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Fundamentals of
Structural Dynamics
This page intentionally left blank
Fundamentals of
Structural Dynamics

ZHIHUI ZHOU
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

YING WEN
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

CHENZHI CAI
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

QINGYUAN ZENG
Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
Elsevier
Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Copyright © 2021 Central South University Press. Published by Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright
by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices,
or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or
editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter
of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods,
products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978-0-12-823704-5

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Publisher: Glyn Jones

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Production Project Manager: Vijayaraj Purushothaman
Cover Designer: Mark Rogers
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
Contents

About the authors ix

Preface xi

1. Overview of structural dynamics 1

1.1 Objective of structural dynamic analysis 1
1.2 Characteristics of structural dynamics 2
1.3 Classification of vibrations 3
1.4 Vibration problems in engineering 6
1.5 Procedures of dynamic response analysis of structures 7
1.5.1 Description of system configuration 7
1.5.2 Analysis of excitation 7
1.5.3 Mechanism of vibration energy dissipation 9
1.5.4 Equation of motion of a system 9
1.5.5 Solution of equation of motion 10
1.5.6 Vibration tests 10
Problems 10
References 11

2. Formulation of equations of motion of systems 13

2.1 System constraints 13
2.2 Representation of system configuration 18
2.3 Real displacements, possible displacements, and virtual displacements 22
2.4 Generalized force 25
2.5 Conservative force and potential energy 30
2.6 Direct equilibrium method 34
2.7 Principle of virtual displacements 35
2.8 Lagrange’s equation 39
2.9 Hamilton’s principle 45
2.10 Principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in
elastic system dynamics 50
2.10.1 Principle of virtual work and principle of total potential
energy with a stationary value in statics 50
2.10.2 Derivation of the principle of total potential energy
with a stationary value in elastic system dynamics 52
2.11 The “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system matrices
and method of computer implementation in Matlab 59

v
vi Contents

2.11.1 The “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system matrices 59

2.11.2 Method of computer implementation in Matlab for
assembling system matrices 70
References 75
Problems 75

3. Analysis of dynamic response of SDOF systems 79

3.1 Analysis of free vibrations 79
3.1.1 Undamped free vibrations 79
3.1.2 Damped free vibrations 81
3.1.3 Stability of motion 89
3.2 Response of SDOF systems to harmonic loads 93
3.3 Vibration caused by base motion and vibration isolation 105
3.3.1 Vibration caused by base motion 105
3.3.2 Vibration isolation 110
3.4 Introduction to damping theory 113
3.4.1 Viscous-damping theory 114
3.4.2 Hysteretic-damping theory 117
3.4.3 Frictional damping theory 118
3.5 Evaluation of viscous-damping ratio 118
3.5.1 Free-vibration decay method 119
3.5.2 Resonant amplification method 119
3.5.3 Half-power (band-width) method 120
3.5.4 Resonance energy loss per cycle method 124
3.6 Response of SDOF systems to periodic loads 126
3.7 Response of SDOF systems to impulsive loads 129
3.7.1 Sine-wave impulsive load 129
3.7.2 Rectangular impulsive load 134
3.7.3 Triangular impulsive load 136
3.7.4 Response ratios to different types of impulsive loads 138
3.7.5 Response spectra (shock spectra) 138
3.7.6 Approximate analysis of response to impulsive loads 141
3.8 Time-domain analysis of dynamic response to arbitrary
dynamic loads 143
3.9 Frequency-domain analysis of dynamic response to arbitrary
dynamic loads 146
3.9.1 Express the system response to periodic loads in complex form 147
3.9.2 Fourier integral method 150
References 153
Problems 153
 Contents vii

4. Analysis of dynamic response of MDOF systems:

mode superposition method 157
4.1 Analysis of dynamic properties of multidegree-of-freedom systems 157
4.1.1 Natural frequencies, mode shapes, and principal vibration 157
4.1.2 Orthogonality of mode shapes 160
4.1.3 Repeated frequency case 163
4.2 Coupling characteristics and uncoupling procedure of equations
of MDOF systems 165
4.2.1 Coupling characteristics of equations of MDOF systems 165
4.2.2 Uncoupling procedure of equations of MDOF systems 167
4.3 Analysis of free vibration response of undamped systems 171
4.4 Response of undamped systems to arbitrary dynamic loads 175
4.5 Response of damped systems to arbitrary dynamic loads 177
References 184
Problems 185

5. Analysis of dynamic response of continuous systems:

straight beam 187
5.1 Differential equations of motion of undamped straight beam 188
5.2 Modal expansion of displacement and orthogonality of mode
shapes of straight beam 190
5.3 Free vibration analysis of undamped straight beam 195
5.4 Forced vibration analysis of undamped straight beam 201
5.5 Forced vibration analysis of damped straight beam 204
References 209
Problems 209

6. Approximate evaluation of natural frequencies and

mode shapes 211
6.1 Rayleigh energy method 211
6.2 Rayleigh
Ritz method 218
6.3 Matrix iteration method 222
6.3.1 Iteration procedure for fundamental frequency and mode 223
6.3.2 Iteration procedure for higher frequencies and modes 226
6.4 Subspace iteration method 229
6.5 Reduction of degrees of freedom in dynamic analysis 237
6.5.1 Preliminary comments 237
6.5.2 Kinematic constraints method 238
6.5.3 Static condensation method 239
viii Contents

6.5.4 Rayleigh
Ritz method 241

References 242
Problems 242

7. Step-by-step integration method 245

7.1 Basic idea of step-by-step integration method 245
7.2 Linear acceleration method 247
7.3 Wilson-θ method 252
7.4 Newmark method 255
7.5 Stability and accuracy of step-by-step integration method 257
Problems 266
References 266

Index 267
About the authors

Dr. Zhihui Zhou is currently an associate professor at the School of

Civil Engineering, Central South University (CSU), in China. He
received a PhD in Civil Engineering from CSU in 2007 under the super-
vision of Prof. Qingyuan Zeng. He was invited to study at the University
of Kentucky in 2014. Dr. Zhou’s research interests include train derail-
ment and dynamics of train
bridge (track) systems. He has been the prin-
cipal investigator of several research grants, including the research project
of National Natural Science Foundation of China (a study on the control
theory of running safety and comfort for high-speed trains on bridges), a
scientific research project of China’s Ministry of Railways (a study on
safety of running trains on large span cable-stayed bridges), special and
general projects of the Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and
some other scientific research projects. Dr. Zhou has published over 30
journal papers as the first author, and two monographs entitled “Lectures
on dynamics of structures” and “Theory and application of train derail-
ment.” He won the first prize of the Science and Technology Progress of
Hunan Province for his study “Theory and application of train derailment”
in 2006.

Dr. Ying Wen was employed in the School of Civil Engineering, CSU,
in China, after obtaining his PhD in 2010, and he was promoted to asso-
ciate professor in 2012. He became a research associate in the Department
of Civil and Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University in 2011. In 2014 Dr. Wen was invited to visit the Department
of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern
California, for a collaborative research on the problem of moving loads
on structures. After he returned to CSU in 2015, Dr. Wen was appointed
as the vice director of the Key Laboratory of Engineering Structures of
Heavy-haul Railway, Ministry of Education. Dr. Wen has interests in
fields of various structural dynamics and stability, especially nonlinear
mechanics of long-span bridges and their dynamic stability under moving
trains. Dr. Wen has published more than 20 journal papers, one of which
is listed as the Top 25 Hottest articles published in “Finite Elements in
Analysis & Design.” He has also published three Chinese monographs
about statics and dynamics of structures as a coauthor. Dr. Wen has

ix
x About the authors

received the awards of the Science and Technology Progress of Hunan

Province (2006) and Zhejiang Province (2011).

Dr. Chenzhi Cai received his BS degree in civil engineering and MS

degree in road and railway engineering from CSU, in China in 2011 and
2015, respectively. He graduated from The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University with a PhD in civil engineering in 2018 and joined the
Department of Bridge Engineering as well as the Wind Tunnel
Laboratory of CSU as an associate professor later that year. Dr. Cai’s main
research interests are the fields of noise and vibration control, train-bridge
interaction dynamics, and train-induced ground vibration isolation. He
has participated in several research projects funded by the Hong Kong
government and has also received research funding from the National
Natural Science Foundation of China and Hunan Provincial Natural
Science Foundation of China. Dr. Cai has published more than 20 papers
in international journals, and some of his work is under consideration for
acceptance by the UK CIBSE Guide.

