"What,in a way,most profoundly impressed Martin,was the correlation of knowledge - of all knowledge.He had been curious to know things, and whatever he acquired he had filed away in separate memory compartments in his brain.Thus, on the subject of sailing he had an immense store.On the subject of woman he had a fairly large store.But these two subjects had been unrelated.Between the two memory compartments there had been no connection. That, in the fabric of knowledge,there should be any connection whatever between a woman with hysterics and schooner carrying a weather-helm or heaving to in a gale,would have struck him as ridiculous and impossible.But HERBERT SPENCER had shown him not only that it was not ridiculous,but that it was impossible for there to be no connection.All things were related to all other things from the farthermost star in the wastes of space to the myriads of atoms in the grain of sand under one's foot."/Jack London,"Martin Edn"/
Herbert Spencer was famous British philosopher of the nineteen century's second part.As the positivist and the evolutioniste, he was the friend of Thomas Huxley and the follower of agnosticism.He argued that the existence of God is absolutely unknown.The theists made an ironical "credo" for his followers/paraphrasing the well-known Islam's Decleration of Faith/: There is no god but Uknown and Spencer is his Messenger.Jack London was very probably,in his beginning of philosophical self-education,fan of Spencer's doctrine.His view at metaphysics is nice showed,in my opinion,in an other passage/from his novel "Iron Heel"/:
"I'm like the man from Texas,"he/Ernest E./said.And,on being solicited,he explained."You see,the man from Missouri always says,'You've got to show me.'But the man from Texas says,'You've got to put it in my hand'.From which it is apparent that he is no metaphysician."
