Man's Supreme Inheritance Conscious Guidance and Control in Relation to Human Evolution in Civilisation

Abstract

THIS book, strongly recommended by Prof. John Dewey, philosopher and educationist, will intrigue the reader. It gives the weary traveller a vista of a promised land, in which he may walk with light steps, and breathe freely, and enjoy physical perfection. The particular path into the promised land is not precisely re vealed, but one of the sign-posts is “respiratory re-education,” and the general idea is that of substituting for carelessly acquired habits and out-of-date instinctive promptings a regimen—or, rather, an art—of conscious control and scientific guidance. Man is hampered by maladjustments to the complex artificial environment which he has evolved around him; return to Nature and to the simple life is impossible and undesirable; to rely on mystical breezes and emotional gusts to give the ship a prosperous voyage is to' invite disappointment; what is needed is more intelligent seamanship.

Man's Supreme Inheritance. Conscious Guidance and Control in Relation to Human Evolution in Civilisation.

By F. M. Alexander. Second edition. With an introductory word by Prof. John Dewey. Pp. xxviii + 239. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 7s. 6d. net.