How to Read Human Nature Part 1

How to Read Human Nature.

by William Walker Atkinson.

CHAPTER I

INNER STATE AND OUTER FORM

"Human Nature" is a term most frequently used and yet but little understood. The average person knows in a general way what he and others mean when this term is employed, but very few are able to give an off-hand definition of the term or to state what in their opinion const.i.tutes the real essence of the thought expressed by the familiar phrase. We are of the opinion that the first step in the process of correct understanding of any subject is that of acquaintance with its princ.i.p.al terms, and, so, we shall begin our consideration of the subject of Human Nature by an examination of the term used to express the idea itself.

"Human," of course, means "of or pertaining to man or mankind."

Therefore, Human Nature means the _nature_ of man or mankind. "Nature,"

in this usage, means: "The natural disposition of mind of any person; temper; personal character; individual const.i.tution; the peculiar mental characteristics and attributes which serve to distinguish one person from another."

Thus we see that the essence of the _nature_ of men, or of a particular human being, is the _mind_, the mental qualities, characteristics, properties and attributes. Human Nature is then a phase of psychology and subject to the laws, principles and methods of study, examination and consideration of that particular branch of science.

But while the general subject of psychology includes the consideration of the inner workings of the mind, the processes of thought, the nature of feeling, and the operation of the will, the special subject of Human Nature is concerned only with the question of character, disposition, temperament, personal attributes, etc., of the individuals making up the race of man. Psychology is general--Human Nature is particular.

Psychology is more or less abstract--Human Nature is concrete.

Psychology deals with laws, causes and principles--Human Nature deals with effects, manifestations, and expressions.

Human Nature expresses itself in two general phases, i.e., (1) the phase of Inner States; and (2) the phase of Outer Forms. These two phases, however, are not separate or opposed to each other, but are complementary aspects of the same thing. There is always an action and reaction between the Inner State and the Outer Form--between the Inner Feeling and the Outer Expression. If we know the particular Inner State we may infer the appropriate Outer Form; and if we know the Outer Form we may infer the Inner State.

That the Inner State affects the Outer Form is a fact generally acknowledged by men, for it is in strict accordance with the general experience of the race. We know that certain mental states will result in imparting to the countenance certain lines and expressions appropriate thereto; certain peculiarities of carriage and manner, voice and demeanor. The facial characteristics, manner, walk, voice and gestures of the miser will be recognized as entirely different from that of the generous person; those of the coward differ materially from those of the brave man; those of the vain are distinguished from those of the modest. We know that certain mental att.i.tudes will produce the corresponding physical expressions of a smile, a frown, an open hand, a clenched fist, an erect spine or bowed shoulders, respectively. We also know that certain feelings will cause the eye to sparkle or grow dim, the voice to become resonant and positive or to become husky and weak; according to the nature of the feelings.

Prof. Wm. James says: "What kind of emotion of fear would be left if the feeling neither of trembling lips nor of weakened limbs, neither of goose-flesh nor of visceral stirrings, were present, it is quite impossible for me to think. Can one fancy the state of rage and picture no ebullition in the chest, no flus.h.i.+ng of the face, no dilation of the nostrils, no clenching of the teeth, no impulse to vigorous action, but in their stead limp muscles, calm breathing, and a placid face?"

Prof. Halleck says: "All the emotions have well-defined muscular expression. Darwin has written an excellent work ent.i.tled, _The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals_, to which students must refer for a detailed account of such expression. A very few examples must suffice here. In all the exhilarating emotions, the eyebrows, the eyelids, the nostrils, and the angles of the mouth are raised. In the depressing pa.s.sions it is the reverse. This general statement conveys so much truth, that a careful observer can read a large part of the history of a human being written in the face. For this reason many phrenologists have wisely turned physiognomists. Grief is expressed by raising the inner ends of the eyebrows, drawing down the corners of the mouth, and transversely wrinkling the middle part of the forehead. In Terra del Fuego, a party of natives conveyed to Darwin the idea that a certain man was low-spirited, by pulling down their cheeks in order to make their faces long. Joy is expressed by drawing backward and upward the corners of the mouth. The upper lip rises and draws the cheeks upward, forming wrinkles under the eyes. The elevation of the upper lip and the nostrils expresses contempt. A skillful observer can frequently tell if one person admires another. In this case the eyebrows are raised, disclosing a brightening eye and a relaxed expression; sometimes a gentle smile plays about the mouth. Blus.h.i.+ng is merely the physical expression of certain emotions. We notice the expression of emotion more in the countenance, because the effects are there more plainly visible; but the muscles of the entire body, the vital organs, and the viscera, are also vehicles of expression."

