HOW TO READ
HUMAN NATURE:
ITS INNER STATES AND
OUTER FORMS
By WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
L. N. FOWLER & CO.
7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus
London, E. C., England
1916
THE ELIZABETH TOWNE CO.
HOLYOKE, MASS.
COPYRIGHT 1913
BY
ELIZABETH TOWNE
HOW TO READ
HUMAN NATURE
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. Inner State and Outer Form 9
II. The Inner Phase: Character 29
III. The Outer Form: Personality 38
IV. The Temperaments 47
V. The Mental Qualities 68
VI. The Egoistic Qualities 76
VII. The Motive Qualities 81
VIII. The Vitative Qualities 89
IX. The Emotive Qualities 93
X. The Applicative Qualities 100
XI. The Modificative Qualities 107
XII. The Relative Qualities 114
XIII. The Perceptive Qualities 122
XIV. The Reflective Qualities 139
XV. The Religio-Moral Qualities 148
XVI. Faces 156
XVII. Chins and Mouths 169
XVIII. Eyes, Ears, and Noses 177
XIX. Miscellaneous Signs 186
CHAPTER I
INNER STATE AND OUTER FORM
"Human Nature" is a term most frequently used and yet but little
understood. The average person knows in a general way what he and others
mean when this term is employed, but very few are able to give an
off-hand definition of the term or to state what in their opinion
constitutes the real essence of the thought expressed by the familiar
phrase. We are of the opinion that the first step in the process of
correct understanding of any subject is that of acquaintance with its
principal terms, and, so, we shall begin our consideration of the
subject of Human Nature by an examination of the term used to express
the idea itself.
"Human," of course, means "of or pertaining to man or mankind."
Therefore, Human Nature means the _nature_ of man or mankind. "Nature,"
in this usage, means: "The natural disposition of mind of any person;
temper; personal character; individual constitution; the peculiar
mental characteristics and attributes which serve to distinguish one
person from another."
Thus we see that the essence of the _nature_ of men, or of a particular
human being, is the _mind_, the mental qualities, characteristics,
properties and attributes. Human Nature is then a phase of psychology
and subject to the laws, principles and methods of study, examination
and consideration of that particular branch of science.
But while the general subject of psychology includes the consideration
of the inner workings of the mind, the processes of thought, the nature
of feeling, and the operation of the will, the special subject of Human
Nature is concerned only with the question of character, disposition,
temperament, personal attributes, etc., of the individuals making up the
race of man. Psychology is general--Human Nature is particular.
Psychology is more or less abstract--Human Nature is concrete.
Psychology deals with laws, causes and principles--Human Nature deals
with effects, manifestations, and expressions.
Human Nature expresses itself in two general phases, i.e., (1) the
phase of Inner States; and (2) the phase of Outer Forms. These two
phases, however, are not separate or opposed to each other, but are
complementary aspects of the same thing. There is always an action and
reaction between the Inner State and the Outer Form--between the Inner
Feeling and the Outer Expression. If we know the particular Inner State
we may infer the appropriate Outer Form; and if we know the Outer Form
we may infer the Inner State.
That the Inner State affects the Outer Form is a fact generally
acknowledged by men, for it is in strict accordance with the general
experience of the race. We know that certain mental states will result
in imparting to the countenance certain lines and expressions
appropriate thereto; certain peculiarities of carriage and manner, voice
and demeanor. The facial characteristics, manner, walk, voice and
gestures of the miser will be recognized as entirely different from that
of the generous person; those of the coward differ materially from those
of the brave man; those of the vain are distinguished from those of the
modest. We know that certain mental attitudes will produce the
corresponding physical expressions of a smile, a frown, an open hand, a
clenched fist, an erect spine or bowed shoulders, respectively. We also
know that certain feelings will cause the eye to sparkle or grow dim,
the voice to become resonant and positive or to become husky and weak;
according to the nature of the feelings.
Prof. Wm. James says: "What kind of emotion of fear would be left if the
feeling neither of trembling lips nor of weakened limbs, neither of
goose-flesh nor of visceral stirrings, were present, it is quite
impossible for me to think. Can one fancy the state of rage and picture
no ebullition in the chest, no flushing of the face, no dilation of the
nostrils, no clenching of the teeth, no impulse to vigorous action, but
in their stead limp muscles, calm breathing, and a placid face?"
