To expatiate1 upon the importance of thought would be absurd. The traditional definition of man as "the thinking animal" fixes thought as the essential difference between man and the brutes,—surely an important matter. More relevant to our purpose is the question how thought is important, for an answer to this question will throw light upon the kind of training thought requires if it is to subserve its end.
§ 1. The Values of Thought
The possibility of deliberate and intentional3 activity
I. Thought affords the sole method of escape from purely4 impulsive5 or purely routine action. A being without capacity for thought is moved only by instincts and appetites, as these are called forth6 by outward conditions and by the inner state of the organism. A being thus moved is, as it were, pushed from behind. This is what we mean by the blind nature of brute2 actions. The agent does not see or foresee the end for which he is acting7, nor the results produced by his behaving in one way rather than in another. He does not "know what he is about." Where there is thought, things present act as signs or tokens of things not yet experienced. A thinking being can, accordingly, act on the basis of the absent and the future. Instead of being pushed into a mode of action by the sheer urgency of forces, whether[Pg 15] instincts or habits, of which he is not aware, a reflective agent is drawn8 (to some extent at least) to action by some remoter object of which he is indirectly9 aware.
Natural events come to be a language
An animal without thought may go into its hole when rain threatens, because of some immediate10 stimulus11 to its organism. A thinking agent will perceive that certain given facts are probable signs of a future rain, and will take steps in the light of this anticipated future. To plant seeds, to cultivate the soil, to harvest grain, are intentional acts, possible only to a being who has learned to subordinate the immediately felt elements of an experience to those values which these hint at and prophesy12. Philosophers have made much of the phrases "book of nature," "language of nature." Well, it is in virtue13 of the capacity of thought that given things are significant of absent things, and that nature speaks a language which may be interpreted. To a being who thinks, things are records of their past, as fossils tell of the prior history of the earth, and are prophetic of their future, as from the present positions of heavenly bodies remote eclipses are foretold14. Shakespeare's "tongues in trees, books in the running brooks," expresses literally15 enough the power superadded to existences when they appeal to a thinking being. Upon the function of signification depend all foresight16, all intelligent planning, deliberation, and calculation.
The possibility of systematized foresight
II. By thought man also develops and arranges artificial signs to remind him in advance of consequences, and of ways of securing and avoiding them. As the trait just mentioned makes the difference between savage17 man and brute, so this trait makes the difference between civilized18 man and savage. A savage who has been shipwrecked in a river may note certain things which[Pg 16] serve him as signs of danger in the future. But civilized man deliberately19 makes such signs; he sets up in advance of wreckage20 warning buoys21, and builds lighthouses where he sees signs that such events may occur. A savage reads weather signs with great expertness; civilized man institutes a weather service by which signs are artificially secured and information is distributed in advance of the appearance of any signs that could be detected without special methods. A savage finds his way skillfully through a wilderness22 by reading certain obscure indications; civilized man builds a highway which shows the road to all. The savage learns to detect the signs of fire and thereby23 to invent methods of producing flame; civilized man invents permanent conditions for producing light and heat whenever they are needed. The very essence of civilized culture is that we deliberately erect24 monuments and memorials, lest we forget; and deliberately institute, in advance of the happening of various contingencies25 and emergencies of life, devices for detecting their approach and registering their nature, for warding26 off what is unfavorable, or at least for protecting ourselves from its full impact and for making more secure and extensive what is favorable. All forms of artificial apparatus27 are intentionally28 designed modifications29 of natural things in order that they may serve better than in their natural estate to indicate the hidden, the absent, and the remote.
The possibility of objects rich in quality
III. Finally, thought confers upon physical events and objects a very different status and value from that which they possess to a being that does not reflect. These words are mere31 scratches, curious variations of light and shade, to one to whom they are not linguistic32 signs. To him for whom they are signs of other things,[Pg 17] each has a definite individuality of its own, according to the meaning that it is used to convey. Exactly the same holds of natural objects. A chair is a different object to a being to whom it consciously suggests an opportunity for sitting down, repose33, or sociable34 converse35, from what it is to one to whom it presents itself merely as a thing to be smelled, or gnawed36, or jumped over; a stone is different to one who knows something of its past history and its future use from what it is to one who only feels it directly through his senses. It is only by courtesy, indeed, that we can say that an unthinking animal experiences an object at all—so largely is anything that presents itself to us as an object made up by the qualities it possesses as a sign of other things.
