Bad on me (naughty typer - no biscuit!), it should read: "Considering what it can stand, and be happy, you do me too much honor when you _say_ that that I can place before it a system of plain cold facts that can take the cheerfulness out of it.
This is a comment by the 'Old Man' who has laid the entire thesis and argument about man’s nature as a ‘teachable machine’ up to this point. The ‘Young Man’ has stated that evidence of such a thesis would destroy man’s higher moral nature because it would mean that none of his actions are based on his own will and impetus, but are merely manifestations of his training and environment. The Old Man is countering that this would only be true if man does not recognize that his inherent nature is to be cheerful and to move forward under any circumstances. Twain’s arguments include the idea that man shouldn’t credit himself for his own actions any way because they all originate outside himself (ultimately, with God), but that this does not mean that one cannot and should not strive to attain the best ‘training’ possible in order to ensure that ‘the machine’ is working at maximum efficiency.
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regna
Re: clarification?
Date: 2008-09-09 03:45 pm (UTC)This is a comment by the 'Old Man' who has laid the entire thesis and argument about man’s nature as a ‘teachable machine’ up to this point. The ‘Young Man’ has stated that evidence of such a thesis would destroy man’s higher moral nature because it would mean that none of his actions are based on his own will and impetus, but are merely manifestations of his training and environment. The Old Man is countering that this would only be true if man does not recognize that his inherent nature is to be cheerful and to move forward under any circumstances. Twain’s arguments include the idea that man shouldn’t credit himself for his own actions any way because they all originate outside himself (ultimately, with God), but that this does not mean that one cannot and should not strive to attain the best ‘training’ possible in order to ensure that ‘the machine’ is working at maximum efficiency.