These things need but a mention in order to be recognized and admitted.

This is the _action_ of the Inner upon the Outer. There is, however, a _reaction_ of the Outer upon the Inner, which while equally true is not so generally recognized nor admitted, and we think it well to briefly call your attention to the same, for the reason that this correspondence between the Inner and the Outer--this _reaction_ as well as the _action_--must be appreciated in order that the entire meaning and content of the subject of Human Nature may be fully grasped.

That the _reaction_ of the Outer Form upon the Inner State may be understood, we ask you to consider the following opinions of well-known and accepted authorities of the New Psychology, regarding the established fact that a _physical expression related to a mental state, will, if voluntarily induced, tend to in turn induce the mental state appropriate to it_. We have used these quotations in other books of this series, but will insert them here in this place because they have a direct bearing upon the particular subject before us, and because they furnish direct and unquestioned authority for the statements just made by us. We ask you to consider them carefully, for they express a most important truth.

Prof. Halleck says: "By inducing an expression we can often cause its allied emotion.... Actors have frequently testified to the fact that emotion will arise if they go through the appropriate muscular movements. In talking to a character on the stage, if they clench the fist and frown, they often find themselves becoming really angry; if they start with counterfeit laughter, they find themselves growing cheerful. A German professor says that he cannot walk with a schoolgirl's mincing step and air without feeling frivolous."

Prof. Wm. James says: "Whistling to keep up courage is no mere figure of speech. On the other hand, sit all day in a moping posture, sigh, and reply to everything with a dismal voice, and your melancholy lingers. If we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must a.s.siduously, and in the first instance coldbloodedly, go through the _outward movements_ of those contrary dispositions which we wish to cultivate. Smooth the brow, brighten the eye, contract the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the frame, and speak in a major key, pa.s.s the genial compliment, and your heart must indeed be frigid if it does not gradually thaw."

Dr. Wood Hutchinson, says: "To what extent muscular contractions condition emotions, as Prof. James has suggested, may be easily tested by a quaint and simple little experiment upon a group of the smallest voluntary muscles of the body, those that move the eyeball. Choose some time when you are sitting quietly in your room, free from all disturbing influences. Then stand up, and a.s.suming an easy position, cast the eyes upward and hold them in that position for thirty seconds. Instantly and involuntarily you will be conscious of a tendency toward reverential, devotional, contemplative ideas and thoughts. Then turn the eyes sideways, glancing directly to the right or to the left, through half-closed lids. Within thirty seconds images of suspicion, of uneasiness, or of dislike will rise unbidden to the mind. Turn the eyes on one side and slightly downward, and suggestions of jealousy or coquetry will be apt to spring unbidden. Direct your gaze downward toward the floor, and you are likely to go off into a fit of reverie or abstraction."

Prof. Maudsley says: "The specific muscular action is not merely an exponent of pa.s.sion, but truly an essential part of it. If we try while the features are fixed in the expression of one pa.s.sion to call up in the mind a different one, we shall find it impossible to do so."

We state the fact of the _reaction_ of the Outer upon the Inner, with its supporting quotations from the authorities, not for the purpose of instructing our readers in the art of training the emotions by means of the physical, for while this subject is highly important, it forms no part of the particular subject under our present consideration--but that the student may realize the close relations.h.i.+p existing between the Inner State and the Outer Form. These two elements or phases, in their constant action and reaction, manifest the phenomena of Human Nature, and a knowledge of each, and both give to us the key which will open for us the door of the understanding of Human Nature.

