Page:Mind (New Series) Volume 8.djvu/470

 456 GUSTAV SPILLER : the resistance of material objects, i.e., how much effort it requires to move them or to raise them. When the child then begins learning to write, the majority of muscular efforts which will be required are already part of one or more organic trends. This knowledge he incorporates solidly into the action of writing. He has not to experiment afresh, for experiments have been long done with. If the knowledge of every movement had to be freshly acquired, the process of learning to write would assume monstrous proportions. Still, as in the instance when we lift a piece of aluminium for the first time, we have in learning to write a few special experiences. These are the new constituents in the trend ; though they themselves are based on previous experiences. As with effort, so with ingenuity. Previous to learning to write the child had years of training in skilfulness. The intelligence required in that branch of acquirements is only specialised intelligence the old skill, plus a fragment of new skill. Various tasks which demanded little art, and resemble previous experiences, are performed accordingly by a simple reference to memory, while other activities, necessitating much specialised ability, are only partially assisted by older experiences. In any case, a set of general principles which result from growing experience help in the solution of each difficulty. Thus, with one person, a problem will be hard to unravel, while with another the solution is given by memory. A like criticism applies to the part played by interference. The child has from a tender age suppressed uninteresting thoughts and dwelt upon interesting ones. This power of shaping a routine process is not a new power. It is itself organic and capable of improvement. If it be well developed, thoughts are more easily dwelt upon or dismissed. It is constantly being affected by experience. Hence it has nothing new to perform when we are learning to write. It is an established activity, more or less polished by use, memory, and judgment. In a somewhat fresh application, the old mechanism is slightly improved in a certain direction. The argument may perhaps be forcibly brought home by considering the following instance. One man is in splendid condition as regards strength, skill, and judgment. Another man is not in good condition at all. Both are set to learn a business in which the three qualities mentioned are required. The former will learn it with ease, the latter with difficulty. The former possesses much of what is already required in the business, the latter does not. The former recognises much that is not new to him, the latter very little. Countless