Prof. Qingyuan Zeng is a distinguished scientist on bridge engineering at

Central South University, in China. He obtained his BS and MS degrees
from the Department of Civil Engineering, Nanchang University and
Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, in 1950 and
1956, respectively. He was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy
of Engineering in 1999 for his great contributions to local
global interac-
tive buckling behavior of long-span bridge structures, train
bridge inter-
action dynamics and the basic theory of train derailment. He presented
the principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in elastic sys-
tem dynamics and the “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system
matrices, which is a significant improvement of the classical theory of
structural dynamics and finite element method. Prof. Zeng has an interna-
tional reputation for his originality in the transverse vibration mechanism
and time-varying analysis method of the train
bridge system. He has
authored and coauthored more than 100 journal papers, three monographs,
and three textbooks. He received numerous awards, including the State
Science and Technology Progress Award, Distinguished Achievement
Award for Railway Science and Technology from Zhan Tianyou
Development Foundation, and Honorary Member Award from the China
Railway Society. He has supervised more than 16 MS students and 30 PhD
students in the past three decades.
Preface

Nowadays, the design of engineering structures, for example, long-span

bridges, high-rise buildings, stadiums, airport terminals, and offshore plat-
forms, seeks a large ratio of their load carrying capacity to self-weight to
achieve esthetic pleasure and economy. However, the type of these light-
weight and flexible structures will lead to a large deformation and exces-
sive vibrations under loading. In addition, these structures may suffer from
some extreme excitations, for instance, strong winds, seismic actions,
high-impact collisions, and impacts of water wave flow. Therefore, inves-
tigation of structural behaviors under dynamic loads is essential in order to
achieve a good performance of the structure when satisfying the require-
ment of designed service. The basic concept of structural dynamics is of
great help to engineers in understanding structural vibration and taking
appropriate measures.
This book introduces the fundamental concepts and basic principles of
the “dynamics of structures.” Although the book focuses on the linear
problem in structural dynamics, solutions for some nonlinear problems
have also been briefly introduced. It should be noted that random vibra-
tion is beyond the scope of this book and is not included here. The main
content of this book includes the overview of structural dynamics, the
formulation of equations of motion of systems, the analysis of dynamic
response of SDOF systems, the analysis of dynamic response of MDOF
and continuous systems, the mode superposition method, the approximate
evaluation of natural frequencies and mode shapes, and the step-by-step
integration method.
Three original contributions have been proposed in this book, namely,
the principle of total potential energy with a stationary value in elastic sys-
tem dynamics, the “set-in-right-position” rule for assembling system
matrices, and the method of computer implementation in Matlab.
Moreover, this book introduces the fundamental concepts of structural
dynamics in a concise way rather than with a detailed description, which
is more efficient for abecedarians in understanding the basic concepts and
methods of vibration analysis.
Participants in the writing of this book include Zhihui Zhou, Ying
Wen, Chenzhi Cai, and Qingyuan Zeng from Central South University.
The specific division of the organization and writing of this book is as

xi
xii Preface

follows: Zhihui Zhou is responsible for the writing of Chapters 1 to 4;

Ying Wen has fulfilled Chapters 5 and 6; Chenzhi Cai has completed
Chapter 7, and Qingyuan Zeng supplied the original manuscript of the
book.
The authors wish to express their sincere thanks and appreciation to
Prof. Xiaojun Wei from Central South University, Prof. Tong Qiu from
The Pennsylvania State University, and PhD student Juanya Yu from
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for valuable advice in the
process of writing. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Lican Xie, Ms.
Manxuan Yang, Mr. Liang Zhang, Mr. Bao Zhang, Mr. Xuanyu Liao,
Mr. Chenlong Tang, Mr. Zhenhua Jian, Mr. Xiaojie Zhu, and other
graduate students from Central South University for their contributions in
different ways to the content of this book.
This book can be used as a textbook for both postgraduates and
undergraduates majoring in civil engineering, engineering mechanics,
mechanical engineering, and other related fields in general colleges and
universities. It can also be a reference for teachers, general students, and
short-term trainees in institutions of higher vocational education.
The authors cordially invite the audience of this book to contact with
us (Zhihui Zhou: [email protected]) if you have any suggestions for
improvements and clarifications in the content organization, and even to
help identify errors. All the above efforts and comments are sincerely
acknowledged.

Zhihui Zhou
Ying Wen
Chenzhi Cai
Qingyuan Zeng
CHAPTER 1

Overview of structural dynamics

1.1 Objective of structural dynamic analysis
Dynamic analysis of the train
bridge system originated from the collapse of
the Chester Railway Bridge in the United Kingdom due to a train passing
over the bridge. In November 1940 the engineering community was aston-
ished by the dynamic instability of the Tacoma suspension bridge in the
United States under strong wind with a speed of 17
20 m/s. A large
crowd of people participated in the opening ceremony of Wuhan Yangtze
River Bridge in 1957, resulting in continuous swaying of the newly opened
bridge. The swaying came to an end when the crowd went away at night.
In 2011 the administrator of the Shanghai Railway observed the excessive
transverse vibration of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge under the condi-
tion of a cargo train passing over the bridge. The transverse amplitude of
the oscillated bridge exceeded 9 mm, which led to concerns over the safety
of running trains on the bridge. Therefore the assessment of the safety and
comfort of running trains on this bridge was conducted [1,2].
Seismic activity has been relatively active in recent decades, for instance,
the Chilean earthquake in 1960, the Tangshan earthquake in China in
1976, the Mexico earthquake in 1985, the Osaka
Kobe earthquake in
Japan in 1995, the India earthquake in 2001, and the Sichuan earthquake
in China in 2008. In addition to serious disruption to the local economy,
these disasters threatened the safety of residents and their properties in the
concerned areas. Thus the aseismic design of infrastructures in seismically
active areas is necessary to reduce or avoid severe earthquake damage for
major projects. In addition, many airplane accidents have been caused by
the flutter of aircraft wings or the abnormal vibration of engines. In
mechanical engineering, vibrations may bring about negative effects on the
performance of some precision instruments, for instance, these vibrations
may increase abrasion and fatigue, or reduce machining accuracy and sur-
face finish. However, some manufacturing facilities, for example, transmis-
sion, screening, grinding, piling, and so on, as well as various generators and
clocks, benefit from the positive aspects of vibrations [3].

Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics © 2021 Central South University Press.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823704-5.00001-X Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1
2 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

The investigation of structural dynamics focuses on understanding the

basic mechanism of vibrations and presenting the corresponding proces-
sing methods. These methods can be adopted to eliminate of the negative
vibration effects of machines, prevent dynamic instability of bridges and
improve the tamping and compaction performances of the road construc-
tion machinery, and so on.

1.2 Characteristics of structural dynamics

The main differences between statics and dynamics can be addressed in
the following aspects: (1) in dynamics, both the loads and responses of
structures are time-varying, which implies that, unlike static problems, the
solution of dynamics cannot be a single one. Therefore the dynamic anal-
ysis of structures presents a more complex and time-consuming process
when compared with the static analysis of structures; (2) acceleration is
significant in dynamics. The so-called inertial force produced by accelera-
tion acts in the opposite direction of the acceleration. As illustrated in
Fig. 1.1A, the internal moment and shear of the cantilever beam should
equilibrate the applied dynamic load, F(t), as well as the inertial force asso-
ciated with the acceleration. In Fig. 1.1B, the internal moment, shear, and
deflection of the cantilever beam under a static load F depend only on
the applied load itself. In general, once the inertial force accounts for a
relatively large proportion of the forces equilibrated by the elastic internal
force, the dynamic characteristics should be taken into account in the
structural analysis. When applied loads do not change significantly, the
dynamic responses are minor and the inertial forces can be neglected.
Thus the static analysis procedure could be applied at any desired instant
of time in these cases. If the exciting frequency is less than one third of
the first natural frequency of the structure, the analysis of the structure

Figure 1.1 Cantilever beam subjected to (A) dynamic load and (B) static load.
 Overview of structural dynamics 3

could be treated as a static problem (a better understating of this concept

can be achieved by means of Fig. 3.14); (3) damping is also an indispens-
able factor in dynamic problems. Energy will be dissipated in the vibration
of structures. Structural damping is frequently ignored in the analysis of
the natural dynamic properties and the dynamic response over a relatively
short duration (such as the action of impulsive loads). However, structural
damping must be taken into account when large damping exists or vibra-
tion lasts a long period, as well as in the analysis of the vibration in the
resonance region.

1.3 Classification of vibrations

1. The vibrations could be classified as either deterministic or random
vibrations according to the deterministic or random characteristics of
the dynamic responses.
a. Deterministic vibration: the structural responses are deterministic
functions of time due to the determined load and system.
b. Random vibration: the structural responses are random due to the
uncertainty of load or system. However, the responses usually comply
with certain statistical rules and can be analyzed with statistical pro-
bability methods. For instance, the vibrations of aircraft owing
to aerodynamic noise, the vibrations of the train
track
bridge system
caused by track irregularity, etc., are all regarded as random vibrations.
2. The vibrations could be classified as either free vibrations, forced vibra-
tions, self-excited vibrations, or parametric vibrations.
a. Free vibration: external perturbation makes the system deviate
from the initial equilibrium position or have initial velocity. When
the perturbation is rapidly removed, the system will vibrate due to
initial displacement or velocity, which is called free vibration.
b. Forced vibration: the vibration of the structure is caused by a contin-
uously applied load, which is called forced vibration. The response
of a forced vibration consists of two components. One is the tran-
sient response related to the initial conditions and the other is the
steady-state response with the same frequency as the applied load.
Since transient vibrations decay rapidly due to the damping effect,
forced vibrations are often referred to as steady-state vibration.
c. Self-excited vibration: the vibration is excited and controlled by
the system motion itself, which is called self-excited vibration.
In the analysis of self-excited vibrations, the components of the
4 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