The nature of the objects an animal perceives
An English logician37 (Mr. Venn) has remarked that it may be questioned whether a dog sees a rainbow any more than he apprehends39 the political constitution of the country in which he lives. The same principle applies to the kennel40 in which he sleeps and the meat that he eats. When he is sleepy, he goes to the kennel; when he is hungry, he is excited by the smell and color of meat; beyond this, in what sense does he see an object? Certainly he does not see a house—i.e. a thing with all the properties and relations of a permanent residence, unless he is capable of making what is present a uniform sign of what is absent—unless he is capable of thought. Nor does he see what he eats as meat unless it suggests the absent properties by virtue of which it is a certain joint41 of some animal, and is known to afford nourishment42. Just what is left of an object stripped of all such qualities of meaning, we cannot well say; but we can be sure that the object is then a very different sort of thing from the objects that we perceive. There[Pg 18] is moreover no particular limit to the possibilities of growth in the fusion43 of a thing as it is to sense and as it is to thought, or as a sign of other things. The child today soon regards as constituent44 parts of objects qualities that once it required the intelligence of a Copernicus or a Newton to apprehend38.
Mill on the business of life and the occupation of mind
These various values of the power of thought may be summed up in the following quotation45 from John Stuart Mill. "To draw inferences," he says, "has been said to be the great business of life. Every one has daily, hourly, and momentary46 need of ascertaining48 facts which he has not directly observed: not from any general purpose of adding to his stock of knowledge, but because the facts themselves are of importance to his interests or to his occupations. The business of the magistrate49, of the military commander, of the navigator, of the physician, of the agriculturist, is merely to judge of evidence and to act accordingly.... As they do this well or ill, so they discharge well or ill the duties of their several callings. It is the only occupation in which the mind never ceases to be engaged."[3]
§ 2. Importance of Direction in order to Realize these Values
Thinking goes astray
What a person has not only daily and hourly, but momentary need of performing, is not a technical and abstruse50 matter; nor, on the other hand, is it trivial and negligible. Such a function must be congenial to the mind, and must be performed, in an unspoiled mind, upon every fitting occasion. Just because, however, it is an operation of drawing inferences, of basing conclusions upon evidence, of reaching belief indirectly, it is[Pg 19] an operation that may go wrong as well as right, and hence is one that needs safeguarding and training. The greater its importance the greater are the evils when it is ill-exercised.
Ideas are our rulers—for better or for worse
An earlier writer than Mill, John Locke (1632-1704), brings out the importance of thought for life and the need of training so that its best and not its worst possibilities will be realized, in the following words: "No man ever sets himself about anything but upon some view or other, which serves him for a reason for what he does; and whatsoever51 faculties52 he employs, the understanding with such light as it has, well or ill informed, constantly leads; and by that light, true or false, all his operative powers are directed.... Temples have their sacred images, and we see what influence they have always had over a great part of mankind. But in truth the ideas and images in men's minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern them, and to these they all, universally, pay a ready submission54. It is therefore of the highest concernment that great care should be taken of the understanding, to conduct it aright in the search of knowledge and in the judgments55 it makes."[4] If upon thought hang all deliberate activities and the uses we make of all our other powers, Locke's assertion that it is of the highest concernment that care should be taken of its conduct is a moderate statement. While the power of thought frees us from servile subjection to instinct, appetite, and routine, it also brings with it the occasion and possibility of error and mistake. In elevating us above the brute, it opens to us the possibility of failures to which the animal, limited to instinct, cannot sink.
§ 3. Tendencies Needing Constant Regulation
Physical and social sanctions of correct thinking
Up to a certain point, the ordinary conditions of life, natural and social, provide the conditions requisite56 for regulating the operations of inference. The necessities of life enforce a fundamental and persistent57 discipline for which the most cunningly devised artifices58 would be ineffective substitutes. The burnt child dreads59 the fire; the painful consequence emphasizes the need of correct inference much more than would learned discourse60 on the properties of heat. Social conditions also put a premium61 on correct inferring in matters where action based on valid62 thought is socially important. These sanctions of proper thinking may affect life itself, or at least a life reasonably free from perpetual discomfort63. The signs of enemies, of shelter, of food, of the main social conditions, have to be correctly apprehended64.
