Rahn's Chapter 4 Whence Come Our Capabilities

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Chapter 4 "Whence Come Our Capabilities"

Intro | Prelim | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

Comment

Note: This chapter is not especially recommended. It contains mostly the author's philosophy of human development and does not bear directly on defining our work abilities or job hunting.

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CHAPTER IV

WHENCE COME OUR CAPABILITIES

CHART I at the end of this chapter shows graphically the source of an individual's powers, how he has been contributed to by others, and how he contributes to the world. Fundamentally we all wish to contribute services and to be used according to our capacities, in the end being fairly rewarded for our performance.

As a youth, we do what belongs to youth. As we mature, so do our equipments. As we become old, we should have something to give which maturity seeks and youth needs. Age and maturity in our American life mean to too many of our people "retirement" and that destructive feeling of being "all through." Maturity forces old age to give way and youth laughs at them both. Such are the ills of an unbalanced progress. They are the ills growing out of the idea of production at a profit rather than production for use at a profit. Business must be of and for men, and men must first be citizens, then producers, then consumers.

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Whether youthful, mature or old we possess certain capabilities of use to some one, if only we can present them to an interested person in proper form. When we see how and why we are what we are, we can go a step further and consider the presentation both of what we are and what we can do. If the presentation is properly made others will be interested and in many cases the barriers to youth and old age will be broken down.

The defining and confining of our abilities is a personal matter. The principles and methods are the same for all men, but the details of working them out vary for each of us just as we differ from our fellow men. Our presentation must express our personality and therefore cannot be reduced to the filling out of a standard form. Each must work out their own salvation according to the way the principles and methods react on them. There is no rule of thumb.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR READING THE CHART FACING PAGE 38

A:-	The numerals on the chart indicafe the sequence to be followed in reading and studying the chart.
B:-	The words in quotation marks ("—") refer to factors named on the chart. NOTE:-The principles outlined on this chart are applicable to a business, a community, a project, an institution or a nation.
Note:-	The principles outlined on this cdhart are applicable to a business, a community, a project, an institution or a nation

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THE MAN possesses those powers with which he can per- form his tasks. The influences he produces establish him as a personality. He stands between the causes that have created him and the results he can produce. He has been developed out of the past and in spite of himself he influences life and other men. His future grows out of the present as influenced by the past.

1:-	"The task to be performed" reflects the application of knowledge, ability and energy. The results achieved will be limited by the kind and amount of these forces applied to the task. The results attained will be no greater than the forces applied will justify.
2:-	Every human being and what he does produces "effects on others" which have a bearing on the "task to be per formed."
3:-	The results produced can be measured and expressed on a "scale of perfection in deeds." No task will reach 100%. Our greatest men have visualized peaks of perfection which even they could not reach. Whatever degree we think we reach there is always room for improvement, in how we do that which we have to do.
4:-	Desire for improvement arises from our asking our- selves "Where is that mark today?" With that ques- tion there should be the willingness to face our imper fections and to correct them with unused and available forces.
5:-	"Our Social, Political, Religious, Business Status" is at all times the product of the man and his accomplish- ments as affected by his past.
6:-	This status will determine the "Individual Results Achieved" which multiplied by
7:-	"All Accomplishments in All Walks of Life" will pro duce

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8:-	"Our Governing Results" and will determine the quality of
9:-	"American Citizenship, Producers, Consumers."
10:-	"This balance in results accomplished is determined by How we do What we do."
11:-	"What others think about what we accomplish is what we earn by reason of our deeds."
12:-	The activity and influence of the individual man sets up a current which flows into the lives of other people - his contribution to civilization. That contribution may be for good or ill, but it exists, and influences others. Among the others are those to come, just as our Man has been influenced by his forebears.
13:-	By Nature and its laws Man is the product of "Those out of whom they came."
14:-	As individuals and nations man is born out of that past in "Love and Happiness" or "Sorrow and Disappoint- ment." He is involuntarily affected by the prevailing conditions of war or peace, feast or famine, the prevail- ing status of morals and civilization. 1
15: &- 16:	"Father" and "Mother" of man contribute each their "Positive" or "Negative" influences on our birth.
17:	"How we are born" has an all important bearing on "What we accomplish."
18:	The Man comes into "The world as prepared for us
19:	by others." He has had no part or place in determining & -the conditions that he must meet. Nor can he disregard
20:	what he brings with him as a human being.
21:-	From that time forth Man is the victim or master of his exposure to life and must travel the cycle from "Birth" to "Death."
22:-	"Life can be a product for good." With what we have

