
ancient canons of knowledge and belief to fall away； and which
thereby cuts the ground from under the traditional system of law
and custom； is re…enforced by the advancing discipline of a new
order of experience； which exacts an habitual apprehension of
workday facts in terms of a different kind and thereby brings on
a revaluation and revision of the traditional rules governing
human relations。 The new terms of workday knowledge and belief；
which do not conform to the ancient canons； go to enforce and
stabilise new canons and standards； of a character alien to the
traditional point of view。 It is； in other words； a case of
obsolescence by displacement as well as by habitual disuse。
This unsettling discipline that is brought to bear by workday
experience is chiefly and most immediately the discipline
exercised by the material conditions of life； the exigencies that
beset men in their everyday dealings with the material means of
life； inasmuch as these material facts are insistent and
uncompromising。 And the scope and method of knowledge and belief
which is forced on men in their everyday material concerns will
unavoidably； by habitual use； extend to other matters as well； so
as also to affect the scope and method of knowledge and belief in
all that concerns those imponderable facts which lie outside the
immediate range of material experience。 It results that； the
further course of in changing habituation； those imponderable
relations； conventions； claims and perquisites； that make up the
time…worn system of law and custom will unavoidably also be
brought under review and will be revised and reorganised in the
light of the same new principles of validity that are found to be
sufficient in dealing with material facts。
Given time and a sufficiently exacting run of experience； and
it will follow necessarily that much the same standards of truth
and finality will come to govern men's knowledge and valuation of
facts throughout； whether the facts in question lie in the domain
of material things or in the domain of those imponderable
conventions and preconceptions that decide what is right and
proper in human intercourse。 It follows necessarily； because the
same persons； bent by the same discipline and habituation； take
stock of both and are required to get along with both during the
same lifetime。 More or less rigorously the same scope and method
of knowledge and valuation will control the thinking of the same
individuals throughout； at least to the extent that any given
article of faith and usage which is palpably at cross purposes
with this main intellectual bent will soon begin to seem
immaterial and irrelevant and will tend to become obsolete by
neglect。
Such has always been the fate which overtakes any notable
articles of faith and usage that belong to a bygone point of
view。 Any established system of law and order will remain
securely stable only on condition that it he kept in line or
brought into line to conform with those canons of validity that
have the vogue for the time being； and the vogue is a matter of
habits of thought ingrained b
