Page:Psychology and preaching.djvu/329

 OCCUPATIONAL TYPES 3! I

ments or the correlation of successive movements; and the work is thereby made easier and more pleasant. But such contact has only a minimum of intellectual value. Fre quently the workingman is fenced off by prohibitions no one must speak to him. &quot; Don t talk to the motorman.&quot; The worker is not to engage in conversation with his fel low workmen, unless some exigency should require consul tation ; and outsiders are forbidden to approach him. And were there no such prohibitions, the nature of the work usually renders conversation impracticable. From eight to twelve hours out of the twenty-four, according to the length of his &quot; day,&quot; he dwells in a social vacuum. The merchant, the banker, the lawyer, the physician, the minister, are, in and by their work, brought into stimulating contact with their fel low men. They work in a tonic social medium. The higher brain centres are developed by these numerous and varied stimuli. But for the period of his work the workingman is often almost as lonely as Robinson Crusoe without his man Friday. He has his machine or tool, his monotonous muscular movements, which soon become semi-conscious; and his imagination is forbidden to wander far from a work which, though uninteresting, tethers his mind while it affords no mental stimulation. Such an occupation manifestly has little value for the development of his personality; and in this respect stands in sharp contrast with many other forms of work. Sometimes the minister or the merchant or the manufacturer will say in response to the labourer s demand for shorter hours : &quot; I work ten hours a day ; why should the labourer always be clamouring for a shorter day?&quot; It is an utterly thoughtless remark, and absolutely ignores the essential differences in the nature and conditions of various forms of work.

(2) So much for the actual labour which he performs. Let us now consider the relation of his leisure to his intel lectual life. We need to enquire both as to its length and as to the use which he ordinarily makes of it. As nearly as I can ascertain the average working day in this country is

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