Prof. Halleck says: "All the emotions have well-defined muscular
expression. Darwin has written an excellent work entitled, _The
Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals_, to which students must
refer for a detailed account of such expression. A very few examples
must suffice here. In all the exhilarating emotions, the eyebrows, the
eyelids, the nostrils, and the angles of the mouth are raised. In the
depressing passions it is the reverse. This general statement conveys so
much truth, that a careful observer can read a large part of the history
of a human being written in the face. For this reason many phrenologists
have wisely turned physiognomists. Grief is expressed by raising the
inner ends of the eyebrows, drawing down the corners of the mouth, and
transversely wrinkling the middle part of the forehead. In Terra del
Fuego, a party of natives conveyed to Darwin the idea that a certain man
was low-spirited, by pulling down their cheeks in order to make their
faces long. Joy is expressed by drawing backward and upward the corners
of the mouth. The upper lip rises and draws the cheeks upward, forming
wrinkles under the eyes. The elevation of the upper lip and the nostrils
expresses contempt. A skillful observer can frequently tell if one
person admires another. In this case the eyebrows are raised, disclosing
a brightening eye and a relaxed expression; sometimes a gentle smile
plays about the mouth. Blushing is merely the physical expression of
certain emotions. We notice the expression of emotion more in the
countenance, because the effects are there more plainly visible; but the
muscles of the entire body, the vital organs, and the viscera, are also
vehicles of expression."
These things need but a mention in order to be recognized and admitted.
This is the _action_ of the Inner upon the Outer. There is, however, a
_reaction_ of the Outer upon the Inner, which while equally true is not
so generally recognized nor admitted, and we think it well to briefly
call your attention to the same, for the reason that this correspondence
between the Inner and the Outer--this _reaction_ as well as the
_action_--must be appreciated in order that the entire meaning and
content of the subject of Human Nature may be fully grasped.
That the _reaction_ of the Outer Form upon the Inner State may be
understood, we ask you to consider the following opinions of well-known
and accepted authorities of the New Psychology, regarding the
established fact that a _physical expression related to a mental state,
will, if voluntarily induced, tend to in turn induce the mental state
appropriate to it_. We have used these quotations in other books of this
series, but will insert them here in this place because they have a
direct bearing upon the particular subject before us, and because they
furnish direct and unquestioned authority for the statements just made
by us. We ask you to consider them carefully, for they express a most
important truth.
Prof. Halleck says: "By inducing an expression we can often cause its
allied emotion.... Actors have frequently testified to the fact that
emotion will arise if they go through the appropriate muscular
movements. In talking to a character on the stage, if they clench the
fist and frown, they often find themselves becoming really angry; if
they start with counterfeit laughter, they find themselves growing
cheerful. A German professor says that he cannot walk with a
schoolgirl's mincing step and air without feeling frivolous."
Prof. Wm. James says: "Whistling to keep up courage is no mere figure of
speech. On the other hand, sit all day in a moping posture, sigh, and
reply to everything with a dismal voice, and your melancholy lingers. If
we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we
must assiduously, and in the first instance coldbloodedly, go through
the _outward movements_ of those contrary dispositions which we wish to
cultivate. Smooth the brow, brighten the eye, contract the dorsal rather
than the ventral aspect of the frame, and speak in a major key, pass the
genial compliment, and your heart must indeed be frigid if it does not
gradually thaw."
Dr. Wood Hutchinson, says: "To what extent muscular contractions
condition emotions, as Prof. James has suggested, may be easily tested
by a quaint and simple little experiment upon a group of the smallest
voluntary muscles of the body, those that move the eyeball. Choose some
time when you are sitting quietly in your room, free from all disturbing
influences. Then stand up, and assuming an easy position, cast the eyes
upward and hold them in that position for thirty seconds. Instantly and
involuntarily you will be conscious of a tendency toward reverential,
devotional, contemplative ideas and thoughts. Then turn the eyes
sideways, glancing directly to the right or to the left, through
half-closed lids. Within thirty seconds images of suspicion, of
uneasiness, or of dislike will rise unbidden to the mind. Turn the eyes
on one side and slightly downward, and suggestions of jealousy or
coquetry will be apt to spring unbidden. Direct your gaze downward
toward the floor, and you are likely to go off into a fit of reverie or
abstraction."
Prof. Maudsley says: "The specific muscular action is not merely an
exponent of passion, but truly an essential part of it. If we try while
the features are fixed in the expression of one passion to call up in
the mind a different one, we shall find it impossible to do so."
We state the fact of the _reaction_ of the Outer upon the Inner, with
its supporting quotations from the authorities, not for the purpose of
instructing our readers in the art of training the emotions by means of
the physical, for while this subject is highly important, it forms no
part of the particular subject under our present consideration--but
that the student may realize the close relationship existing between the
Inner State and the Outer Form. These two elements or phases, in their
constant action and reaction, manifest the phenomena of Human Nature,
and a knowledge of each, and both give to us the key which will open for
us the door of the understanding of Human Nature.