system should be determined first. Then, the interaction among

these components should be fully understood, as well as the pro-
cess of the input and dissipation of system energy. In self-excited
vibrations, energy is obtained from the periodic vibration of a part
of the system. The excitation is a function of the displacement,
velocity and acceleration of the system. It is common to encounter
self-excited vibration phenomena in nature, engineering, and daily
life, for example, the piston motion of engines, the working prin-
ciple of clocks, the wind-induced motion of the Tacoma Bridge,
and the vibration of leaves in the breeze.
Through the observation of the swing of leaves under the excita-
tion of the wind, it can be noted that the wind angle of leaves stand-
ing against the wind will be changed due to bending of branches.
Therefore part of the air flow along the leaves and the wind pressure
on the leaves would be reduced. However, the elastic resistance of
the branch forces the leaves to return to their initial positions. Such a
process is repeated over and over. It can be concluded from the
above description that the external wind itself does not vary periodi-
cally, while the wind excitation on the leaves is periodic. This is
because the motion of the leaves controls the wind actions on the
leaves. This type of vibration is referred to as self-excited vibration.
d. Parametric vibration: system parameters change with a certain rule
due to the action of applied load, and the vibration is excited by the
changing system parameters, which is called parametric vibration.
The motion of a single pendulum with the time-varying length is
a typical example, as illustrated in Fig. 1.2A. Considering a small-
amplitude motion of a single
 pendulum,

 its equation of motion
could be derived as ϕ€ 1 2 _l=l ϕ_ 1 g=l ϕ 5 0 (ϕ is the rotation of
the pendulum; l is the time-varying length of the pendulum; g is
the acceleration of gravity; the detailed derivation can be found in
Example 2.6). It can be observed from the equation that the system
parameters vary with the length of the pendulum l. The external
force is not present in the load term of the equation of motion.
Another typical example is the transverse vibration of a straight bar
to a periodic axial force, as shown in Fig. 1.2B. The periodic axial
force results in periodic variation of parameters in the equation of
transverse bending (detailed information can be found in Chapter 17
of Ref. [4]), which leads to the vibration of the straight bar in the
transverse direction. Once the frequency of the applied force ω, and
 Overview of structural dynamics 5

the natural frequency associated with transverse bending of the bar,

ω, satisfy the relation of ω 5 2ω=K, K 5 1; 2; ?, the transverse
amplitude of the bar would become larger and larger and instability
would occur eventually. That is parametric resonance of the bar in
the transverse direction due to the periodic excitation in the direc-
tion of the bar axis, as shown in Fig. 1.2C.
3. According to the linear or nonlinear differential equations of a system,
the vibrations can be categorized into linear vibrations and nonlinear
vibrations:
a. Linear vibration: the inertial force, damping force, and elastic resis-
tance of the system are linearly related to the acceleration, velocity,
and displacement, respectively. The vibration of a system is governed
by a linear differential equation. Instead of second- and higher-order
terms, only the first-order terms with respect to acceleration, veloc-
ity, and displacement are present in the differential equation. This
book focuses on the investigation of the linear vibration.
b. Nonlinear vibration: in contrast to the linear vibration, the inertial
force, damping force, or elastic resistance of the system are nonlinear
with respect to acceleration, velocity, or displacement, respectively,
and the corresponding vibration can only be governed by nonlinear
differential equations. For instance, both the collapse of infrastructure
due to earthquakes and large amplitude vibration of flexible struc-
tures due to strong winds are examples of the nonlinear vibration.

Figure 1.2 Examples and response characteristics of parametric vibration: (A) motion
of a single pendulum with time-varying length; (B) transverse instability of a straight
bar; (C) vibration response due to parametric vibration.
6 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

1.4 Vibration problems in engineering

In the analysis of vibration, the investigated object (the engineering struc-
ture) is generally referred to as the vibrating system, and can be described
by the mass M, stiffness K, and damping C. The external loads that act on
a system or the factors that lead to the vibration of a system are called the
excitation or input. The dynamic responses of the system subjected to
such an excitation or input, for instance, accelerations, velocities, and dis-
placements, are regarded as the responses or output. The excitation (input)
is connected with the responses (output) by means of the properties of the
vibration system, as shown in Fig. 1.3.
The investigation of system vibration boils down to the analysis of the
relationships among the system, input, and output. Theoretically, once two
of these three factors are determined, the remaining one can be obtained.
Therefore vibration problems in engineering can be classified into the follow-
ing four types:
1. Response analysis: based on the given physical properties of the structural
system and the applied loads, the responses, including the acceleration,
velocity, and displacement, etc., are solved. Response analysis provides
basic information for analyzing the strength, stiffness, and vibration state
of a system. This book mainly focuses on the response analysis.
2. Environment prediction: based on the given properties and responses of
the structural system, the input is to be determined, and the characteristics
of the environment where the system is located may be identified.
3. System identification: the input and output are known, that is, the
dynamic loads and responses of the system are known. Therefore the
properties of the system can be obtained by using the system identifi-
cation method. The identified parameters include both physical prop-
erties (mass, stiffness, damping, etc.) and modal parameters (natural
frequencies and mode shapes).
4. System design: in many cases of engineering applications, the proper-
ties of the system can be designed based on the given input and
required criteria of responses. In general, the system design depends on
the response analysis. System design and response analysis are often
conducted alternately in practical engineering.

Figure 1.3 Three factors representing system vibration.

 Overview of structural dynamics 7

1.5 Procedures of dynamic response analysis of structures

1.5.1 Description of system configuration
Evaluation of the system responses of is a significant objective in structural
dynamics. The prerequisite for finding the solutions of the structural
responses is to formulate the dynamic equilibrium equation, that is, the equa-
tion of motion of the system, by considering the inertial, damping, elastic,
and external forces. The inertial, damping, and elastic forces are directly
related to the displacements, velocities, and accelerations of the system, as
well as its physical properties. Therefore it is necessary to describe the config-
uration of the system at any instant of time. Generally, a vibration configura-
tion is determined from the positions of all particles of the system. Practical
structures are generally continuous systems, and infinite displacement variables
are required to represent their vibration configuration theoretically. For
example, the position coordinates v k , k 5 1; 2; ?, of all continuous particles
distributing along the length of the beam should be obtained for the sake of
accurate description of the vibration of the simply supported beam in the
vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 1.4A. However, it is difficult and unnecessary
to do so in vibration analysis of engineering structures. An approximate esti-
mate of structural configuration can often satisfy the requirement of accuracy
in practical engineering. It is both efficient and possible to discretize a simply
supported beam into finite elements and use the displacements of nodes to
describe the configuration of the beam, as shown in Fig. 1.4B. The selection
of the appropriate coordinates that represent vibration configuration of struc-
tures is the preliminary and most important step for the modeling of practical
structures, which is associated with computational effort and accuracy.

1.5.2 Analysis of excitation

Excitation is defined as the external actions which induce structural vibra-
tions. The excitation of structural vibration is complex and affected by
many random factors. For instance, the dynamic actions of a train running

Figure 1.4 Configuration of a simply supported beam: (A) accurate description;

(B) approximate description using the finite element method.
8 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

on a bridge include the wheel
rail contact forces caused by the hunting

movement of wheelsets, eccentric loads of vehicles, and additional forces
generated by track irregularities. It is difficult to identify these excitations
with specific expressions quantitatively; however, these excitations satisfy
certain statistical rules. Although seismic acceleration waves can be adopted
for the input of earthquake actions on structures, there are no uniform
mathematical models for seismic acceleration waves for different regions,
even for earthquakes of the same magnitude. The seismic actions on the
structure are random, as well as the wind actions. These dynamic loads are
called random loads.
Some special excitations are present in engineering, which can be
described with sufficient precision by a specific time-domain function.
Harmonic excitation caused by the eccentric rotor with a constant angular
speed is a typical example of this.
According to whether excitations can be described by a deterministic
mathematical model or not, excitations can be classified into two types,
namely, random dynamic load and prescribed dynamic load.
1. Random dynamic load: a time-varying random dynamic load cannot
be represented deterministically. The differences of loads in each
experiment are obvious. However, probability theory can be adopted
to describe the statistical characteristics of these loads.
2. Prescribed dynamic load: the time variation of a deterministic dynamic
load is specified. The obtained results of these kinds of loads in different
experiments are nearly identical when considering the experimental
error. Fig. 1.5 shows some typical prescribed dynamic loads.

Figure 1.5 Typical prescribed dynamic loads: (A) harmonic load; (B) arbitrary periodic
load; (C) impulsive load; (D) arbitrary nonperiodic load.
 Overview of structural dynamics 9

Prescribed dynamic loads include both periodic and nonperiodic loads.

Periodic loads can be categorized into simple harmonic loads (Fig. 1.5A)
and arbitrary periodic loads (Fig. 1.5B). Nonperiodic loads can be catego-
rized as impulsive loads with an extremely short duration (such as a shock
wave and explosion wave, as shown in Fig. 1.5C), and arbitrary nonperio-
dic loads with a specified duration (such as measured seismic excitations,
as illustrated in Fig. 1.5D, which is regarded as a prescribed dynamic load
in the analysis of deterministic vibrations).

1.5.3 Mechanism of vibration energy dissipation

The mechanism of energy dissipation is complex and not fully under-
stood. Energy dissipation in structural vibration is related to the damping
force. The damping force is mainly caused by the internal friction due to
the deforming of solid material, the friction at connection points of struc-
tures (such as the friction at bolt joints of steel structures), the opening
and closing of microcracks in concrete, and the friction due to external
media around structures (such as the effects of air and fluids), etc. In real-
ity, it is difficult to simulate damping accurately due to the combined
effects of several factors. If only one kind of damping dominates the
effects, it would be possible to find a reasonable model for the damping
force. For instance, viscous damping force is proportional to the magni-
tude of velocity, that is, F vd 5 c_v , and it opposes the velocity. Detailed
information about the damping will be given in Section 3.4.