Let us now call your attention to an ill.u.s.tration which embodies both principles--that of the Inner and the Outer--and the action and reaction between them, as given by that master of subtle ratiocination, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe in his story "The Purloined Letter" tells of a boy at school who attained great proficiency in the game of "even or odd" in which one player strives to guess whether the marbles held in the hand of his opponent are odd or even. The boy's plan was to gauge the intelligence of his opponent regarding the matter of making changes, and as Poe says: "this lay in mere observation and admeasurement of the astuteness of his opponents." Poe describes the process as follows: "For example, an arrant simpleton is his opponent, and, holding up his closed hand, asks, 'are they even or odd?' Our schoolboy replies, 'odd,'

and loses; but upon the second trial he wins, for he then says to himself, 'the simpleton had them even upon the first trial, and his amount of cunning is just sufficient to make him have them odd upon the second; I will therefore guess odd;'--he guesses and wins. Now, with a simpleton a degree above the first, he would have reasoned thus: 'This fellow finds that in the first instance I guessed odd, and, in the second, he will propose to himself upon the first impulse, a simple variation from even to odd, as did the first simpleton; but then a second thought will suggest that this is too simple a variation, and finally he will decide upon putting it even as before. I will therefore guess even;' he guesses even and wins."

Poe continues by stating that this "is merely an identification of the reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent. Upon inquiring of the boy by what means he effected the _thorough_ identification in which his success consisted, I received answer as follows: 'When I wish to find out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any one, or what are his thoughts at the moment, _I fas.h.i.+on the expression of my face, as accurately as possible in accordance with the expression of his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression_.' This response of the school boy lies at the bottom of all the spurious profundity which has been attributed to Rochefoucauld, to La Bougive, to Machiavelli, and to Campanella."

In this consideration of Human Nature we shall have much to say about the Outer Form. But we must ask the reader to always remember that the Outer Form is always the expression and manifestation of the Inner State, be that Inner State latent and dormant within the depths of the subconscious mentality, or else active and dynamic in conscious expression. Just as Prof. James so strongly insists, we cannot imagine an inner feeling or emotion without its corresponding outward physical expression, so is it impossible to imagine the outward expressions generally a.s.sociated with a particular feeling or emotion without its corresponding inner state. Whether or not one of these, the outer or inner, is the _cause_ of the other--and if so, _which one_ is the cause and which the effect--need not concern us here. In fact, it would seem more reasonable to accept the theory that they are correlated and appear simultaneously. Many careful thinkers have held that action and reaction are practically the same thing--merely the opposite phases of the same fact. If this be so, then indeed when we are studying the Outer Form of Human Nature we are studying psychology just as much as when we are studying the Inner States. Prof. Wm. James in his works upon psychology insists upon the relevancy of the consideration of the outward expressions of the inner feeling and emotion, as we have seen. The same authority speaks even more emphatically upon this phase of the subject, as follows:

"The feeling, in the coa.r.s.er emotions, results from the bodily expression.... My theory is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur _is_ the emotion.... Particular perceptions certainly do produce widespread bodily effects by a sort of immediate physical influence, antecedent to the arousal of an emotion or emotional idea.... Every one of the bodily changes, whatsoever it may be, is _felt_, acutely or obscurely, the moment it occurs.... If we fancy some strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we have nothing left behind....

A disembodied human emotion is a sheer nonent.i.ty. I do not say that it is a contradiction in the nature of things, or that pure spirits are necessarily condemned to cold intellectual lives; but I say that for _us_ emotion disa.s.sociated from all bodily feeling is inconceivable. The more closely I scrutinize my states, the more persuaded I become that whatever 'coa.r.s.e' affections and pa.s.sions I have are in very truth const.i.tuted by, and made up of, those bodily changes which we ordinarily call their expression or consequence.... But our emotions must always be _inwardly_ what they are, whatever may be the physiological ground of their apparition. If they are deep, pure, worthy, spiritual facts on any conceivable theory of their physiological source, they remain no less deep, pure, spiritual, and worthy of regard on this present sensational theory."

