ALDOUS HUXLEYS THE EDUCATION OF AN AMPHIBIAN

Man and His Position

Huxley contends that man is a five or six amphibians rolled into one. Man who is biologically called
Homo Sapiens explores the realms of his mind on this earth and also infesting it at the same time. So
man is multi amphibian whose very nature is indicative of many troubles for him and the others around
him. So we human beings are the most obedient and independent creature on the earth. Man is not
homo sapiens only, he is also homo loquax because he possess the gift of speech. If he is not homo
loquax then he like the Yahoo of Gullivers Travels.
Language and Man
So the importance of language for man cannot be underestimated. It is the language which raised man
from his brute status to civilized one. So language gave birth to human civilization. Language itself is a
superb work of genius created by man. Whatever human culture or society may be, language is central
to their existence. It is a medium through which we communicate and if this link is broken, we will again
turn to brutes because language is the symbol of civilization. This should not lead us to the fact that
language is always positive in society. Like everything else, it has its pros and cons. Our various principles
or dogmas are communicated through language so language is used destructively. This misuse of
language has turned people into fanatics as language is largely used for propaganda. Barlett, in this case,
has carried various experiments to see the effect of language on memory. He came to the conclusion
that language stamps on our memory and we cannot come out of our conventional or stereotyped
image of a being. So language is the foundation stone of memory. Our infancy is the age of non-verbal
communication so none of us can be recalled what we did as a child, but we can recall almost everything
ever since we began to speak a language.
Theorizing and Practicum
Huxley believes that too much theorizing is fatal to human soul. It corrupts it and deforms it. Too many
lectures or sermons deaden our everyday routine life because theorizing entails no spiritual
development. But absence of theory (of medicine, law, religions or any other science) will again turn us
into Yahoos. So we need a different approach. We live in the world of ideas and practice. These are two
different worlds. Unless we promote education in both these fields, we will be verbal and lead to
disaster.
Education of Man
Modern educationists promote non-verbal aspect of human education more than they emphasize the
verbal side. Now, we have instrumental theory of education which is based on learning through
experience. Kinesthetic sense is important in learning by doing because we form certain habits by doing
something if this is good, learning is good, if the habit or repetition is bad, learning is bound to have bad
effect, though some scholars dont differentiate between good and bad doing. So learning is psychophysical activity. Modern classroom must provide means to get visual perception of the student sound.

We should use certain training devices to make the vision strong and healthy. In this way, spiritual
insight is important in non-verbal education. The art of spiritual insight has been defined by Dr. Suzuki as
becoming conscious of the unconsciousness.
Conclusion
The basic theme of the essay is that education should be sound so can we get rid of our misguided
perceptions, unsound feelings, unrealistic thinking and bad habits. Man is doer and speaker so he must
behave well and this is the key to avoid offensive behavior with others.