Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition, Volume 6. Charles S. Peirce

Afterward, when he begins to be interested and to entertain a respect for you, you can say that your reception was not, you must confess, quite that which his reputation about the town had led you to expect it would be. If he says something apologetic, do not make light of the incident, but say that never having been an agent for any other enterprise than this, it had never happened to you to be subjected to such treatment before in your life; and in short, convey the idea that while you are ready to accept any apology, you had been considerably wounded. Some men will hear you attentively through to the end, and then give you a firm, emphatic, but polite negative. In such a case, you would probably waste your time in trying to effect anything. Still, the man is sure to be a valuable friend if you can get him, and your one chance is to make him fear he may have gone off the handle too soon. Answer him briefly and forcibly, showing that there is some material circumstance which he has left out of consideration. Do not wait for a rejoinder, but wind up by saying that you do not want to detain him with a long argumentation, and take your leave with sufficient deliberation to give him time to call you back should he see fit to do so. 3^rd, you should never fail to take the measure of your man’s nervous energy and endurance. Nobody is ever convinced, in any practical sense, until he is tired of objecting. You must take care not to vex a man (unless you see how you are going to make the vexation pass away) nor bore him, you must make your conversation pleasant; but if you can at the same time tire him quite out, by keeping his attention long on the stretch, and making him exert his mind in an unusual way, you will find it highly advantageous.

      Of course, you will use these suggestions according to your judgment. I suppose that you are a man of sense. You will fully understand that I should not counsel to tell the slightest untruth, and far less to treat your fellow-citizens as if they were so many fish to be angled for. The object of life is not to make money, you know, but to prepare you for another better and far different world than this; and you will behave accordingly.

      ORDER OF YOUR TALK. You will find it best to stick closely to a certain scheme of persuasion, never varying from it unless for some definite reason, or because you instinctively feel that with a given man some slight variation will be useful. There are many reasons for this plan. You get a greater mastery of the method, you are able to make modifications on a better basis of experience, etc. You begin with talk calculated to incline your man to put confidence in you. You cannot generally give a man confidence in you in a few minutes, but you must incline him to have confidence. For this purpose, you must have a remarkably straightforward and artless way in the beginning. You announce your business, without delay or circumlocution, say “I wish to call your attention to an educational undertaking for which I am soliciting pupils,” and immediately hand out a circular and ask if he will kindly cast his eye over that. Throw in any naive remark you find takes, as “I don’t suppose you will care for it. Nobody does in this town. I cannot understand how they can be so indifferent to such a matter.” The next effect you want to produce is that you are deeply convinced of the value of this instruction yourself. Do not protest; but let your conviction crop out unconsciously as it were. The next thing you have to do is to fascinate your man, to interest him, to amuse him, or in short to cause him for no matter what reason to take pleasure in talking with you. The next thing you have to do is to give him a favorable impression of Mr. Peirce. You should produce these four effects, coolly and watchfully, in the order here set down; but you may so far run them together as to begin on each before you have quite done with the one that goes before.

      Here is the point where you will generally thank your man for his kind attention, and say you only wanted to sow a little seed on good ground, so that you may go on at his request.

      You will now go into cool argumentation to show the benefits of the plan. Be grave. To begin with, you state clearly what the system of instruction is and what its purpose is. It is a system of mental gymnastics, intended to develope 1^st, the power of making a stupendous mental effort, 2^nd, the power of keeping up a moderate exertion for a long time without undue fatigue, and 3^rd, skill in reasoning or practical familiarity with the best methods of attacking every kind of practical problem. All the teaching is conducted by practical exercises; by giving the pupil some real thinking to do, and then making him observe not only where he has not done well, and what his failure has been due to, but also, what is even more useful, showing him where he has done well, and making him note exactly what the exertions were that he had to make to succeed, and then making him repeat the same process in the case of another problem. Having learned to perform the process of thinking, the theory of it can be made perfectly clear in comparatively short metre. The matters taught are divided into three parts. The first part consists of the recognition of the logical relations of thoughts, the analysis of them, and the logical arrangement of them. This makes of the pupil what would be called a good clear-headed thinker. The second part consists of the mathematical precision of thought, of mathematical views of things in general, and of the doctrine of chances. These exercises give a piercing distinctness to thought, which penetrate every wrapping, and at the same time impart great moderation and caution, by habituating the pupil to put a definite measure and value upon everything. The exercises in the doctrine of chances are carried sufficiently far to prevent his being taken in by any sophistry of gambling, speculation, or injudicious insurance. The third part consists of judgments about matters of fact. This part has cost Mr. Peirce far more trouble to get it up than anything else. He has been studying it for years, and has at last succeeded in inventing a course of exercises, by which a man can get a lifetime of experience in the exercise of good judgment in the course of a few months. The precise nature of these exercises is for the present a secret between Mr. Peirce and his pupils, until the whole method can be properly set forth in a book upon which Mr. Peirce is now engaged. He does not wish it to be judged by experiments made with it by people who do not thoroughly understand it. The instruction is carried on by correspondence. Each letter from Mr. Peirce gives a criticism of the exercise last received, in a good deal of detail, and sets two more exercises, each to occupy the pupil two hours, accompanied with explanations as to how they are to be done. As soon as the first one of these is done, the pupil sends it on to Mr. Peirce, retaining the other one to occupy him until he gets Mr. Peirce’s reply. Thirty lessons are called a quarter, and the pupil pays $30 in advance for each quarter. At the end of each quarter, there is a positive practical test of the improvement made by the pupil, and should it not be very marked Mr. Peirce reserves the right to bring the lessons to a close, but this never happens with serious pupils. Having thus stated the case, you will go on to give the general advantages of the scheme as hereinafter stated. You will then argue that the man that reasons the best is the most successful man, other things being equal. You will then show that people can be taught to think. You will then show that the only way to teach anything is by practical exercises. You will then show that this kind of instruction can be conducted by correspondence as well as in any other way. You will then make a careful résumé of the argument.

      Having thus fully argued the question, you next aim to suggest to the mind of your man that it would be an excellent thing, either for himself or for somebody in whom he takes an interest. You do not directly say this, you only instance some other cases in which great advantage has been got from it. Speak of its advantages over any college training. Do not make this part too long. Excite your man about as much as you can do quickly. Beyond that you will not be able to go.

      Finally explain that if the step is to be taken at all, it must be taken at once. Ask him to hand you anything, or do any little service for you. That will put him into the attitude of compliance, and make it easier for him to say “Yes” when you ask him to take a ticket.

      THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR TALK. 1^st, Who is Mr. Peirce? Charles Sanders Peirce was born in 1839, and is therefore 47 years old. He successively took three degrees in Harvard, the last, Doctor of Science, was conferred summa cum laude, being one of the very few Harvard degrees to which that distinction has been appended. He has been during the greater part of his life attached to the Coast Survey, where he has charge of the most scientific branches of the work, relating to the figure of the earth, etc., and to the determination of the force of gravity, weighing the earth, etc. He has resigned his regular position in the Survey, though still exercising a supervision over the work, in order to devote his energies to the education of his fellow countrymen in right thinking, which he thinks is the way in which he can make himself most useful. He has carried on his branch