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All sorts of dreadful things have just been said to Fred, with a frankness of
which only children are capable. He is proud of being very, very superior, and
they called him sub-human. They said he knew nothing about feelings, was
completely undeveloped in a very important side of his nature, that he knew
nothing about the nature of man, and that people valued him for nothing but
his intellect. And by telling him that he had almost everything to learn, they
belittled his intellect and understanding."
"You don't think his pride can take all that," said Mr. Curtis. "It was a
stiff dose. But toward the end they appealed to him and he appeared to
respond."
"Yes; but did he mean that honestly?" asked Miss Page. "He may be only
pretending. Of course he doesn't want to be sent away in disgrace. If he
resents having to admit that others can be his intellectual equals, how much
more he must resent being made to feel otherwise markedly inferior to them!"
"I wouldn't bet too much on his good will," admitted Dr. Welles. "For the
moment, his intellectual curiosity may be aroused. He may consent to hear what
I have to offer, even though he may fight it all the way. He may listen only
to refute all that I try to teach him. We sometimes find that state of mind in
an atheist who is undeveloped on the feeling-side and resists every reasonable
appeal in regard to religion because, to him, all religion is a surrender to
feeling."
"Many religious people are very much shocked at any suggestion that reason
should ever be brought to bear on religion," commented Dr. Foxwell. "However,
as to Fred do you think you can straighten him out?"
"It will take careful work to keep him from falling back into his old
blindness to all but the intellectual side of his psyche, once the effect of
the shock he got today has worn off."
"I can do nothing if his will is actually set against me," said Dr. Welles.
"If he worships his intellect to such an extent that the will is entirely a
puppet of the intellect, and all feelings are rejected, it will be a hard
struggle. 'A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.'
There are two strikes against me: Tim gave me no chance to break anything
gently; he told Fred all the things that Fred least wished to know, and openly
before all the others. The only thing left to Fred's pride is that he believes
we adults know nothing about it. Now we shall have to rebuild his pride. We
should try to show that we value him for things other than his intellect."
"Yes, and we must value him as highly as we possibly can," said Dr. Foxwell.
"After such a shattering attack, he needs all the encouragement we can
possibly give him."
"I am afraid he is potentially dangerous," said Mr. Curtis. "I wonder whether
we should not, after all, send him away."
"No," said Dr. Welles. "We must try to help him. He is a human being and a
boy, in our care. He has the same value as any other child, and the additional
value of being extremely gifted. And he needs us more than any of the others
do. I would rather send the others away, and keep Fred."
"If he is dangerous, all the more reason why we should keep him and try to
cure him," added Dr. Foxwell. "We can't turn him loose on the world and take
no thought for our own responsibility as to the results."
"Yes. All the others are deficient in some degree in one function or another,
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but only Fred is badly deficient in every way but intellectually. As a
psychologist I would say that to exalt any one function at the expense of the
others to such a degree is dangerous not only to the boy and to us, but to the
whole world. People who valued only the intellect made the atom bomb and
turned it loose upon the world, not knowing or caring what might be done with
it. A better balanced inventor, long before, invented the submarine, and
destroyed his plans because he feared mankind might make a bad use of such an
invention. I don't know what Fred may invent; but I want to save him, if I
can, from forgetting all about human nature and human feelings, and what the
feelings can do. It is our nature to be developed in four functions, and the
man who denies his own nature is in danger and is dangerous."
"Even partial success would be worth while," said Dr. Foxwell. "You can't fail
completely, Peter. And you do have a chance; he promised to come to you, and
the others will see to it that he keeps that promise."
"I must go hunt up some books and think what to offer him first," said Peter [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]