1.5.4 Equation of motion of a system

An important task for structural dynamics is to obtain the displacements
that vary with time or other responses to prescribed loads. Approximate
methods (such as the finite element method) considering a certain number
of degrees of freedom can generally meet the accuracy requirements for
most structures. Thus the problem boils down to solving the time history
of these selected displacement variables. The mathematical expression of
dynamic displacements is referred to as the equation of motion of a struc-
tural system. It is also known as the dynamic equilibrium equation once
the inertial force is introduced. By solving the equation, the displacements
and other responses can be obtained. The vibration characteristics
of a multidegree-of-freedom system can be expressed by the following
equation:
M q€ 1 C q_ 1 Kq 5 Q (1.1)
10 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

where q is the generalized displacement vector; q_ is the generalized veloc-

ity vector; q€ is the generalized acceleration vector; M is the mass matrix;
C is the damping matrix; K is the stiffness matrix; and Q is the general-
ized force vector.

1.5.5 Solution of equation of motion

The theory for the linear equation of motion of a system is comparatively
mature. It can be categorized into the following two types:
1. Solution for linear equation of motion with constant coefficients: the
main methods include numerical integration method (such as the
Euler method or Runge
Kutta method), variational method, mode-
superposition method, and weighted residual method.
2. Solution for linear equation of motion with variable coefficients: this
is mainly tackled by the variational method, step-by-step integration
method, and weighted residual method.
There is no general method available for solving a nonlinear equation of
motion yet. The small parameter method, variational method, and weighted
residual method are commonly applied to solve a nonlinear equation of
motion. With the rapid development of computers, the step-by-step integra-
tion method has become the dominant algorithm.

1.5.6 Vibration tests

The main purpose of vibration tests is to validate the theoretical results,
modify the theoretical model, and obtain the parameters required by the
theoretical analysis. The natural frequencies, mode shapes, damping ratio,
and seismic acceleration wave are among the test items. These parameters
are the basis of the analysis of structural dynamics.

Problems
1.1 What are the main differences between the dynamic and static analy-
sis of structures?
1.2 What are the main differences between prescribed and random
dynamic loads? How should one express these two kinds of loads in
mathematics?
1.3 What are the common problems related to engineering vibration
analysis and what relationships do they have?
1.4 According to the characteristics of parametric vibration and self-excited
vibration, which category does the motion of swing belong to?
 Overview of structural dynamics 11

References
[1] Zeng Q, Guo X. Theory of vibration analysis of train-bridge time-varying system and
its application. Beijing: China Railway Press; 1999.
[2] Zeng Q, Xiang J, Zhou Z, Lou P. Theory of train derailment analysis and its applica-
tion. Changsha: Central South University Press; 2006.
[3] Zhou Z, Wen Y, Zeng Q. Lectures on dynamics of structures. 2nd ed. Beijing: China
Communications Press Co., Ltd; 2017.
[4] Clough RW, Penzien J. Dynamics of structures. 3rd ed. Berkeley, CA: Computers &
Structures, Inc; 2003.
This page intentionally left blank
CHAPTER 2

Formulation of equations of
motion of systems
The preliminary step for estimating structural response is to formulate the
equation of motion of a structural system. This chapter focuses on the
basic concepts of structural dynamics and several methods for formulating
the equation of motion. These methods include (1) the direct equilibrium
method, (2) the principle of virtual displacements, (3) Lagrange’s equa-
tions, (4) Hamilton’s principle, (5) the principle of total potential energy
with a stationary value in elastic system dynamics, and (6) the “set-in-
right-position” rule for assembling system matrices and the method of
computer implementation in Matlab.
First, the concept of system constraint and the representation of the
configuration of a system will be introduced in this chapter. Then, the prin-
ciples and applications of the aforementioned six methods will be discussed.

2.1 System constraints

The earth is often selected as the reference frame in the vibration analysis of
systems. The chosen Cartesian coordinate system is fixed on the Earth, as
illustrated in Fig. 2.1. This kind of coordinate system is called a basic coor-
dinate system. The notation O represents the origin of the coordinate

Figure 2.1 Position of a particle in the basic coordinate system.

Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics © 2021 Central South University Press.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823704-5.00002-1 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 13
14 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

system. Bridges, buildings, and other infrastructures are considered to be

fixed on the earth and are incapable of moving freely. The motions of these
structures should satisfy external constraint conditions. Such kinds of systems
are referred to as constrained systems of particles. In contrast, aircrafts, birds,
etc., can move freely in all directions relative to the earth (i.e., the basic
coordinate system). This kind of system is called a free system of particles.
Each particle, which satisfies the requirements of internal constraints, can
move freely in all directions relative to the basic coordinate system.
A constraint could be defined as a geometric or kinematic restriction
imposed on the position and/or velocity of a particle. It is commonly
expressed by a constraint equation. The boundary conditions of a struc-
ture are typical examples of constraint equations. The following is a brief
introduction of constraint classifications.
1. Constraints can be categorized as either geometric or kinematic constraints
according to the characteristics of state variables in constraint equations.
Geometric constraint: Only the positions of the particles of a system
are restricted. For example, the coordinates of the particle m, x, y, z, as
shown in Fig. 2.2, should satisfy the following equation
x2 1 y2 1 z2 5 l 2 (2.1)
where l represents the length of the rigid rod. Eq. (2.1) is known as the
geometric constraint equation. Therefore the position coordinates of the
particle m at any instant of time t, xðtÞ, yðtÞ, zðtÞ, are not independent.
Only two of them are independent.
Kinematic constraint: Both the position and velocity of the particles of
a system are restricted. A cylinder moves along the positive direction
of the x axis, as shown in Fig. 2.3. It should be noted that the position of
the center of the cylinder C must satisfy the following relationship
zC 5 R (2.2)

Figure 2.2 Particle constrained by a rigid rod.

 Formulation of equations of motion of systems 15

Figure 2.3 Cylinder rolling horizontally.

Figure 2.4 Motion of an ice skate in a plane.

where zC is the position of the center of cylinder along the z axis, and R
is the radius of the cylinder.
Eq. (2.2) is a geometric constraint equation. Once the cylinder can
only roll without sliding, the velocity of the contact point D on the
ground shall equal zero, which could be expressed as
x_ C 2 Rϕ_ 5 0 (2.3)
where x_ C is the velocity of the center of cylinder along the x axis, and ϕ_
is the angular velocity of the cylinder.
Eq. (2.3) is a kinematic constraint equation. Eq. (2.3) could be trans-
formed into xC 5 Rϕ 1 c (c is an integral constant; ϕ is the rotation of the
cylinder) by integration, which is a geometric constraint equation. The
motion of an ice skate on the ground can be simplified to the motion of
the rod AB in a plane, as shown in Fig. 2.4. The velocity vC of the center
of mass C is always along the direction of rod AB. Therefore the velocity
components x_ C and y_ C along the direction of the x and y axes should
16 Fundamentals of Structural Dynamics

satisfy the following relationship

y_ C
5 tan θ or x_ C sin θ 2 y_ C cos θ 5 0
x_ C
where θ is the rotation angle of rod AB measured from the x axis.
The above equation is a kinematic constraint equation. Due to the
angle θ varying with the motion of the system, the above equation cannot
be integrated to obtain a geometric constraint relation. More knowledge
about transforming kinematic constraint equations into geometric con-
straint equations can be found in Ref. [1].
2. Constraints can be categorized as either steady or unsteady constraints
according to whether the time variable is explicitly present in the con-
straint equation or not.
Steady constraint: Time variable t is not present in the constraint equa-
tion. Eqs. (2.1), (2.2), and (2.3) belong to the steady constraints.
Consider a system of l particles, the steady constraint equation could
be expressed as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ;_r 1 ; ?; r_l Þ 5 0
(2.4)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl Þ 5 0
where r k is the position vector of the kth particle, r_k is the velocity vector
of the kth particle, xk ; yk ; zk are the coordinate components of the kth
particle in the basic coordinate system, and x_ k ; y_ k ; z_ k are the velocity com-
ponents of the kth particle in the basic coordinate system, where
k 5 1; 2; ?; l.
Unsteady constraint: Time t is an explicit variable in constraint
equations. For example, Fig. 2.5 shows a planar pendulum dangled at
point j. The point j moves in terms of sine function y0 5 a sin ωt along

Figure 2.5 Motion of a planar pendulum.