The serious limitations of such sanctions
But this disciplinary training, efficacious as it is within certain limits, does not carry us beyond a restricted boundary. Logical attainment65 in one direction is no bar to extravagant66 conclusions in another. A savage expert in judging signs of the movements and location of animals that he hunts, will accept and gravely narrate67 the most preposterous68 yarns69 concerning the origin of their habits and structures. When there is no directly appreciable70 reaction of the inference upon the security and prosperity of life, there are no natural checks to the acceptance of wrong beliefs. Conclusions may be generated by a modicum71 of fact merely because the suggestions are vivid and interesting; a large accumulation of data may fail to suggest a proper conclusion because existing customs are averse72 to entertaining it. Independent of training, there is a "primitive73 credulity"[Pg 21] which tends to make no distinction between what a trained mind calls fancy and that which it calls a reasonable conclusion. The face in the clouds is believed in as some sort of fact, merely because it is forcibly suggested. Natural intelligence is no barrier to the propagation of error, nor large but untrained experience to the accumulation of fixed74 false beliefs. Errors may support one another mutually and weave an ever larger and firmer fabric75 of misconception. Dreams, the positions of stars, the lines of the hand, may be regarded as valuable signs, and the fall of cards as an inevitable76 omen47, while natural events of the most crucial significance go disregarded. Beliefs in portents77 of various kinds, now mere nook and cranny superstitions79, were once universal. A long discipline in exact science was required for their conquest.
Superstition78 as natural a result as science
In the mere function of suggestion, there is no difference between the power of a column of mercury to portend80 rain, and that of the entrails of an animal or the flight of birds to foretell81 the fortunes of war. For all anybody can tell in advance, the spilling of salt is as likely to import bad luck as the bite of a mosquito to import malaria82. Only systematic83 regulation of the conditions under which observations are made and severe discipline of the habits of entertaining suggestions can secure a decision that one type of belief is vicious and the other sound. The substitution of scientific for superstitious84 habits of inference has not been brought about by any improvement in the acuteness of the senses or in the natural workings of the function of suggestion. It is the result of regulation of the conditions under which observation and inference take place.[Pg 22]
It is instructive to note some of the attempts that have been made to classify the main sources of error in reaching beliefs. Francis Bacon, for example, at the beginnings of modern scientific inquiry86, enumerated87 four such classes, under the somewhat fantastic title of "idols" (Gr. ειδωλα, images), spectral88 forms that allure89 the mind into false paths. These he called the idols, or phantoms90, of the (a) tribe, (b) the marketplace, (c) the cave or den30, and (d) the theater; or, less metaphorically91, (a) standing53 erroneous methods (or at least temptations to error) that have their roots in human nature generally; (b) those that come from intercourse92 and language; (c) those that are due to causes peculiar93 to a specific individual; and finally, (d) those that have their sources in the fashion or general current of a period. Classifying these causes of fallacious belief somewhat differently, we may say that two are intrinsic and two are extrinsic94. Of the intrinsic, one is common to all men alike (such as the universal tendency to notice instances that corroborate95 a favorite belief more readily than those that contradict it), while the other resides in the specific temperament96 and habits of the given individual. Of the extrinsic, one proceeds from generic97 social conditions—like the tendency to suppose that there is a fact wherever there is a word, and no fact where there is no linguistic term—while the other proceeds from local and temporary social currents.
Locke on the influence of
Locke's method of dealing98 with typical forms of wrong belief is less formal and may be more enlightening. We can hardly do better than quote his forcible and quaint99 language, when, enumerating100 different classes of men, he shows different ways in which thought goes wrong:[Pg 23]
(a) dependence101 on others,
1. "The first is of those who seldom reason at all, but do and think according to the example of others, whether parents, neighbors, ministers, or who else they are pleased to make choice of to have an implicit102 faith in, for the saving of themselves the pains and troubles of thinking and examining for themselves."
(b) self-interest,
2. "This kind is of those who put passion in the place of reason, and being resolved that shall govern their actions and arguments, neither use their own, nor hearken to other people's reason, any farther than it suits their humor, interest, or party."[5]
(c) circumscribed103 experience
3. "The third sort is of those who readily and sincerely follow reason, but for want of having that which one may call large, sound, roundabout sense, have not a full view of all that relates to the question.... They converse but with one sort of men, they read but one sort of books, they will not come in the hearing but of one sort of notions.... They have a pretty traffic with known correspondents in some little creek104 ... but will not venture out into the great ocean of knowledge." Men of originally equal natural parts may finally arrive at very different stores of knowledge and truth, "when all the odds105 between them has been the different scope that has been given to their understandings to range in, for the gathering106 up of information and furnishing their heads with ideas and notions and observations, whereon to employ their mind."[6]
[Pg 24]
In another portion of his writings,[7] Locke states the same ideas in slightly different form.
