On   the  other   hand,   in   so    far   as   each   moment   is


178   THE  GENERAL  PROBLEMS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY

dominated  by  a  specific  practical  demand,  there  will  be
studied  only  that  feature  of  the  mind  which  has  sig-
nificance for  this  ulterior  purpose;  and,  as  progress  is
made  toward  its  realization,  the  characteristics  of  mind
which  come  into  review  may  shift  in  a  wholly  illogical
manner.  Thus  no  opportunity  is  afforded  to  develop
any  characteristic  systematically  in  its  relation  to  the
rest,  no  leisure,  in  the  pursuit  of  practical  purposes,  to
undertake  a  rational  study  of  the  mind  as  a  whole  or
of  any  individual  aspect  or  function  of  it.
Practical  experience  gives  a  series  of  vivid  impres-
sions of  the  minds  we  encounter  but  no  systematic
knowledge  of  their  structure.  It  requires  alertness,
shrewdness,  a  capacity  for  swift  intuition  of  the  mental
attitude  and  its  bearing  upon  the  matter  in  hand;  and
it  tends  to  the  cultivation  of  a  mind  full  of  useful
maxims,  vigilant,  retentive  of  impressions,  and  instinc-
tively wise  in  the  conduct  of  affairs.  For  adaptation
turns  not  upon  a  consistent  view  of  human  nature  in
its  integrity  but  upon  specific  information  and  the  abil-
ity to  respond  with  a  definite  reaction  to  each  situation
as  it  arises.
The  knowledge  gained  through  active  participation  in
experience  as  a  system  of  ideals  and  materials  for  their
realization — the  education  of  life,  as  we  call  it — has
both  excellences  and  defects  characteristic  of  its  origin.
