It is true that an eminent philosopher has said that great thoughts rise from the heart. But do not forget that the reply was: " Yes, but they must go round by the head ". Emotion and sentiment play a very important part, which we must not under-estimate, in action; but in thinking out our conclusions, we must do our utmost to keep them from fogging and hampering our reason. Let us stand outside ourselves for a moment and look at some of our ordinary ways of thinking, especially the ways in which prejudice or sentiment play a big part. It is remarkable for how long misleading or outworn beliefs survive.
It is easy enough to look back and find examples of this in the dark and ignorant past. We laugh at our ancestors who thought that the sun revolved round the earth. We scorn the idea that the night air is thick with fevers and that we should therefore sleep with our windows tightly shut. We are inclined to pride ourselves on being enlightened enough to scout such ridiculous notions. We have invented a word to describe them. We call them superstitions. But are not the superstitions of today no more than the cherished beliefs of yesterday? And are we quite sure that some of the beliefs we hold so firmly today do not deserve to be called by the other name? Superstitions survive even among people who are otherwise sensible and level-headed. If you taxed them with their inconsistency, they would probably say: " well, you never know. There may be something in it ". The influence of habit is so strong that even when you have grown out of it intellectually, your instinctive caution compels you to play for safety.
It is easy enough to look back and find examples of this in the dark and ignorant past. We laugh at our ancestors who thought that the sun revolved round the earth. We scorn the idea that the night air is thick with fevers and that we should therefore sleep with our windows tightly shut. We are inclined to pride ourselves on being enlightened enough to scout such ridiculous notions. We have invented a word to describe them. We call them superstitions. But are not the superstitions of today no more than the cherished beliefs of yesterday? And are we quite sure that some of the beliefs we hold so firmly today do not deserve to be called by the other name? Superstitions survive even among people who are otherwise sensible and level-headed. If you taxed them with their inconsistency, they would probably say: " well, you never know. There may be something in it ". The influence of habit is so strong that even when you have grown out of it intellectually, your instinctive caution compels you to play for safety.