Let us now call your attention to an illustration which embodies both
principles--that of the Inner and the Outer--and the action and reaction
between them, as given by that master of subtle ratiocination, Edgar
Allan Poe. Poe in his story "The Purloined Letter" tells of a boy at
school who attained great proficiency in the game of "even or odd" in
which one player strives to guess whether the marbles held in the hand
of his opponent are odd or even. The boy's plan was to gauge the
intelligence of his opponent regarding the matter of making changes, and
as Poe says: "this lay in mere observation and admeasurement of the
astuteness of his opponents." Poe describes the process as follows: "For
example, an arrant simpleton is his opponent, and, holding up his
closed hand, asks, 'are they even or odd?' Our schoolboy replies, 'odd,'
and loses; but upon the second trial he wins, for he then says to
himself, 'the simpleton had them even upon the first trial, and his
amount of cunning is just sufficient to make him have them odd upon the
second; I will therefore guess odd;'--he guesses and wins. Now, with a
simpleton a degree above the first, he would have reasoned thus: 'This
fellow finds that in the first instance I guessed odd, and, in the
second, he will propose to himself upon the first impulse, a simple
variation from even to odd, as did the first simpleton; but then a
second thought will suggest that this is too simple a variation, and
finally he will decide upon putting it even as before. I will therefore
guess even;' he guesses even and wins."
Poe continues by stating that this "is merely an identification of the
reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent. Upon inquiring of the
boy by what means he effected the _thorough_ identification in which his
success consisted, I received answer as follows: 'When I wish to find
out how wise, or how stupid, or how good, or how wicked is any one, or
what are his thoughts at the moment, _I fashion the expression of my
face, as accurately as possible in accordance with the expression of
his, and then wait to see what thoughts or sentiments arise in my mind
or heart, as if to match or correspond with the expression_.' This
response of the school boy lies at the bottom of all the spurious
profundity which has been attributed to Rochefoucauld, to La Bougive, to
Machiavelli, and to Campanella."
In this consideration of Human Nature we shall have much to say about
the Outer Form. But we must ask the reader to always remember that the
Outer Form is always the expression and manifestation of the Inner
State, be that Inner State latent and dormant within the depths of the
subconscious mentality, or else active and dynamic in conscious
expression. Just as Prof. James so strongly insists, we cannot imagine
an inner feeling or emotion without its corresponding outward physical
expression, so is it impossible to imagine the outward expressions
generally associated with a particular feeling or emotion without its
corresponding inner state. Whether or not one of these, the outer or
inner, is the _cause_ of the other--and if so, _which one_ is the cause
and which the effect--need not concern us here. In fact, it would seem
more reasonable to accept the theory that they are correlated and appear
simultaneously. Many careful thinkers have held that action and reaction
are practically the same thing--merely the opposite phases of the same
fact. If this be so, then indeed when we are studying the Outer Form of
Human Nature we are studying psychology just as much as when we are
studying the Inner States. Prof. Wm. James in his works upon psychology
insists upon the relevancy of the consideration of the outward
expressions of the inner feeling and emotion, as we have seen. The same
authority speaks even more emphatically upon this phase of the subject,
as follows:
"The feeling, in the coarser emotions, results from the bodily
expression.... My theory is that the bodily changes follow directly the
perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same
changes as they occur _is_ the emotion.... Particular perceptions
certainly do produce widespread bodily effects by a sort of immediate
physical influence, antecedent to the arousal of an emotion or emotional
idea.... Every one of the bodily changes, whatsoever it may be, is
_felt_, acutely or obscurely, the moment it occurs.... If we fancy some
strong emotion, and then try to abstract from our consciousness of it
all the feelings of its bodily symptoms, we have nothing left behind....
A disembodied human emotion is a sheer nonentity. I do not say that it
is a contradiction in the nature of things, or that pure spirits are
necessarily condemned to cold intellectual lives; but I say that for
_us_ emotion disassociated from all bodily feeling is inconceivable. The
more closely I scrutinize my states, the more persuaded I become that
whatever 'coarse' affections and passions I have are in very truth
constituted by, and made up of, those bodily changes which we ordinarily
call their expression or consequence.... But our emotions must always be
_inwardly_ what they are, whatever may be the physiological ground of
their apparition. If they are deep, pure, worthy, spiritual facts on any
conceivable theory of their physiological source, they remain no less
deep, pure, spiritual, and worthy of regard on this present sensational
theory."