Kay says: "Does the mind or spirit of man, whatever it may be, in its actings in and through the body, leave a material impression or trace in its structure of every conscious action it performs, which remains permanently fixed, and forms a material record of all that it has done in the body, to which it can afterward refer as to a book and recall to mind, making it again, as it were, present to it?... We find nature everywhere around us recording its movements and marking the changes it has undergone in material forms,--in the crust of the earth, the composition of the rocks, the structure of the trees, the conformation of our bodies, and those spirits of ours, so closely connected with our material bodies, that so far as we know, they can think no thought, perform no action, without their presence and co-operation, may have been so joined in order to preserve a material and lasting record of all that they think and do."

Marsh says: "Every human movement, every organic act, every volition, pa.s.sion, or emotion, every intellectual process, is accompanied with atomic disturbance." Picton says: "The soul never does one single action by itself apart from some excitement of bodily tissue." Emerson says: "The rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain; the river its channel in the soil; the animal its bones in the stratum; the fern and leaf their modest epitaph in the coal. The falling drop makes its sculpture in the sand or stone.... The ground is all memoranda and signatures, and every object covered over with hints which speak to the intelligent. In nature this self-registration is incessant." Morell says: "The mind depends for the manifestation of all its activities upon a material organism." Bain says: "The organ of the mind is not the brain by itself; it is the brain, nerve, muscles, organs of sense, viscera....

It is uncertain how far even thought, reminiscence, or the emotions of the past and absent could be sustained without the more distant communication between the brain and the rest of the body." And, thus, as we consider the subject carefully we see that psychology is as much concerned with the physical manifestations of the mental impulses and states as with the metaphysical aspect of those states--as much with the Outer Form as with the Inner State--for it is practically impossible to permanently separate them.

As an ill.u.s.tration of the physical accompaniment or Outer Form, of the psychical feeling or Inner State, the following quotation from Darwin's "Origin of the Emotions," will well serve the purpose:

"Fear is often preceded by astonishment, and is so far akin to it that both lead to the senses of sight and hearing being instantly aroused. In both cases the eyes and mouth are widely opened and the eyebrows raised.

The frightened man at first stands like a statue, motionless and breathless, or crouches down as if instinctively to escape observation.

The heart beats quickly and violently, so that it palpitates or knocks against the ribs; but it is very doubtful if it then works more efficiently than usual, so as to send a greater supply of blood to all parts of the body; for the skin instantly becomes pale as during incipient faintness. This paleness of the surface, however, is probably in large part, or is exclusively, due to the vaso-motor centre being affected in such a manner as to cause the contraction of the small arteries of the skin. That the skin is much affected under the sense of great fear, we see in the marvelous manner in which perspiration immediately exudes from it. This exudation is all the more remarkable, as the surface is then cold, and hence the term, a cold sweat; whereas the sudorific glands are properly excited into action when the surface is heated. The hairs also on the skin stand erect, and the superficial muscles s.h.i.+ver. In connection with the disturbed action of the heart the breathing is hurried. The salivary glands act imperfectly; the mouth becomes dry and is often opened and shut. I have noticed that under slight fear there is a strong tendency to yawn. One of the best marked symptoms is the trembling of all the muscles of the body; and this is often seen in the lips. From this cause, and from the dryness of the mouth, the voice becomes husky or indistinct or may altogether fail....

As fear increases into an agony of terror, we behold, as under all violent emotions, diversified results. The heart beats wildly or fails to act and faintness ensues; there is a death-like pallor; the breathing is labored; the wings of the nostrils are widely dilated; there is a gasping and convulsive motion of the lips; a tremor of the hollow cheek, a gulping and catching of the throat; the uncovered and protruding eyeb.a.l.l.s are fixed on the object of terror; or they may roll restlessly from side to side. The pupils are said to be enormously dilated. All the muscles of the body may become rigid or may be thrown into convulsive movements. The hands are alternately clenched and opened, often with a twitching movement. The arms may be protruded as if to avert some dreadful danger, or may be thrown wildly over the head. The Rev. Mr.

Hagenauer has seen this latter action in a terrified Australian. In other cases there is a sudden and uncontrolled tendency to headlong flight; and so strong is this that the boldest soldiers may be seized with a sudden panic."