 Formulation of equations of motion of systems 17

the direction of the y axis. The constraint equation of particle m can be

given as follows:
x2 1 ðy2a sin ωtÞ2 5 l 2 (2.5)
The general equation of an unsteady constraint can be expressed as:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; r_1 ; ?; r_l ; tÞ 5 0
(2.6)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl ;tÞ 5 0
3. Constraints can also be categorized as either holonomic or nonholo-
nomic constraints, according to whether the terms of velocity are present
in constraint equations or not.
Holonomic constraints: Geometric constraints and integrable kine-
matic constraints are called holonomic constraints. Holonomic constraints
only depend on the coordinates and time t, and holonomic constraint
equations exclude the terms of velocity. The general expression could be
given as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; tÞ 5 0 or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;tÞ 5 0 (2.7)
Nonholonomic constraints: Kinematic constraints which cannot be inte-
grated to get geometric constraints are called nonholonomic constraints.
Nonholonomic constraint equations contain derivatives of coordinates with
respect to time t. The general expression could be given as follows:
f c ðr 1 ; ?; r l ; r_1 ; ?; r_l ; tÞ 5 0
(2.8)
or f c ðx1 ;y1 ;z1 ;?;xl ;yl ;zl ;_x1 ;_y1 ;_z1 ;?;_xl ;_yl ;_zl ;tÞ 5 0
As discussed above, the constraints of the rolling cylinder, as shown in
Fig. 2.3, can be considered to be holonomic. The constraint of the ice
skate, as shown in Fig. 2.4, is nonholonomic due to its unintegrable kine-
matic constraint equation. For given constraint equations which contain
the terms of velocity, integration transformations should be used to obtain
constraint equations in the form of Eq. (2.7). Once these transformations
are available, the corresponding constrains are holonomic. Otherwise, the
constrains are nonholonomic.
Once all the constrains of a system are holonomic, the system can be
defined as a holonomic system. Otherwise, the system is a nonholonomic
system. The subsequent chapters of the book focus on holonomic systems.
Detailed information about nonholonomic systems could be found in
Ref. [1].
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 CHAPTER X.

HABIT.

Its Importance for Psychology.—There remains a condition of general

neural activity so important as to deserve a chapter by itself—I refer to the
aptitude of the nerve-centres, especially of the hemispheres, for acquiring
habits. An acquired habit, from the physiological point of view, is nothing
but a new pathway of discharge formed in the brain, by which certain
incoming currents ever after tend to escape. That is the thesis of this
chapter; and we shall see in the later and more psychological chapters that
such functions as the association of ideas, perception, memory, reasoning,
the education of the will, etc., etc., can best be understood as results of the
formation de novo of just such pathways of discharge.
Habit has a physical basis. The moment one tries to define what habit
is, one is led to the fundamental properties of matter. The laws of Nature are
nothing but the immutable habits which the different elementary sorts of
matter follow in their actions and reactions upon each other. In the organic
world, however, the habits are more variable than this. Even instincts vary
from one individual to another of a kind; and are modified in the same
individual, as we shall later see, to suit the exigencies of the case. On the
principles of the atomistic philosophy the habits of an elementary particle of
matter cannot change, because the particle is itself an unchangeable thing;
but those of a compound mass of matter can change, because they are in the
last instance due to the structure of the compound, and either outward
forces or inward tensions can, from one hour to another, turn that structure
into something different from what it was. That is, they can do so if the
body be plastic enough to maintain its integrity, and be not disrupted when
its structure yields. The change of structure here spoken of need not involve
the outward shape; it may be invisible and molecular, as when a bar of iron
becomes magnetic or crystalline through the action of certain outward
causes, or india-rubber becomes friable, or plaster 'sets.' All these changes
are rather slow; the material in question opposes a certain resistance to the
modifying cause, which it takes time to overcome, but the gradual yielding
whereof often saves the material from being disintegrated altogether. When
the structure has yielded, the same inertia becomes a condition of its
comparative permanence in the new form, and of the new habits the body
then manifests. Plasticity, then, in the wide sense of the word, means the
possession of a structure weak enough to yield to an influence, but strong
enough not to yield all at once. Each relatively stable phase of equilibrium
in such a structure is marked by what we may call a new set of habits.
Organic matter, especially nervous tissue, seems endowed with a very
extraordinary degree of plasticity of this sort; so that we may without
hesitation lay down as our first proposition the following: that the
phenomena of habit in living beings are due to the plasticity of the organic
materials of which their bodies are composed.
The philosophy of habit is thus, in the first instance, a chapter in physics
rather than in physiology or psychology. That it is at bottom a physical
principle, is admitted by all good recent writers on the subject. They call
attention to analogues of acquired habits exhibited by dead matter. Thus, M.
Léon Dumont writes:
"Every one knows how a garment, after having been worn a certain time,
clings to the shape of the body better than when it was new; there has been
a change in the tissue, and this change is a new habit of cohesion. A lock
works better after being used some time; at the outset more force was
required to overcome certain roughness in the mechanism. The overcoming
of their resistance is a phenomenon of habituation. It costs less trouble to
fold a paper when it has been folded already; ... and just so in the nervous
system the impressions of outer objects fashion for themselves more and
more appropriate paths, and these vital phenomena recur under similar
excitements from without, when they have been interrupted a certain time."
Not in the nervous system alone. A scar anywhere is a locus minoris
resistentiæ, more liable to be abraded, inflamed, to suffer pain and cold,
than are the neighboring parts. A sprained ankle, a dislocated arm, are in
danger of being sprained or dislocated again; joints that have once been
attacked by rheumatism or gout, mucous membranes that have been the seat
of catarrh, are with each fresh recurrence more prone to a relapse, until
often the morbid state chronically substitutes itself for the sound one. And
in the nervous system itself it is well known how many so-called functional
diseases seem to keep themselves going simply because they happen to
have once begun; and how the forcible cutting short by medicine of a few
attacks is often sufficient to enable the physiological forces to get
possession of the field again, and to bring the organs back to functions of
health. Epilepsies, neuralgias, convulsive affections of various sorts,
insomnias, are so many cases in point. And, to take what are more
obviously habits, the success with which a 'weaning' treatment can often be
applied to the victims of unhealthy indulgence of passion, or of mere
complaining or irascible disposition, shows us how much the morbid
manifestations themselves were due to the mere inertia of the nervous
organs, when once launched on a false career.
Habits are due to pathways through the nerve-centres. If habits are
due to the plasticity of materials to outward agents, we can immediately see
to what outward influences, if to any, the brain-matter is plastic. Not to
mechanical pressures, not to thermal changes, not to any of the forces to
which all the other organs of our body are exposed; for, as we saw on pp. 9-
10, Nature has so blanketed and wrapped the brain about that the only
impressions that can be made upon it are through the blood, on the one
hand, and the sensory nerve-roots, on the other; and it is to the infinitely
attenuated currents that pour in through these latter channels that the
hemispherical cortex shows itself to be so peculiarly susceptible. The
currents, once in, must find a way out. In getting out they leave their traces
in the paths which they take. The only thing they can do, in short, is to
deepen old paths or to make new ones; and the whole plasticity of the brain
sums itself up in two words when we call it an organ in which currents
pouring in from the sense-organs make with extreme facility paths which do
not easily disappear. For, of course, a simple habit, like every other nervous
event—the habit of snuffling, for example, or of putting one's hands into
one's pockets, or of biting one's nails—is, mechanically, nothing but a reflex
discharge; and its anatomical substratum must be a path in the system. The
most complex habits, as we shall presently see more fully, are, from the
same point of view, nothing but concatenated discharges in the nerve-
centres, due to the presence there of systems of reflex paths, so organized as
to wake each other up successively—the impression produced by one
muscular contraction serving as a stimulus to provoke the next, until a final
impression inhibits the process and closes the chain.
It must be noticed that the growth of structural modification in living
matter may be more rapid than in any lifeless mass, because the incessant
nutritive renovation of which the living matter is the seat tends often to
corroborate and fix the impressed modification, rather than to counteract it
by renewing the original constitution of the tissue that has been impressed.
Thus, we notice after exercising our muscles or our brain in a new way, that
we can do so no longer at that time; but after a day or two of rest, when we
resume the discipline, our increase in skill not seldom surprises us. I have
often noticed this in learning a tune; and it has led a German author to say
that we learn to swim during the winter, and to skate during the summer.
Practical Effects of Habit.—First, habit simplifies our movements,
makes them accurate, and diminishes fatigue.
Man is born with a tendency to do more things than he has ready-made
arrangements for in his nerve-centres. Most of the performances of other
animals are automatic. But in him the number of them is so enormous that
most of them must be the fruit of painful study. If practice did not make
perfect, nor habit economize the expense of nervous and muscular energy,
he would be in a sorry plight. As Dr. Maudsley says:[30]
"If an act became no easier after being done several times, if the careful
direction of consciousness were necessary to its accomplishment on each
occasion, it is evident that the whole activity of a lifetime might be confined
to one or two deeds—that no progress could take place in development. A
man might be occupied all day in dressing and undressing himself; the
attitude of his body would absorb all his attention and energy; the washing
of his hands or the fastening of a button would be as difficult to him on each
occasion as to the child on its first trial; and he would, furthermore, be
completely exhausted by his exertions. Think of the pains necessary to
teach a child to stand, of the many efforts which it must make, and of the
ease with which it at last stands, unconscious of any effort. For while
secondarily-automatic acts are accomplished with comparatively little
weariness—in this regard approaching the organic movements, or the
original reflex movements—the conscious effort of the will soon produces
exhaustion. A spinal cord without ... memory would simply be an idiotic
spinal cord.... It is impossible for an individual to realize how much he
owes to its automatic agency until disease has impaired its functions."
Secondly, habit diminishes the conscious attention with which our acts
are performed.
One may state this abstractly thus: If an act require for its execution a
chain, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc., of successive nervous events, then in the
first performances of the action the conscious will must choose each of
these events from a number of wrong alternatives that tend to present
themselves; but habit soon brings it about that each event calls up its own
appropriate successor without any alternative offering itself, and without
any reference to the conscious will, until at last the whole chain, A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, rattles itself off as soon as A occurs, just as if A and the rest of the
chain were fused into a continuous stream. Whilst we are learning to walk,
to ride, to swim, skate, fence, write, play, or sing, we interrupt ourselves at
every step by unnecessary movements and false notes. When we are
proficients, on the contrary, the results follow not only with the very
minimum of muscular action requisite to bring them forth, but they follow
from a single instantaneous 'cue.' The marksman sees the bird, and, before
he knows it, he has aimed and shot. A gleam in his adversary's eye, a
momentary pressure from his rapier, and the fencer finds that he has
instantly made the right parry and return. A glance at the musical
hieroglyphics, and the pianist's fingers have rippled through a shower of
notes. And not only is it the right thing at the right time that we thus
involuntarily do, but the wrong thing also, if it be an habitual thing. Who is
there that has never wound up his watch on taking off his waistcoat in the
daytime, or taken his latch-key out on arriving at the door-step of a friend?
Persons in going to their bedroom to dress for dinner have been known to
take off one garment after another and finally to get into bed, merely
because that was the habitual issue of the first few movements when
performed at a later hour. We all have a definite routine manner of
performing certain daily offices connected with the toilet, with the opening
and shutting of familiar cupboards, and the like. But our higher thought-
centres know hardly anything about the matter. Few men can tell off-hand
which sock, shoe, or trousers-leg they put on first. They must first mentally
rehearse the act; and even that is often insufficient—the act must be
performed. So of the questions, Which valve of the shutters opens first?
Which way does my door swing? etc. I cannot tell the answer; yet my hand
never makes a mistake. No one can describe the order in which he brushes
his hair or teeth; yet it is likely that the order is a pretty fixed one in all of
us.
These results may be expressed as follows:
In action grown habitual, what instigates each new muscular contraction
to take place in its appointed order is not a thought or a perception, but the
sensation occasioned by the muscular contraction just finished. A strictly
voluntary act has to be guided by idea, perception, and volition, throughout
its whole course. In habitual action, mere sensation is a sufficient guide, and
the upper regions of brain and mind are set comparatively free. A diagram
will make the matter clear:

Fig. 51.

Let A, B, C, D, E, F, G represent an habitual chain of muscular

contractions, and let a, b, c, d, e, f stand for the several sensations which
these contractions excite in us when they are successively performed. Such
sensations will usually be in the parts moved, but they may also be effects
of the movement upon the eye or the ear. Through them, and through them
alone, we are made aware whether or not the contraction has occurred.
When the series, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, is being learned, each of these
sensations becomes the object of a separate act of attention by the mind. We
test each movement intellectually, to see if it have been rightly performed,
before advancing to the next. We hesitate, compare, choose, revoke, reject,
etc.; and the order by which the next movement is discharged is an express
order from the ideational centres after this deliberation has been gone
through.
In habitual action, on the contrary, the only impulse which the
intellectual centres need send down is that which carries the command to
start. This is represented in the diagram by V; it may be a thought of the
first movement or of the last result, or a mere perception of some of the
habitual conditions of the chain, the presence, e.g., of the keyboard near the
hand. In the present example, no sooner has this conscious thought or
volition instigated movement A, than A, through the sensation a of its own
occurrence, awakens B reflexly; B then excites C through b, and so on till
the chain is ended, when the intellect generally takes cognizance of the final
result. The intellectual perception at the end is indicated in the diagram by
the sensible effect of the movement G being represented at G´, in the
ideational centres above the merely sensational line. The sensational
impressions, a, b, c, d, e, f, are all supposed to have their seat below the
ideational level.
Habits depend on sensations not attended to. We have called a, b, c, d,
e, f, by the name of 'sensations.' If sensations, they are sensations to which
we are usually inattentive; but that they are more than unconscious nerve-
currents seems certain, for they catch our attention if they go wrong.
Schneider's account of these sensations deserves to be quoted. In the act of
walking, he says, even when our attention is entirely absorbed elsewhere, it
is doubtful whether we could preserve equilibrium if no sensation of our
body's attitude were there, and doubtful whether we should advance our leg
if we had no sensation of its movement as executed, and not even a minimal
feeling of impulse to set it down. Knitting appears altogether mechanical,
and the knitter keeps up her knitting even while she reads or is engaged in
lively talk. But if we ask her how this is possible, she will hardly reply that
the knitting goes on of itself. She will rather say that she has a feeling of it,
that she feels in her hands that she knits and how she must knit, and that
therefore the movements of knitting are called forth and regulated by the
sensations associated therewithal, even when the attention is called away...."
Again: "When a pupil begins to play on the violin, to keep him from raising
his right elbow in playing a book is placed under his right armpit, which he
is ordered to hold fast by keeping the upper arm tight against his body. The
muscular feelings, and feelings of contact connected with the book, provoke
an impulse to press it tight. But often it happens that the beginner, whose
attention gets absorbed in the production of the notes, lets drop the book.
Later, however, this never happens; the faintest sensations of contact suffice
to awaken the impulse to keep it in its place, and the attention may be
wholly absorbed by the notes and the fingering with the left hand. The
simultaneous combination of movements is thus in the first instance
conditioned by the facility with which in us, alongside of intellectual
processes, processes of inattentive feeling may still go on."
Ethical and Pedagogical Importance of the Principle of Habit.
—"Habit a second nature! Habit is ten times nature," the Duke of
Wellington is said to have exclaimed; and the degree to which this is true no
one probably can appreciate as well as one who is a veteran soldier himself.
The daily drill and the years of discipline end by fashioning a man
completely over again, as to most of the possibilities of his conduct.
"There is a story," says Prof. Huxley, "which is credible enough, though
it may not be true, of a practical joker who, seeing a discharged veteran
carrying home his dinner, suddenly called out, 'Attention!' whereupon the
man instantly brought his hands down, and lost his mutton and potatoes in
the gutter. The drill had been thorough, and its effects had become
embodied in the man's nervous structure."
Riderless cavalry-horses, at many a battle, have been seen to come
together and go through their customary evolutions at the sound of the
bugle-call. Most domestic beasts seem machines almost pure and simple,
undoubtingly, unhesitatingly doing from minute to minute the duties they
have been taught, and giving no sign that the possibility of an alternative
ever suggests itself to their mind. Men grown old in prison have asked to be
readmitted after being once set free. In a railroad accident a menagerie-
tiger, whose cage had broken open, is said to have emerged, but presently
crept back again, as if too much bewildered by his new responsibilities, so
that he was without difficulty secured.
Habit is thus the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious
conservative agent. It alone is what keeps us all within the bounds of
ordinance, and saves the children of fortune from the envious uprisings of
the poor. It alone prevents the hardest and most repulsive walks of life from
being deserted by those brought up to tread therein. It keeps the fisherman
and the deck-hand at sea through the winter; it holds the miner in his
darkness, and nails the countryman to his log-cabin and his lonely farm
through all the months of snow; it protects us from invasion by the natives
of the desert and the frozen zone. It dooms us all to fight out the battle of
life upon the lines of our nurture or our early choice, and to make the best
of a pursuit that disagrees, because there is no other for which we are fitted,
and it is too late to begin again. It keeps different social strata from mixing.
Already at the age of twenty-five you see the professional mannerism
settling down on the young commercial traveller, on the young doctor, on
the young minister, on the young counsellor-at-law. You see the little lines
of cleavage running through the character, the tricks of thought, the
prejudices, the ways of the 'shop,' in a word, from which the man can by-
and-by no more escape than his coat-sleeve can suddenly fall into a new set
of folds. On the whole, it is best he should not escape. It is well for the
world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like
plaster, and will never soften again.
If the period between twenty and thirty is the critical one in the
formation of intellectual and professional habits, the period below twenty is
more important still for the fixing of personal habits, properly so called,
such as vocalization and pronunciation, gesture, motion, and address.
Hardly ever is a language learned after twenty spoken without a foreign
accent; hardly ever can a youth transferred to the society of his betters
unlearn the nasality and other vices of speech bred in him by the
associations of his growing years. Hardly ever, indeed, no matter how much
money there be in his pocket, can he even learn to dress like a gentleman-
born. The merchants offer their wares as eagerly to him as to the veriest
'swell,' but he simply cannot buy the right things. An invisible law, as strong
as gravitation, keeps him within his orbit, arrayed this year as he was the
last; and how his better-clad acquaintances contrive to get the things they
wear will be for him a mystery till his dying day.
The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our
ally instead of our enemy. It is to fund and capitalize our acquisitions, and
live at ease upon the interest of the fund. For this we must make automatic
and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can, and
guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to
us, as we should guard against the plague. The more of the details of our
daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the
more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work.
There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is
habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar, the
drinking of every cup, the time of rising and going to bed every day, and the
beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of express volitional
deliberation. Full half the time of such a man goes to the deciding, or
regretting, of matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as practically
not to exist for his consciousness at all. If there be such daily duties not yet
ingrained in any one of my readers, let him begin this very hour to set the
matter right.
In Professor Bain's chapter on 'The Moral Habits' there are some
admirable practical remarks laid down. Two great maxims emerge from his
treatment. The first is that in the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving
off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and
decided an initiative as possible. Accumulate all the possible circumstances
which shall re-enforce the right motives; put yourself assiduously in
conditions that encourage the new way; make engagements incompatible
with the old; take a public pledge, if the case allows; in short, envelop your
resolution with every aid you know. This will give your new beginning such
a momentum that the temptation to break down will not occur as soon as it
otherwise might; and every day during which a breakdown is postponed
adds to the chances of its not occurring at all.
The second maxim is: Never suffer an exception to occur till the new