Effect of dogmatic principles,
1. "That which is inconsistent with our principles is so far from passing for probable with us that it will not be allowed possible. The reverence107 borne to these principles is so great, and their authority so paramount108 to all other, that the testimony109, not only of other men, but the evidence of our own senses are often rejected, when they offer to vouch110 anything contrary to these established rules.... There is nothing more ordinary than children's receiving into their minds propositions ... from their parents, nurses, or those about them; which being insinuated111 in their unwary as well as unbiased understandings, and fastened by degrees, are at last (and this whether true or false) riveted113 there by long custom and education, beyond all possibility of being pulled out again. For men, when they are grown up, reflecting upon their opinions and finding those of this sort to be as ancient in their minds as their very memories, not having observed their early insinuation, nor by what means they got them, they are apt to reverence them as sacred things, and not to suffer them to be profaned114, touched, or questioned." They take them as standards "to be the great and unerring deciders of truth and falsehood, and the judges to which they are to appeal in all manner of controversies115."
of closed minds,
2. "Secondly116, next to these are men whose understandings are cast into a mold, and fashioned just to the size of a received hypothesis." Such men, Locke goes on to say, while not denying the existence of facts and evidence, cannot be convinced by the evidence that[Pg 25] would decide them if their minds were not so closed by adherence117 to fixed belief.
of strong passion,
3. "Predominant Passions. Thirdly, probabilities which cross men's appetites and prevailing118 passions run the same fate. Let ever so much probability hang on one side of a covetous119 man's reasoning, and money on the other, it is easy to foresee which will outweigh120. Earthly minds, like mud walls, resist the strongest batteries.
of dependence upon authority of others
4. "Authority. The fourth and last wrong measure of probability I shall take notice of, and which keeps in ignorance or error more people than all the others together, is the giving up our assent121 to the common received opinions, either of our friends or party, neighborhood or country."
Both Bacon and Locke make it evident that over and above the sources of misbelief that reside in the natural tendencies of the individual (like those toward hasty and too far-reaching conclusions), social conditions tend to instigate123 and confirm wrong habits of thinking by authority, by conscious instruction, and by the even more insidious124 half-conscious influences of language, imitation, sympathy, and suggestion. Education has accordingly not only to safeguard an individual against the besetting125 erroneous tendencies of his own mind—its rashness, presumption126, and preference of what chimes with self-interest to objective evidence—but also to undermine and destroy the accumulated and self-perpetuating prejudices of long ages. When social life in general has become more reasonable, more imbued127 with rational conviction, and less moved by stiff authority and blind passion, educational agencies may be more positive and constructive128 than at present, for they will[Pg 26] work in harmony with the educative influence exercised willy-nilly by other social surroundings upon an individual's habits of thought and belief. At present, the work of teaching must not only transform natural tendencies into trained habits of thought, but must also fortify129 the mind against irrational130 tendencies current in the social environment, and help displace erroneous habits already produced.
§ 4. Regulation Transforms Inference into Proof
A leap is involved in all thinking
Thinking is important because, as we have seen, it is that function in which given or ascertained131 facts stand for or indicate others which are not directly ascertained. But the process of reaching the absent from the present is peculiarly exposed to error; it is liable to be influenced by almost any number of unseen and unconsidered causes,—past experience, received dogmas, the stirring of self-interest, the arousing of passion, sheer mental laziness, a social environment steeped in biased112 traditions or animated132 by false expectations, and so on. The exercise of thought is, in the literal sense of that word, inference; by it one thing carries us over to the idea of, and belief in, another thing. It involves a jump, a leap, a going beyond what is surely known to something else accepted on its warrant. Unless one is an idiot, one simply cannot help having all things and events suggest other things not actually present, nor can one help a tendency to believe in the latter on the basis of the former. The very inevitableness of the jump, the leap, to something unknown, only emphasizes the necessity of attention to the conditions under which it occurs so that the danger of a false step may be lessened133 and the probability of a right landing increased.[Pg 27]
Hence, the need of regulation which, when adequate, makes proof
Such attention consists in regulation (1) of the conditions under which the function of suggestion takes place, and (2) of the conditions under which credence134 is yielded to the suggestions that occur. Inference controlled in these two ways (the study of which in detail constitutes one of the chief objects of this book) forms proof. To prove a thing means primarily to try, to test it. The guest bidden to the wedding feast excused himself because he had to prove his oxen. Exceptions are said to prove a rule; i.e. they furnish instances so extreme that they try in the severest fashion its applicability; if the rule will stand such a test, there is no good reason for further doubting it. Not until a thing has been tried—"tried out," in colloquial135 language—do we know its true worth. Till then it may be pretense136, a bluff137. But the thing that has come out victorious138 in a test or trial of strength carries its credentials139 with it; it is approved, because it has been proved. Its value is clearly evinced, shown, i.e. demonstrated. So it is with inferences. The mere fact that inference in general is an invaluable140 function does not guarantee, nor does it even help out the correctness of any particular inference. Any inference may go astray; and as we have seen, there are standing influences ever ready to assist its going wrong. What is important, is that every inference shall be a tested inference; or (since often this is not possible) that we shall discriminate141 between beliefs that rest upon tested evidence and those that do not, and shall be accordingly on our guard as to the kind and degree of assent yielded.
