Mike Pierce mike@mkprc.xyz tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-01 2026-03-07T00:00:00-07:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The subject of this address is the organisation of thought, a topic evidently capable of many diverse modes of treatment. I intend more particularly to give some account of that department of logical science with which some of my own studies have been connected. But I am anxious, if I can succeed in so doing, to handle this account so as to exhibit the relation with certain considerations which underlie general scientific activities. It is no accident that an age of science has developed into an age of organisation. Organised thought is the basis of organised action. Organisation is the adjustment of diverse elements so that their mutual relations may exhibit some predetermined quality. An epic poem is a triumph of organisation, that is to say, it is a triumph in the unlikely event of its being a good epic poem. It is the successful organisation of multitudinous sounds of words, associations of words, pictorial memories of diverse events and feelings ordinarily occurring in life, combined with a special narrative of great events: the whole so disposed as to excite emotions which, as defined by Milton, are simple, sensuous, and passionate. The number of successful epic poems is commensurate, or rather, is inversely commensurate, with the obvious difficulty of the task of organisation. Science is the organisation of thought. But the example of the epic poem warns us that science is not any organisation of thought. It is an organisation of a certain definite type which we will endeavour to determine.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-15:/public-domain/whitehead/thought 2026-03-15T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-15T00:00:00-09:00 Alfred North Whitehead

What are the qualities of mind which a mathematical training is designed to produce when it is employed as an element in a liberal education? My answer, which applies equally to both sections of students, is that there are two allied forms of mental discipline which should be acquired by a well-designed mathematical course. These two forms though closely allied are perfectly distinct. The first form of discipline is not in its essence logical at all. It is the power of clearly grasping abstract ideas, and of relating them to particular circumstances. In other words, the first use of mathematics is to strengthen the power of abstract thought. I repeat that in its essence this has nothing to do with logic, though as a matter of fact a logical discipline is the best method of producing the desired effect. It is not the philosophical theory of abstract ideas which is to be acquired, but the habit and the power of using them. There is one and only way of acquiring the habit and the power of using anything, that is by the simple common-place method of habitually using it. There is no other short cut. If in education we desire to produce a certain conformation of mind, we must day by day, and year by year, accustom the students’ minds to grow into the desired structural shape. Thus to teach the power of grasping abstract ideas and the habit of using them, we must select a group of such ideas, which are important and are also easy to think about because they are clear and definite.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-14:/public-domain/whitehead/elementary 2026-03-14T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-14T00:00:00-09:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The conclusion at which we arrive is, that mathematics, if it is to be used in general education, must be subjected to a rigorous process of selection and adaptation. I do not mean, what is of course obvious, that however much time we devote to the subject the average pupil will not get very far. But that, however limited the progress, certain characteristics of the subject, natural at any stage, must be rigorously excluded. The science as presented to young pupils must lose its aspect of reconditeness. It must, on the face of it, deal directly and simply with a few general ideas of far-reaching importance.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-13:/public-domain/whitehead/mathematical 2026-03-13T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-13T00:00:00-09:00 Alfred North Whitehead

What I mean is this: you must make up your mind to find the best part of your happiness in kindly helpful relations with others. It should be our ambition to leave our own small corner of the world a little tidier and a little happier than when we entered it. I am well aware that this is an old story; but old stories are sometimes true, and this is the biggest truth in the whole world. The fortunate people are those whose minds are filled with thoughts in which they forget themselves and remember others. It is not true that nature is a mere scene of struggle in which every one competes with his neighbour. Those communities thrive best and last longest which are filled with a spirit of mutual help. The future of the country lies with you. The crown of your success is the promise of future work, often unrecognised work, done under discouragement, but done steadily and cheerfully. It is on you that the country depends for the maintenance and the growth of those ideals without which a race withers. Do not be discouraged by difficulties which seem unsurmountable. The conditions of life which mould us all are modified by our will, by our energy, and by the purity of our intentions.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-10:/public-domain/whitehead/war-time 2026-03-10T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-10T00:00:00-09:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The justification for a university is that it preserves the connexion between knowledge and the zest of life, by uniting the young and the old in the imaginative consideration of learning. The university imparts information, but it imparts it imaginatively. At least, this is the function which it should perform for society. A university which fails in this respect has no reason for existence. This atmosphere of excitement, arising from imaginative consideration, transforms knowledge. A fact is no longer a bare fact: it is invested with all its possibilities. It is no longer a burden on the memory: it is energising as the poet of our dreams, and as the architect of our purposes.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-09:/public-domain/whitehead/universities 2026-03-09T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-09T00:00:00-09:00 Alfred North Whitehead

