DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Voice of the Imaination, whole no. 29, January 1944

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Voice of the Imaination, whole no. 29, January 1944

Page 14

Voice of the FRANCIS LANEY, fanova who has burst on fandom with the brilliant fanmag Acolyte, here discusses the future of his off (trail) spring.  Give with your slanpoints, FranciSLANey!
My plans for raising my two lovely (ahem!) little daughters are by no means as elaborate as those of most parents.  When one considers the staggering quantity of knowledge, attitudes, conventions and mores with which a modern person must be familiar in order to get thru life with a minimum of friction; it leaves the would-be constructive parent with a well-nigh insurmountable job on his hands.  Consequently, I shall attempt only to instill certain basic attitudes and semi-instinctive reactions in my girls, with the belief that they ywill order their own lives for themselves far better than I could possibly organize them myself.
BY FAR the most Important attitude I shall attempt to drill into my girls is a habitual OPENMINDEDNESS. I don't want my kids to take anything o n my say-so or anyone else's; I want them to be able to weigh and evaluate and draw their own independent conclusions.  If these conclusions happen to run counter to my own considered views, it will grieve me more or less, but I certainly shall never attempt to mould them to my own outlook.
COUPLED WITH this matter of openmindedness, I am determined to inculcate these kids with the SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE.  Perhaps this requires a little definition.  The scientific attitude implies that a person make all decisions and choices on a basis of strict intellectual reasoning, rather than allowing himself to be swayed by emotions and preconceived prejudices.  Of course, one will often fall far short on his attempts at ordering his life scientifically, because after all, mankind is at heart a primitive and atavlistic race.  However, a person sincerely attempting to follow such a plan in his daily life will avoid a large share of the grieg and misery of the average human, and in addition will avoid practically all nutty sects such as Yogiism, christianity and similar crud,  The scientific attitude also implies that most decisions will be made on a basis of controlled experimentation in daily life, in actuality it is quite easy.  It is a simple matter to proceed partly on a basis of trial and error (experimentation) and partly on a basis of empirical reasoning; and, as a matter of fact, most intelligent persons do this a great deal, even tho they may not think of it in quite the same terms as I do.
ANOTHER extremely important attitude that my girls must have is one of almost cynical CRITICAL JUDGMENT towards anything which may be brought to their attention.  I hasten to add that I do not generally approve of a cynical attitude; but in view of the vast amounts of sheer bilge and propaganda poured out upon an innocent public by such fertilizer dispersers as congress, the church, sects, movements, commercial advertisers and the like; it is a virtual necessity for one to be a semi-cynic in order not to become contaminated by more or less of this corruption.
I BELIEVE that if my girls are thoroly inculcated with these three attitudes---openmindedness, scientific attitude and critical judgment---their other habits and attitudes, may well be left to chance.  For example, I have no fear of either of them becoming church members if they are trained from an early age to exercise their minds; no intelligently reasoning person will ever fail under the sway of sacerdotal slop---and this is also true of anything else that might be a detriment to a well-rounded personality.
PERHAPS I should add parenthetically that my main aim is to slip my girls thru life with a minimum of friction, and that in view of this objective, they will be inculcated with a foundation of good manners, suavlix (hard to read) and fellow-humans.  It scarcely seems necessary to mention sex in this discussion; it should go without saying that my girls will be informed of everything in connection with any of their bodily processes--including sex.  By example, and thru having the stuff underfoot all the time, both kids will probably become avid readers of stf, fantasy, weird and other literature and will also doubtless become much interested in other art forms, such as music, painting, sculpture, etc.  However, nothing will be stuffed down my girl' throats; the will be

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Voice of the FRANCIS LANEY, fanova who has burst on fandom with the brilliant fanmag Acolyte, here discusses the future of his off (trail) spring. Give with your slanpoints, FranciSLANey! My plans for raising my two lovely (ahem!) little daughters are by no means as elaborate as those of most parents. When one considers the staggering quantity of knowledge, attitudes, conventions and mores with which a modern person must be familiar in order to get thru life with a minimum of friction; it leaves the would-be constructive parent with a well-nigh insurmountable job on his hands. Consequently, I shall attempt only to instill certain basic attitudes and semi-instinctive reactions in my girls, with the belief that they ywill order their own lives for themselves far better than I could possibly organize them myself. BY FAR the most Important attitude I shall attempt to drill into my girls is a habitual OPENMINDEDNESS. I don't want my kids to take anything o n my say-so or anyone else's; I want them to be able to weigh and evaluate and draw their own independent conclusions. If these conclusions happen to run counter to my own considered views, it will grieve me more or less, but I certainly shall never attempt to mould them to my own outlook. COUPLED WITH this matter of openmindedness, I am determined to inculcate these kids with the SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE. Perhaps this requires a little definition. The scientific attitude implies that a person make all decisions and choices on a basis of strict intellectual reasoning, rather than allowing himself to be swayed by emotions and preconceived prejudices. Of course, one will often fall far short on his attempts at ordering his life scientifically, because after all, mankind is at heart a primitive and atavlistic race. However, a person sincerely attempting to follow such a plan in his daily life will avoid a large share of the grieg and misery of the average human, and in addition will avoid practically all nutty sects such as Yogiism, christianity and similar crud, The scientific attitude also implies that most decisions will be made on a basis of controlled experimentation in daily life, in actuality it is quite easy. It is a simple matter to proceed partly on a basis of trial and error (experimentation) and partly on a basis of empirical reasoning; and, as a matter of fact, most intelligent persons do this a great deal, even tho they may not think of it in quite the same terms as I do. ANOTHER extremely important attitude that my girls must have is one of almost cynical CRITICAL JUDGMENT towards anything which may be brought to their attention. I hasten to add that I do not generally approve of a cynical attitude; but in view of the vast amounts of sheer bilge and propaganda poured out upon an innocent public by such fertilizer dispersers as congress, the church, sects, movements, commercial advertisers and the like; it is a virtual necessity for one to be a semi-cynic in order not to become contaminated by more or less of this corruption. I BELIEVE that if my girls are thoroly inculcated with these three attitudes---openmindedness, scientific attitude and critical judgment---their other habits and attitudes, may well be left to chance. For example, I have no fear of either of them becoming church members if they are trained from an early age to exercise their minds; no intelligently reasoning person will ever fail under the sway of sacerdotal slop---and this is also true of anything else that might be a detriment to a well-rounded personality. PERHAPS I should add parenthetically that my main aim is to slip my girls thru life with a minimum of friction, and that in view of this objective, they will be inculcated with a foundation of good manners, suavlix (hard to read) and fellow-humans. It scarcely seems necessary to mention sex in this discussion; it should go without saying that my girls will be informed of everything in connection with any of their bodily processes--including sex. By example, and thru having the stuff underfoot all the time, both kids will probably become avid readers of stf, fantasy, weird and other literature and will also doubtless become much interested in other art forms, such as music, painting, sculpture, etc. However, nothing will be stuffed down my girl' throats; the will be