The office of education in forming skilledpowers of thinking
While it is not the business of education to prove every statement made, any more than to teach every possible item of information, it is its business to culti[Pg 28]vate deep-seated and effective habits of discriminating142 tested beliefs from mere assertions, guesses, and opinions; to develop a lively, sincere, and open-minded preference for conclusions that are properly grounded, and to ingrain into the individual's working habits methods of inquiry and reasoning appropriate to the various problems that present themselves. No matter how much an individual knows as a matter of hearsay143 and information, if he has not attitudes and habits of this sort, he is not intellectually educated. He lacks the rudiments144 of mental discipline. And since these habits are not a gift of nature (no matter how strong the aptitude145 for acquiring them); since, moreover, the casual circumstances of the natural and social environment are not enough to compel their acquisition, the main office of education is to supply conditions that make for their cultivation146. The formation of these habits is the Training of Mind.
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expatiate
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| v.细说，详述 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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intentional
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| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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prophesy
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| v.预言；预示 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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buoys
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| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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thereby
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erect
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contingencies
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warding
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apparatus
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intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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modifications
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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linguistic
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| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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sociable
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converse
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gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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logician
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| n.逻辑学家 | |
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apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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apprehends
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的第三人称单数 )； 理解 | |
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kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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47
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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48
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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49
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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50
abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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51
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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52
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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55
judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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56
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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57
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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58
artifices
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| n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为 | |
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59
dreads
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| n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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61
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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62
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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63
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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64
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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65
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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66
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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67
narrate
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| v.讲，叙述 | |
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68
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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69
yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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70
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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71
modicum
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| n.少量，一小份 | |
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72
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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73
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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74
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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75
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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76
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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77
portents
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| n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物 | |
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78
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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79
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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80
portend
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| v.预兆，预示；给…以警告 | |
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81
foretell
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| v.预言，预告，预示 | |
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82
malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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83
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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84
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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85
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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86
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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87
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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89
allure
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| n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引 | |
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90
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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91
metaphorically
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| adv. 用比喻地 | |
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92
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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93
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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94
extrinsic
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| adj.外部的；不紧要的 | |
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95
corroborate
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| v.支持，证实，确定 | |
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96
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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97
generic
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| adj.一般的，普通的，共有的 | |
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98
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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99
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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100
enumerating
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的现在分词 ) | |
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101
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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102
implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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103
circumscribed
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| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
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104
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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105
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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106
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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107
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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108
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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109
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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110
vouch
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| v.担保；断定；n.被担保者 | |
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111
insinuated
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| v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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112
biased
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| a.有偏见的 | |
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113
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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114
profaned
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| v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 )；亵渎，玷污 | |
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115
controversies
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| 争论 | |
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116
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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117
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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118
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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119
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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120
outweigh
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| vt.比...更重，...更重要 | |
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121
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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122
inborn
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| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
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123
instigate
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| v.教唆，怂恿，煽动 | |
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124
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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125
besetting
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| adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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126
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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127
imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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128
constructive
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| adj.建设的，建设性的 | |
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129
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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130
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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131
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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133
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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134
credence
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| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
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135
colloquial
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| adj.口语的，会话的 | |
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136
pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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137
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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138
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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139
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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140
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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141
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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142
discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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143
hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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144
rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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145
aptitude
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| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
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146
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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