Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 232, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1911 — The Vacant Mind. [ARTICLE]

The Vacant Mind.

There are those who claim that the human mind, in those recognized as entirely rational, never in working hours becomes entirely inactive: that always it is productive of thought. Many who have experimented with themselves know to the contrary. It is not by the human eye that plainly Indicates introspection that we may conclude upon mental vacancy in the person. Take the opportunity of’a deep blue sky, void of clouds, that suggests features and forms of human beings, animals and fishes, and outlines of the earth’s surface. Gaze fixedly into the sapphire depths for a minute or two or three, or many minutes, and then you will likely conclude that during that time your mind has been absolutely vacant, completely at rest. It will be Impossible to produce this result upon yourself by gazing into the great dome of the night when the stars are ablaze or the moon radiant; for this will Infallibly produce activity of the mind in that feeble effort we are all prone to indulge In to grasp some vague idea of the infinite. What we call the laws of nature demand activity in all growing animal life that it may grow. There are points of growth byond which occasional rest from those activities will' aid in the conservation of the forces. Men of tremendous affairs in finance and construction in many Instances die early because they cannot rest the mind. —Cincinnati Enquirer.