Bulletin Vol. 3 No. 3 Oct 1966

where I am employed in h e l p i ng visiting scholars. T h e p i c t u r e is of Joseph Justus Scaliger ， a Renaissance philologist, wh o , it seems, became hysterical at the sight of watercress (what in Cantonese y ou call sai- yeung-choi). N o w if a schola r is afraid of watercress, I feel better. I really d o n 't feel he is above me as a h uman being . T h e n, not long ago, I read some magazine articles discussing historians in the U n i t e d K i n g d o m. I t was interesting in that they called each other names, not personal name calling but professional name calling; still, they used such flattering comments as " s t u p id f o o l ", " s i l l y ass" or ‘ ‘ mu t t on head". Wh at occurred to me was that if t wo scholars could call each other a " m u t t o n head", presumably at least one was right and perhaps b o t h . T h i s reduced my awe of scholars still f u r t h e r , so that I came to the i l l um i n a t i ng conclusion that the y were not only o r d i n a ry mortals like myself, b ut capable of the same errors that I make. A n d this brings me to you, ladies and gentlemen of the class of 1966, and to the education y ou have received. I f your teachers have been capable of error, and no d o u bt th e best of t h em w i ll admit it, then y o ur education has been imperfect. I trust this w o n 't lead y ou to ask for y o ur money back ； b ut rather I trust it w i l l make you restless and impatient to correct the imperfection, and I t h i nk it w i ll if y ou are also aware that y ou have received something very precious, for one cares only about correcting things that have value. I n any case, if y ou have this concern, y o ur second step i n education, the one that w i l l last all y o ur life, has begun. Consider the n the story of the little boy w h o excitedly i n f o r med his teacher that he was soon going to have a baby brother. T h e n one day his very mo d e rn mo t h er let h i m t o u ch her stomach so that he could feel the u n b o rn c h i l d k i c k i ng and s q u i r m i ng about. A f t er that he was very silent at school, never speaking of the b r o t h er to come. Eventually, his teacher asked h i m w h y he no longer talked about his baby brother, and w i t h a pained expression he replied: ‘ ‘ M u m my ate h i m . " N o w in my view your knowledge today is very far advanced over that child's knowledge of b i o l o g y—e v en the philosophy students k n ow b e t t e r— b u t in 25 years f r om n ow y ou can be as far ahead of your present level of learning as you are n ow ahead of that small boy's level. T h e r e are t wo questions to ask here—one is why and the other is how ？ T h e why is simple. Y o u continue th e process of your education because y ou have o n ly begun it, and if you d o n 't continue it and all the graduates around the w o r ld d o n 't continue it, then y ou are w r i t i ng an end to civilization and ultimately to the h uman r a c e - - it is as simple as that. As to how I can only give my views , and fortunatel y they are brief. I n the first place d o n 't be satisfied with wh a t y ou have learned and d o n 't be patient about correcting it. Satisfaction in this instance is complacency and patience is a f o r m of despair. T h e p r i n c i p al t h i n g is to keep on studying. But if you are a biologist, for example, for heaven's sake, read history and study the arts. N o t h i ng is so b o r i ng and so unenlightened as a scientist who knows only his science. O n the same plane, a humanist who knows only the arts is a h e r m it l i v i ng in an i v o ry tower, w i t h o ut knowledge of or influence on the evolution of h uman society. Th e r e f o r e, i f you are steeped in Chinese Literature, for heaven's sake, read hooks on paleontology, population problems and learn that the Chinese Classics, along w i t h Plato and Shakespeare, w i l l perish f r om this universe i n the year 4,600,000,000 A . D . unless the cosmologists, the astro-physicists and their engineering colleagues devise ways of r e p l a n t i ng us in some other longer-lived planetary system. T h a t is the second step. T h e t h i r d step is to be organized about y o ur f u t u re educational explorations. Wh en I was a student 30 years ago, we t h o u g ht we k n ew everything, n o t h i ng upset us, n o t h i ng shocked us. We were even amused at the poetical conclusion to our class history, a bit of verse that w e n t: " S o we the boys, w h om n o t h i ng could amaze, Stepped d o w n w a rd into l i f e—a nd so were d r o w n e d ." A n d so we were. We were d r own ed in the economic depression o f the period and only a little later in the Second W o r l d Wa r. Y o u are mu ch better equipped i n this respect. Yo u, perhaps more than any other graduates i n other areas of the wo r l d, outside of countries actually t o rn by war, have a knowledge of uncertainty. I t is a very healthy knowledge. A n d right there I make my last proposal. I d r aw it f r om Ma r g a r et Me a d, the distinguished Ame r i c an anthropologist, enthusiastically supporte d by Sir Julian Hu x l e y, the em i n e nt B r i t i s h scientist, that there be a Professorship of the F u t u re who w o u ld chair a De p a r t me nt of H u m a n Possibility. I propose y ou enrol in this De p a r t me n t. I t is not enough to continue to develop your m i n d and knowledge. It is urgent that you use y o ur m i n d and knowledge in a long range investigation into all h uman development to the end that h uman evolution itself no longer be allowed to r un w i l d, that man apply himself not only to c o n t r o l l i ng his own ever increasing numbers b ut to the development of h uman quality and of the fullest potentials w i t h in h i m, and to b r i n g i ng the h uman race to new heights morally, aesthetically, mentally and physically . We have o n ly had glimpses of the enormous possibilities of the h uman race, b ut they are enough to k n ow that in it there is a tremendous potential. T h i s is the challenge that is open to you. I f it is not taken up, most of ma n k i nd w i l l never enjoy the 4