In conclusion, let us say that just as the above striking description of the master-scientist, Darwin, shows us that the particular emotion has its outer manifestations--the particular Inner State its Outer Form--so has the general _character_ of the person its outer manifestation, and Outer Form. And, just as to the eye of the experienced observer at a distance (even in the case of a photographic representation, particularly in the case of a moving picture) may recognize the Inner State from the Outer Form of the feeling or emotion, so may the experienced character reader interpret the whole character of the person from the Outer Form thereof. The two interpretations are based on exactly the same general principles. The inner thought and feeling manifest in the outer physical form. He who learns the alphabet of Outer Form may read page after page of the book of Human Nature.

CHAPTER II

THE INNER PHASE: CHARACTER

Do you know what "character" is? The word itself, in its derivation and original usage, means: "a stamp, mark or sign, engraved or stamped." As time pa.s.sed the term was applied to the personal peculiarities of individuals, and was defined as: "the personal qualities or attributes of a person; the distinguis.h.i.+ng traits of a person." Later the term was extended to mean: "the part enacted by anyone in a play." In the common usage of the term we seek to convey an idea in which each and all of the above stated meanings are combined. A man's character is the result of _impressions_ made upon his own mind, or those of the race. It is also the sum of his personal qualities and attributes. It is also, in a sense, the part he plays in the great drama of life.

Each man's character has its inner phase consisting of the acc.u.mulated impressions of the past which seek to manifest in the present. And, likewise, the character of each man manifests in an outer phase of form, mark, and stamp of _personality_. There are no two characters precisely alike. There is an infinite possibility of combination of the elements that go to make up character. This is accordance with what appears to be a universal law of nature, for there are no two blades of gra.s.s exactly alike, nor two grains of sand bearing an exact resemblance to each other. Nature seems to seek after and to manifest variety of form and quality. But, still, just as we may cla.s.sify all things, animate and inanimate, into general cla.s.ses and then into subordinate ones--each genus and each species having its particular characteristics, qualities and attributes, so we may, and do, cla.s.sify human character into general cla.s.ses and then into particular subdivisions into which each individual is found to fit. This fact makes it possible for us to study Human Nature as a science.

The character of each individual is held to be the result of the impressions made upon the plastic material of the mind, either in the form of past impressions upon his ancestors or of past impressions received by the individual. The past impressions reach him through the channel of heredity, while the personal impressions come to him through environment. But by heredity we do not mean the transmission of the personal characteristics of one's parents or even grand-parents, but something far deeper and broader. We believe that one inherits far less of the qualities of one's parents than is generally believed. But, we believe that much that goes to make up our character is derived from the a.s.sociated qualities and impressions of many generations of ancestors.

Inasmuch as each individual contains within him the transmitted qualities of nearly every individual who lived several thousand years ago, it may be said that each individual is an heir to the acc.u.mulated impressions of the race, which however form in an infinite variety of combinations, the result being that although the root of the race is the same yet each individual differs in combination from each other individual. As Luther Burbank has said: "Heredity means much, but what is heredity? Not some hideous ancestral specter, forever crossing the path of a human being. Heredity is simply the sum of all the effects of all the environments of all past generations on the responsive ever-moving life-forces."

The records of the past environment of the race are stored away in the great region of the subconscious mentality, from whence they arise in response to the call of some attractive object of thought or perception, always, however, modified and restrained by the opposite characteristics. As Prof. Elmer Gates has said: "At least ninety per cent of our mental life is sub-conscious. If you will a.n.a.lyze your mental operations you will find that conscious thinking is never a continuous line of consciousness, but a series of conscious data with great intervals of subconsciousness. We sit and try to solve a problem and fail. We walk around, try again and fail. Suddenly an idea dawns that leads to a solution of the problem. The sub-conscious processes were at work. We do not volitionally create our own thinking. It takes place in us. We are more or less pa.s.sive recipients. We cannot change the nature of a thought, or of a truth, but we can, as it were, guide the s.h.i.+p by a moving of the helm."