Kay says: "Does the mind or spirit of man, whatever it may be, in its
actings in and through the body, leave a material impression or trace in
its structure of every conscious action it performs, which remains
permanently fixed, and forms a material record of all that it has done
in the body, to which it can afterward refer as to a book and recall to
mind, making it again, as it were, present to it?... We find nature
everywhere around us recording its movements and marking the changes it
has undergone in material forms,--in the crust of the earth, the
composition of the rocks, the structure of the trees, the conformation
of our bodies, and those spirits of ours, so closely connected with our
material bodies, that so far as we know, they can think no thought,
perform no action, without their presence and co-operation, may have
been so joined in order to preserve a material and lasting record of
all that they think and do."
Marsh says: "Every human movement, every organic act, every volition,
passion, or emotion, every intellectual process, is accompanied with
atomic disturbance." Picton says: "The soul never does one single action
by itself apart from some excitement of bodily tissue." Emerson says:
"The rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain; the river its
channel in the soil; the animal its bones in the stratum; the fern and
leaf their modest epitaph in the coal. The falling drop makes its
sculpture in the sand or stone.... The ground is all memoranda and
signatures, and every object covered over with hints which speak to the
intelligent. In nature this self-registration is incessant." Morell
says: "The mind depends for the manifestation of all its activities upon
a material organism." Bain says: "The organ of the mind is not the brain
by itself; it is the brain, nerve, muscles, organs of sense, viscera....
It is uncertain how far even thought, reminiscence, or the emotions of
the past and absent could be sustained without the more distant
communication between the brain and the rest of the body." And, thus, as
we consider the subject carefully we see that psychology is as much
concerned with the physical manifestations of the mental impulses and
states as with the metaphysical aspect of those states--as much with the
Outer Form as with the Inner State--for it is practically impossible to
permanently separate them.
As an illustration of the physical accompaniment or Outer Form, of the
psychical feeling or Inner State, the following quotation from Darwin's
"Origin of the Emotions," will well serve the purpose:
"Fear is often preceded by astonishment, and is so far akin to it that
both lead to the senses of sight and hearing being instantly aroused. In
both cases the eyes and mouth are widely opened and the eyebrows raised.
The frightened man at first stands like a statue, motionless and
breathless, or crouches down as if instinctively to escape observation.
The heart beats quickly and violently, so that it palpitates or knocks
against the ribs; but it is very doubtful if it then works more
efficiently than usual, so as to send a greater supply of blood to all
parts of the body; for the skin instantly becomes pale as during
incipient faintness. This paleness of the surface, however, is probably
in large part, or is exclusively, due to the vaso-motor centre being
affected in such a manner as to cause the contraction of the small
arteries of the skin. That the skin is much affected under the sense of
great fear, we see in the marvelous manner in which perspiration
immediately exudes from it. This exudation is all the more remarkable,
as the surface is then cold, and hence the term, a cold sweat; whereas
the sudorific glands are properly excited into action when the surface
is heated. The hairs also on the skin stand erect, and the superficial
muscles shiver. In connection with the disturbed action of the heart the
breathing is hurried. The salivary glands act imperfectly; the mouth
becomes dry and is often opened and shut. I have noticed that under
slight fear there is a strong tendency to yawn. One of the best marked
symptoms is the trembling of all the muscles of the body; and this is
often seen in the lips. From this cause, and from the dryness of the
mouth, the voice becomes husky or indistinct or may altogether fail....
As fear increases into an agony of terror, we behold, as under all
violent emotions, diversified results. The heart beats wildly or fails
to act and faintness ensues; there is a death-like pallor; the breathing
is labored; the wings of the nostrils are widely dilated; there is a
gasping and convulsive motion of the lips; a tremor of the hollow cheek,
a gulping and catching of the throat; the uncovered and protruding
eyeballs are fixed on the object of terror; or they may roll restlessly
from side to side. The pupils are said to be enormously dilated. All the
muscles of the body may become rigid or may be thrown into convulsive
movements. The hands are alternately clenched and opened, often with a
twitching movement. The arms may be protruded as if to avert some
dreadful danger, or may be thrown wildly over the head. The Rev. Mr.
Hagenauer has seen this latter action in a terrified Australian. In
other cases there is a sudden and uncontrolled tendency to headlong
flight; and so strong is this that the boldest soldiers may be seized
with a sudden panic."
In conclusion, let us say that just as the above striking description of
the master-scientist, Darwin, shows us that the particular emotion has
its outer manifestations--the particular Inner State its Outer Form--so
has the general _character_ of the person its outer manifestation, and
Outer Form. And, just as to the eye of the experienced observer at a
distance (even in the case of a photographic representation,
particularly in the case of a moving picture) may recognize the Inner
State from the Outer Form of the feeling or emotion, so may the
experienced character reader interpret the whole character of the person
from the Outer Form thereof. The two interpretations are based on
exactly the same general principles. The inner thought and feeling
manifest in the outer physical form. He who learns the alphabet of Outer
Form may read page after page of the book of Human Nature.