MENTAL SYSTEMS 43
it was far from being wholly understood, though its mean ing was much more complete than when we recognized it only as a peculiar kind of shock. The large question re mained, What is an earthquake? A vibration of a portion of the earth s surface. So far, so good; the meaning has grown. The rude shock is definitely related to a large body of experiences. But what causes the earth to quake ? The answer to this question expands the meaning by relating the event to another large circle of knowledge. And in the last analysis, the limits of the possible meaning of that shock are not reached until it is definitely located in the totality of cosmic phenomena. Manifestly, then, the organization of one s mental system is the process by which all the mental elements acquire meaning. And the total possible meaning of any sensation or image is the perception of all those relations with other experiences which in any possible way might influence one s action or attitude. Not only does each experience added to a mental system receive additional meaning according to the extent and content of the system, but it also contributes its increment of meaning to every other fact with which it thus becomes related. Is not the ideal of mental development the organization of a system of knowledge which correlates each fact with the whole uni verse of possible experiences, so that each item becomes a bearer of the meaning of the whole?
Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies; Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is.
i.. Primary or functional meaning. In the earlier stages of mental organization the meaning of a thing is quite ob viously its use or function. The use meaning of a thing enables one easily to identify it among other things and to know how to adjust oneself to it in ordinary situations.
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