habit is securely rooted in your life. Each lapse is like the letting fall of a
ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip undoes more
than a great many turns will wind again. Continuity of training is the great
means of making the nervous system act infallibly right. As Professor Bain
says:
"The peculiarity of the moral habits, contradistinguishing them from the
intellectual acquisitions, is the presence of two hostile powers, one to be
gradually raised into the ascendant over the other. It is necessary, above all
things, in such a situation, never to lose a battle. Every gain on the wrong
side undoes the effect of many conquests on the right. The essential
precaution, therefore, is so to regulate the two opposing powers that the one
may have a series of uninterrupted successes, until repetition has fortified it
to such a degree as to enable it to cope with the opposition, under any
circumstances. This is the theoretically best career of mental progress."
The need of securing success at the outset is imperative. Failure at first is
apt to damp the energy of all future attempts, whereas past experiences of
success nerve one to future vigor. Goethe says to a man who consulted him
about an enterprise but mistrusted his own powers: "Ach! you need only
blow on your hands!" And the remark illustrates the effect on Goethe's
spirits of his own habitually successful career.
The question of "tapering-off," in abandoning such habits as drink and
opium-indulgence comes in here, and is a question about which experts
differ within certain limits, and in regard to what may be best for an
individual case. In the main, however, all expert opinion would agree that
abrupt acquisition of the new habit is the best way, if there be a real
possibility of carrying it out. We must be careful not to give the will so stiff
a task as to insure its defeat at the very outset; but, provided one can stand
it, a sharp period of suffering, and then a free time, is the best thing to aim
at, whether in giving up a habit like that of opium, or in simply changing
one's hours of rising or of work. It is surprising how soon a desire will die
of inanition if it be never fed.
"One must first learn, unmoved, looking neither to the right nor left, to
walk firmly on the strait and narrow path, before one can begin 'to make
one's self over again.' He who every day makes a fresh resolve is like one
who, arriving at the edge of the ditch he is to leap, forever stops and returns
for a fresh run. Without unbroken advance there is no such thing as
accumulation of the ethical forces possible, and to make this possible, and
to exercise us and habituate us in it, is the sovereign blessing of regular
work."[31]
A third maxim may be added to the preceding pair: Seize the very first
possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every
emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you
aspire to gain. It is not in the moment of their forming, but in the moment
of their producing motor effects, that resolves and aspirations communicate
the new 'set' to the brain. As the author last quoted remarks:
"The actual presence of the practical opportunity alone furnishes the
fulcrum upon which the lever can rest, by means of which the moral will
may multiply its strength, and raise itself aloft. He who has no solid ground
to press against will never get beyond the stage of empty gesture-making."
No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no
matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one have not taken advantage
of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely
unaffected for the better. With mere good intentions, hell is proverbially
paved. And this is an obvious consequence of the principles we have laid
down. A 'character,' as J. S. Mill says, 'is a completely fashioned will'; and a
will, in the sense in which he means it, is an aggregate of tendencies to act
in a firm and prompt and definite way upon all the principal emergencies of
life. A tendency to act only becomes effectively ingrained in us in
proportion to the uninterrupted frequency with which the actions actually
occur, and the brain 'grows' to their use. When a resolve or a fine glow of
feeling is allowed to evaporate without bearing practical fruit it is worse
than a chance lost; it works so as positively to hinder future resolutions and
emotions from taking the normal path of discharge. There is no more
contemptible type of human character than that of the nerveless
sentimentalist and dreamer, who spends his life in a weltering sea of
sensibility and emotion, but who never does a manly concrete deed.
Rousseau, inflaming all the mothers of France, by his eloquence, to follow
Nature and nurse their babies themselves, while he sends his own children
to the foundling hospital, is the classical example of what I mean. But every
one of us in his measure, whenever, after glowing for an abstractly
formulated Good, he practically ignores some actual case, among the
squalid 'other particulars' of which that same Good lurks disguised, treads
straight on Rousseau's path. All Goods are disguised by the vulgarity of
their concomitants, in this work-a-day world; but woe to him who can only
recognize them when he thinks them in their pure and abstract form! The
habit of excessive novel-reading and theatre-going will produce true
monsters in this line. The weeping of the Russian lady over the fictitious
personages in the play, while her coachman is freezing to death on his seat
outside, is the sort of thing that everywhere happens on a less glaring scale.
Even the habit of excessive indulgence in music, for those who are neither
performers themselves nor musically gifted enough to take it in a purely
intellectual way, has probably a relaxing effect upon the character. One
becomes filled with emotions which habitually pass without prompting to
any deed, and so the inertly sentimental condition is kept up. The remedy
would be, never to suffer one's self to have an emotion at a concert, without
expressing it afterward in some active way. Let the expression be the least
thing in the world—speaking genially to one's grandmother, or giving up
one's seat in a horse-car, if nothing more heroic offers—but let it not fail to
take place.
These latter cases make us aware that it is not simply particular lines of
discharge, but also general forms of discharge, that seem to be grooved out
by habit in the brain. Just as, if we let our emotions evaporate, they get into
a way of evaporating; so there is reason to suppose that if we often flinch
from making an effort, before we know it the effort-making capacity will be
gone; and that, if we suffer the wandering of our attention, presently it will
wander all the time. Attention and effort are, as we shall see later, but two
names for the same psychic fact. To what brain-processes they correspond
we do not know. The strongest reason for believing that they do depend on
brain-processes at all, and are not pure acts of the spirit, is just this fact, that
they seem in some degree subject to the law of habit, which is a material
law. As a final practical maxim, relative to these habits of the will, we may,
then, offer something like this: Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a
little gratuitous exercise every day. That is, be systematically ascetic or
heroic in little unnecessary points, do every day or two something for no
other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of
dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand
the test. Asceticism of this sort is like the insurance which a man pays on
his house and goods. The tax does him no good at the time, and possibly
may never bring him a return. But if the fire does come, his having paid it
will be his salvation from ruin. So with the man who has daily inured
himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self-
denial in unnecessary things. He will stand like a tower when everything
rocks around him, and when his softer fellow-mortals are winnowed like
chaff in the blast.
The physiological study of mental conditions is thus the most powerful
ally of hortatory ethics. The hell to be endured hereafter, of which theology
tells, is no worse than the hell we make for ourselves in this world by
habitually fashioning our characters in the wrong way. Could the young but
realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they
would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state. We are
spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every
smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar. The
drunken Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson's play, excuses himself for every
fresh dereliction by saying, 'I won't count this time!' Well! he may not count
it, and a kind Heaven may not count it; but it is being counted none the less.
Down among his nerve-cells and fibres the molecules are counting it,
registering and storing it up to be used against him when the next
temptation comes. Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness,
wiped out. Of course this has its good side as well as its bad one. As we
become permanent drunkards by so many separate drinks, so we become
saints in the moral, and authorities and experts in the practical and scientific
spheres, by so many separate acts and hours of work. Let no youth have any
anxiety about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If
he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he may safely leave
the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count on waking up
some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his
generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out. Silently, between
all the details of his business, the power of judging in all that class of matter
will have built itself up within him as a possession that will never pass
away. Young people should know this truth in advance. The ignorance of it
has probably engendered more discouragement and faint-heartedness in
youths embarking on arduous careers than all other causes put together.
 CHAPTER XI.

THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

The order of our study must be analytic. We are now prepared to

begin the introspective study of the adult consciousness itself. Most books
adopt the so-called synthetic method. Starting with 'simple ideas of
sensation,' and regarding these as so many atoms, they proceed to build up
the higher states of mind out of their 'association,' 'integration,' or 'fusion,'
as houses are built by the agglutination of bricks. This has the didactic
advantages which the synthetic method usually has. But it commits one
beforehand to the very questionable theory that our higher states of
consciousness are compounds of units; and instead of starting with what the
reader directly knows, namely his total concrete states of mind, it starts with
a set of supposed 'simple ideas' with which he has no immediate
acquaintance at all, and concerning whose alleged interactions he is much at
the mercy of any plausible phrase. On every ground, then, the method of
advancing from the simple to the compound exposes us to illusion. All
pedants and abstractionists will naturally hate to abandon it. But a student
who loves the fulness of human nature will prefer to follow the 'analytic'
method, and to begin with the most concrete facts, those with which he has
a daily acquaintance in his own inner life. The analytic method will
discover in due time the elementary parts, if such exist, without danger of
precipitate assumption. The reader will bear in mind that our own chapters
on sensation have dealt mainly with the physiological conditions thereof.
They were put first as a mere matter of convenience, because incoming
currents come first. Psychologically they might better have come last. Pure
sensations were described on page 12 as processes which in adult life are
well-nigh unknown, and nothing was said which could for a moment lead
the reader to suppose that they were the elements of composition of the
higher states of mind.
The Fundamental Fact.—The first and foremost concrete fact which
every one will affirm to belong to his inner experience is the fact that
consciousness of some sort goes on. 'States of mind' succeed each other in
him. If we could say in English 'it thinks,' as we say 'it rains' or 'it blows,'
we should be stating the fact most simply and with the minimum of
assumption. As we cannot, we must simply say that thought goes on.
Four Characters in Consciousness.—How does it go on? We notice
immediately four important characters in the process, of which it shall be
the duty of the present chapter to treat in a general way:
1) Every 'state' tends to be part of a personal consciousness.
2) Within each personal consciousness states are always changing.
3) Each personal consciousness is sensibly continuous.
4) It is interested in some parts of its object to the exclusion of others,
and welcomes or rejects—chooses from among them, in a word—all the
while.
In considering these four points successively, we shall have to plunge in
medias res as regards our nomenclature and use psychological terms which
can only be adequately defined in later chapters of the book. But every one
knows what the terms mean in a rough way; and it is only in a rough way
that we are now to take them. This chapter is like a painter's first charcoal
sketch upon his canvas, in which no niceties appear.
When I say every 'state' or 'thought' is part of a personal consciousness,
'personal consciousness' is one of the terms in question. Its meaning we
know so long as no one asks us to define it, but to give an accurate account
of it is the most difficult of philosophic tasks. This task we must confront in
the next chapter; here a preliminary word will suffice.
In this room—this lecture-room, say—there are a multitude of thoughts,
yours and mine, some of which cohere mutually, and some not. They are as
little each-for-itself and reciprocally independent as they are all-belonging-
together. They are neither: no one of them is separate, but each belongs with
certain others and with none beside. My thought belongs with my other
thoughts, and your thought with your other thoughts. Whether anywhere in
the room there be a mere thought, which is nobody's thought, we have no
means of ascertaining, for we have no experience of its like. The only states
of consciousness that we naturally deal with are found in personal
consciousnesses, minds, selves, concrete particular I's and you's.
Each of these minds keeps its own thoughts to itself. There is no giving
or bartering between them. No thought even comes into direct sight of a
thought in another personal consciousness than its own. Absolute insulation,
irreducible pluralism, is the law. It seems as if the elementary psychic fact
were not thought or this thought or that thought, but my thought, every
thought being owned. Neither contemporaneity, nor proximity in space, nor
similarity of quality and content are able to fuse thoughts together which
are sundered by this barrier of belonging to different personal minds. The
breaches between such thoughts are the most absolute breaches in nature.
Every one will recognize this to be true, so long as the existence of
something corresponding to the term 'personal mind' is all that is insisted
on, without any particular view of its nature being implied. On these terms
the personal self rather than the thought might be treated as the immediate
datum in psychology. The universal conscious fact is not 'feelings and
thoughts exist,' but 'I think' and 'I feel.' No psychology, at any rate, can
question the existence of personal selves. Thoughts connected as we feel
them to be connected are what we mean by personal selves. The worst a
psychology can do is so to interpret the nature of these selves as to rob them
of their worth.
Consciousness is in constant change. I do not mean by this to say that
no one state of mind has any duration—even if true, that would be hard to
establish. What I wish to lay stress on is this, that no state once gone can
recur and be identical with what it was before. Now we are seeing, now
hearing; now reasoning, now willing; now recollecting, now expecting; now
loving, now hating; and in a hundred other ways we know our minds to be
alternately engaged. But all these are complex states, it may be said,
produced by combination of simpler ones;—do not the simpler ones follow
a different law? Are not the sensations which we get from the same object,
for example, always the same? Does not the same piano-key, struck with
the same force, make us hear in the same way? Does not the same grass
give us the same feeling of green, the same sky the same feeling of blue,
and do we not get the same olfactory sensation no matter how many times
we put our nose to the same flask of cologne? It seems a piece of
metaphysical sophistry to suggest that we do not; and yet a close attention
to the matter shows that there is no proof that an incoming current ever
gives us just the same bodily sensation twice.
What is got twice is the same OBJECT. We hear the same note over and
over again; we see the same quality of green, or smell the same objective
perfume, or experience the same species of pain. The realities, concrete and
abstract, physical and ideal, whose permanent existence we believe in, seem
to be constantly coming up again before our thought, and lead us, in our
carelessness, to suppose that our 'ideas' of them are the same ideas. When
we come, some time later, to the chapter on Perception, we shall see how
inveterate is our habit of simply using our sensible impressions as stepping-
stones to pass over to the recognition of the realities whose presence they
reveal. The grass out of the window now looks to me of the same green in
the sun as in the shade, and yet a painter would have to paint one part of it
dark brown, another part bright yellow, to give its real sensational effect.
We take no heed, as a rule, of the different way in which the same things
look and sound and smell at different distances and under different
circumstances. The sameness of the things is what we are concerned to
ascertain; and any sensations that assure us of that will probably be
considered in a rough way to be the same with each other. This is what
makes off-hand testimony about the subjective identity of different
sensations well-nigh worthless as a proof of the fact. The entire history of
what is called Sensation is a commentary on our inability to tell whether
two sensible qualities received apart are exactly alike. What appeals to our
attention far more than the absolute quality of an impression is its ratio to
whatever other impressions we may have at the same time. When
everything is dark a somewhat less dark sensation makes us see an object
white. Helmholtz calculates that the white marble painted in a picture
representing an architectural view by moonlight is, when seen by daylight,
from ten to twenty thousand times brighter than the real moonlit marble
would be.
Such a difference as this could never have been sensibly learned; it had
to be inferred from a series of indirect considerations. These make us
believe that our sensibility is altering all the time, so that the same object
cannot easily give us the same sensation over again. We feel things
differently accordingly as we are sleepy or awake, hungry or full, fresh or
tired; differently at night and in the morning, differently in summer and in
winter; and above all, differently in childhood, manhood, and old age. And
yet we never doubt that our feelings reveal the same world, with the same
sensible qualities and the same sensible things occupying it. The difference
of the sensibility is shown best by the difference of our emotion about the
things from one age to another, or when we are in different organic moods.
What was bright and exciting becomes weary, flat, and unprofitable. The
bird's song is tedious, the breeze is mournful, the sky is sad.
 To these indirect presumptions that our sensations, following the
mutations of our capacity for feeling, are always undergoing an essential
change, must be added another presumption, based on what must happen in
the brain. Every sensation corresponds to some cerebral action. For an
identical sensation to recur it would have to occur the second time in an
unmodified brain. But as this, strictly speaking, is a physiological
impossibility, so is an unmodified feeling an impossibility; for to every
brain-modification, however small, we suppose that there must correspond
a change of equal amount in the consciousness which the brain subserves.
But if the assumption of 'simple sensations' recurring in immutable shape
is so easily shown to be baseless, how much more baseless is the
assumption of immutability in the larger masses of our thought!
For there it is obvious and palpable that our state of mind is never
precisely the same. Every thought we have of a given fact is, strictly
speaking, unique, and only bears a resemblance of kind with our other
thoughts of the same fact. When the identical fact recurs, we must think of it
in a fresh manner, see it under a somewhat different angle, apprehend it in
different relations from those in which it last appeared. And the thought by
which we cognize it is the thought of it-in-those-relations, a thought
suffused with the consciousness of all that dim context. Often we are
ourselves struck at the strange differences in our successive views of the
same thing. We wonder how we ever could have opined as we did last
month about a certain matter. We have outgrown the possibility of that state
of mind, we know not how. From one year to another we see things in new
lights. What was unreal has grown real, and what was exciting is insipid.
The friends we used to care the world for are shrunken to shadows; the
women once so divine, the stars, the woods, and the waters, how now so
dull and common!—the young girls that brought an aura of infinity, at
present hardly distinguishable existences; the pictures so empty; and as for
the books, what was there to find so mysteriously significant in Goethe, or
in John Mill so full of weight? Instead of all this, more zestful than ever is
the work; and fuller and deeper the import of common duties and of
common goods.
I am sure that this concrete and total manner of regarding the mind's
changes is the only true manner, difficult as it may be to carry it out in
detail. If anything seems obscure about it, it will grow clearer as we
advance. Meanwhile, if it be true, it is certainly also true that no two 'ideas'
are ever exactly the same, which is the proposition we started to prove. The
proposition is more important theoretically than it at first sight seems. For it
makes it already impossible for us to follow obediently in the footprints of
either the Lockian or the Herbartian school, schools which have had almost
unlimited influence in Germany and among ourselves. No doubt it is often
convenient to formulate the mental facts in an atomistic sort of way, and to
treat the higher states of consciousness as if they were all built out of
unchanging simple ideas which 'pass and turn again.' It is convenient often
to treat curves as if they were composed of small straight lines, and
electricity and nerve-force as if they were fluids. But in the one case as in
the other we must never forget that we are talking symbolically, and that
there is nothing in nature to answer to our words. A permanently existing
'Idea' which makes its appearance before the footlights of consciousness at
periodical intervals is as mythological an entity as the Jack of Spades.
Within each personal consciousness, thought is sensibly continuous.
I can only define 'continuous' as that which is without breach, crack, or
division. The only breaches that can well be conceived to occur within the
limits of a single mind would either be interruptions, time-gaps during
which the consciousness went out; or they would be breaks in the content of
the thought, so abrupt that what followed had no connection whatever with
what went before. The proposition that consciousness feels continuous,
means two things:
a. That even where there is a time-gap the consciousness after it feels as
if it belonged together with the consciousness before it, as another part of
the same self;
b. That the changes from one moment to another in the quality of the
consciousness are never absolutely abrupt.
The case of the time-gaps, as the simplest, shall be taken first.
a. When Paul and Peter wake up in the same bed, and recognize that they
have been asleep, each one of them mentally reaches back and makes
connection with but one of the two streams of thought which were broken
by the sleeping hours. As the current of an electrode buried in the ground
unerringly finds its way to its own similarly buried mate, across no matter
how much intervening earth; so Peter's present instantly finds out Peter's
past, and never by mistake knits itself on to that of Paul. Paul's thought in
turn is as little liable to go astray. The past thought of Peter is appropriated