But character is dependent upon race inheritance only for its raw materials, which are then worked into shape by the influence of environment and by the will of the individual. A man's environment is, to some extent at least, dependent upon the will. A man may change his environment, and by the use of his will he may overcome many inherited tendencies. As Halleck well says: "Heredity is a powerful factor, for it supplies raw material for the will to shape. Even the will cannot make anything without material. Will acts through choice, and some kinds of environment afford far more opportunities for choice than others.

Shakespeare found in London the germ of true theatrical taste, already vivified by a long line of miracle plays, moralities and interludes. In youth he connected himself with the theatre, and his will responded powerfully to his environment. Some surroundings are rich in suggestion, affording opportunity for choice, while others are poor. The will is absolutely confined to a choice between alternatives. _Character then, is a resultant of will power, heredity and environment._ The modern tendency is to overestimate the effects of heredity and environment in forming character; but, on the other hand, we must not underestimate them. The child of a Hottentot put in Shakespeare's home, and afterward sent away to London with him, would never have made a Shakespeare; for heredity would not have given the will sufficient raw material to fas.h.i.+on over into such a n.o.ble product. We may also suppose a case to show the great power of environment. Had a band of gypsies stolen Shakespeare at birth, carried him to Tartary, and left him among the nomads, his environment would never have allowed him to produce such plays as he placed upon the English stage."

Many persons are reluctant to admit the effect of heredity upon character. They seem to regard heredity as the idea of a monster ruling the individual with an iron hand, and with an emphasis upon undesirable traits of character. Such people lose sight of the fact that at the best heredity merely supplies us with the raw material of character rather than the finished product, and that _there is much good in this raw material_. We receive our inheritance of good as well as bad. Deprive a man of the advantage of his heredity, and we place him back to the plane of the savage, or perhaps still lower in the scale. Heredity is simply the shoulders of the race affording us a place for our feet, in order that we may rise higher than those who lived before. For _heredity_, subst.i.tute _evolution_, and we may get a clearer idea of this element of character.

As for environment, it is folly to deny its influence. Take two young persons of equal ability, similar tastes, and the same heredity, and place them one in a small village, and the other in a great metropolis, and keep them there until middle-age, and we will see the influence of environment. The two may be equally happy and contented, and may possess the same degree of book-education, but, nevertheless, their experiences will have been so different that the character of the two individuals must be different. In the same way, place the two young persons, one in the Whitechapel district, and the other amidst the best surroundings and example, and see the result. Remember, that in _environment_ is included the influence of other persons. The effect of environment arises from Suggestion, that great moulding and creative principle of the mind. It is true that, "As a man thinketh, so is he," but a man's thoughts depend materially upon the _a.s.sociations_ of environment, experience, and suggestion. As Ziehen says: "We cannot think as we will, but we must think as just those a.s.sociations which happen to be present prescribe."

But, without going further into the question of the elements which go toward forming character, let us take our position firmly upon the fact that each individual is stamped with the impression of a special character--a _character_ all his own. Each has his own character or part to play in the great drama of life. The character of some seems fixed and unchangeable, while that of others is seen to be in the process of change. But in either case each and every man has his own character or manifestation of Human Nature, in its inner and outer aspects. And each individual, while in a sense forming a special cla.s.s by himself, nevertheless belongs to a larger cla.s.s, which in turn is a part of a still larger, and so on.

Instead of studying the philosophy or metaphysics of character, or even its general psychology, let us in this particular volume devote our attention to the elements which go to form the character of each and every person, so that we may understand them when we meet them in manifested form. And let us learn the Outer Form which accompany these Inner States.

Upon the stage of Life move backward and forward many characters, each having his or her own form, manner and appearance, which like those of the characters upon the mimic stage, may be recognized if we will but bestow a little care upon the subject. The Oth.e.l.los, Hamlets, Shylocks, Iagos, Richards, Lears, and the rest are to be found in everyday life.

The Micawbers, Chuzzlewits, Twists, and the rest are in as full evidence on the streets and in the offices, as in the books. The person who is able to read and interpret Human Nature is possessed of a knowledge far more useful to him than that contained within the covers of musty books upon impractical subjects.