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	gained up to the age of reason we become the creative agent of our own effects by reason of the causes we generate.
23:-	The power of an individual evolves from his mental, physical, and emotional make-up.
24:-	"What is he?" Each must answer this question for himself. No one has attained 100% on the scale of deeds. After examining our past, we should decide on the achievement we desire and of which we are capable.
25:-	Instead of the "Unorganized conundrum" that is life to so many of us, we can organize the powers we possess to offset the lack of organization out of which our past achievements grew.
26:-	The same question. Man is the product of "Those out of whom he came + Body + Education + Experience + The Use He Makes of These (when intelligently applied)." That product will be the "Ultimate Happiness of Self and Those He Serves." It is this product which enables him to cause results and reach a certain degree in profit and achievement. This product also limits his attainments by its very nature.
27:-	"The Total Man" is an emotional, physical and mental being. These three phases are constantly active and changing and affect every activity in which Man engages.
28:-	"His Control" of these phases determines "How He Does,"
29:-	"What He Accomplishes,"
3O:-	"Through" variables used jointly or separately and ex- pressed in terms of
31:-	"Energy, Character, Ability, Purpose, Ideals, View- points..............?, ............?." These forces and their different effects on each of us make of us a people who cannot be standardized in control or in productivity.

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	They change, develop or retard us according to the use we make of them.
32:-	The "Emotional" characteristics grow out of and are affected by our
35:-	"Religion and Heritage" (Religion being used in its broadest sense) which in turn come from
36:-	"Spiritual Values, Historic Significances, Traditional Views, Environment."
37:-	All of these factors affect our emotional control, which in turn is affected to a greater or lesser degree by our "Physical" and "Mental" characteristics. Furthermore they are intensified or reduced by time as we pass through the stages of youth, adolescence, maturity and old age.
33:-	The "Physical" characteristics grow out of and are af- fected by our
38:-	"Structure" and "Health" housed in a
39:-	"Body" created through the operation of natural laws and bringing with it the strength, weakness and influ- ence of past generations.
37:-	In the cycle of time, that body may become man's mas- ter or servant and will control the physical approach to the tasks he performs. It is affected by and affects the "Emotional" and "Mental" characteristics.
34:-	The "Mental" characteristics grow out of and are af- fected by
40:-	"Knowledge" and "Experience" which in turn come from
41:-	"Environment," "School," "Work," "Travel," "Inter- ests." These too have their place in
37:-	The time cycle and have their effect on and are affected by the "Emotional" and "Physical" characteristics. The "Mental" characteristics are the controlling factors in any task Man performs.

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31: 32:	Our emotional, physical, and mental characteristics are vitally inter-related and express themselves in every exposure to life. It is the control and co-ordination of these that govern us at our tasks. The use we make of
33:	them in self-preservation and in association with our fellow men gives the answer to the question "What
34:	Is He?"
42:-	From childhood to the grave, Man asks of himself, "What Can I Do Best? How Can I Find Out?" What we accomplish in life happens in spite of us rather than because of us. When we identify our equipments and organize the powers we have gained along the way, we become the masters of our environment, know "What we can do."
43:-	As men organize themselves, learn what they can do with the equipment they have, life is no longer a co- nundrum and a series of chance happenings, but heads towards a "Better Civilization."
44:-	"The World Problem Is in Knowing Who Will Con- tribute to"
45:-	"Science, Education, Religion, Politics, Governments, Business-All These Ask, Who Can Do The Task?" With Man's capabilities defined, confined, and described in work language so that his fellow man can understand him, there becomes available a joint opportunity for man and management to strive for the same goal with a view to profit for all.