Anthroposophy in Everyday Life

by Rudolf Steiner

Those experimenting ought not to draw any conclusions immediately or to deduce from today's observation what kind of weather they might have tomorrow. That would corrupt their thinking. Instead, they must confidently feel that the things of outer reality are definitely related to one another and that tomorrow's events are somehow connected with those of today. But they must not speculate on these things. They must first inwardly re-think the sequence of the outer events as exactly as possible in mental pictures, and then place these images side by side, allowing them to melt into one another. This is a definite rule of thought that must be followed by those who wish to develop factual thinking. It is particularly advisable that this principle be practiced on those very things that are not yet understood and the inner connection of which has not yet been penetrated. Therefore, the experimenter must have the confidence that such events of which he or she as yet has no understanding—the weather, for instance—and which in the outer world are connected with one another, will bring about inner connections. This must be done only in pictures, while refraining from thinking.