Again, let
it be said that there is no thought here of inveighing against arithmetic
or any other subject of the curriculum. Not arithmetic in itself, but the
arithmetic habit constitutes the incubus, the evil spirit that needs to be
exorcised.
This arithmetic habit had its origin, doubtless, in the traditional
concept of knowledge as power. An adage is not easily controverted or
eradicated. The copy-books of the fathers proclaimed boldly that knowledge
is power, and the children accepted the dictum as inviolable. If it were
true that knowledge is power, the procedure of the schools and the course
of conduct of the teachers during all these years would have ample
justification. The entire process would seem simplicity itself. So soon as
we acquire knowledge we should have power--and power is altogether
desirable. The trouble is that we have been confusing knowledge and wisdom
in the face of the poet's declaration that "Knowledge and wisdom, far from
being one, have ofttimes no connection." Our experience should have taught
us that many people who have much knowledge are relatively impotent for
the reason that they have not learned how to use their knowledge in the
way of generating power. Gasoline is an inert substance, but, under
well-understood conditions, it affords power. Water is not power, but man
has learned how to use it in generating power. Knowledge is convenient and
serviceable, but its greatest utility lies in the fact that it can be
employed in producing power.
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