In classics we endeavour by a thorough study of language to develop the mind in the regions of logic, philosophy, history and of æsthetic apprehension of literary beauty. The learning of the languages — Latin or Greek — is a subsidiary means for the furtherance of this ulterior object. When the object has been obtained, the languages can be dropped unless opportunity and choice lead to their further pursuit. There are certain minds, and among them some of the best, for which the analysis of language is not the avenue of approach to the goal of culture. For these a butterfly or a steam-engine has a wider range of significance than a Latin sentence. This is especially the case where there is a touch of genius arising from vivid apprehensions stimulating originality of thought. The assigned verbal sentence almost always says the wrong thing for such people, and confuses them by its trivial irrelevance. But on the whole the normal avenue is the analysis of language. It represents the greatest common measure for the pupils, and by far the most manageable job for the teachers.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-03-07:/public-domain/whitehead/classics 2026-03-07T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-07T00:00:00-07:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The curse that has been laid on humanity, in fable and in fact, is, that by the sweat of its brow shall it live. But reason and moral intuition have seen in this curse the foundation for advance. The early Benedictine monks rejoiced in their labours because they conceived themselves as thereby made fellow-workers with Christ. Stripped of its theological trappings, the essential idea remains, that work should be transfused with intellectual and moral vision and thereby turned into a joy, triumphing over its weariness and its pain. Each of us will re-state this abstract formulation in a more concrete shape in accordance with his private outlook. State it how you like, so long as you do not lose the main point in your details. However you phrase it, it remains the sole real hope of toiling humanity; and it is in the hands of technical teachers, and of those who control their spheres of activity, so to mould the nation that daily it may pass to its labours in the spirit of the monks of old.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/public-domain/whitehead/technical 2026-03-06T00:00:00-07:00 2026-03-06T00:00:00-07:00

This is the Stoic Fellowship (TSF) chapter for Grand Junction and the Colorado western slope. Its purpose is to provide a local group for talking about Stoic philosophy and discussing how to apply its tenets to our lives.

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/stoa 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 Alfred North Whitehead

In training a child to activity of thought, above all things we must beware of what I will call “inert ideas”—that is to say, ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilised, or tested, or thrown into fresh combinations.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/public-domain/whitehead/aims 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The pupil’s progress is often conceived as a uniform steady advance undifferentiated by change of type or alteration in pace … I hold that this conception of education is based upon a false psychology of the process of mental development which has gravely hindered the effectiveness of our methods.

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/public-domain/whitehead/rhythm 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 Alfred North Whitehead

The only avenue towards wisdom is by freedom in the presence of knowledge. But the only avenue towards knowledge is by discipline in the acquirement of ordered fact. Freedom and discipline are the two essentials of education …

Public Domain tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/public-domain/whitehead/discipline 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00 2026-02-05T00:00:00-07:00

Listed here are the tasks that address the ordinary duties of my life, arranged to be attended to periodically as needed: daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonally. With this rhythm made explicit all that remains is to summon the self-discipline to complete these tasks, to successfully sequester the fulfillment of my mundane duties from the more extraordinary subjects of my attention, that I may now pursue with a sense of calm fulfillment, assured that my lifestyle is sustained.

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/rhythms 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00

A directory of events and places and things and ongoings around Grand Junction, and generally around the Grand Valley of western Colorado.

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/local 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00

Recipes & Kitchen Notes

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/kitchen 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00

Hiking Destinations

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/hiking 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00

Links 'n' Such

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/links 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00

About Me

tag:mkprc.xyz,2026-01-02:/about 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00 2026-01-02T00:00:00-07:00