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Posture Commands - Why they don't Work

© Robert Rickover

It is as reasonable to expect a fire to go out when it is ordered to stop burning as to suppose that a man can stand straight in consequence of a direct action of thought and desire. - Professor John Dewey

John Dewey is best known as the leading voice of the school of philosophy known as Pragmatism, and for his profound influence on public education in the United States. Indeed, he is often called the "father of American education".

Why on earth was he writing about posture, of all things? Philosophers, we usually assume, are concerned with ideas, not physical training.

And just why can't you stand straight by a "direct action of thought and desire"? Isn't that what your parents and teachers - especially your physical education teachers - told you over and over when you were growing up? And isn't that what countless advice articles advise to prevent back pain, for example when using a computer?

What other way is there?

In order to answer these questions, we need to look at a remarkable association between Dewey and another great twentieth century thinker- F. Matthias Alexander. Alexander was an Australian who developed an educational method that today is called "The Alexander Technique" and is widely used by people wanting to learn how to release harmful tension from their bodies.

The two men met in New York during World War I when Dewey had a series of lessons with Alexander. These lessons had a profound impact on him. They showed him how to stop and think before acting. He also credited them with enabling him to hold a philosophical position calmly, or to change it if new evidence was presented to him.

They also helped him improve his own posture, coordination, breathing and eyesight. It's fair to say that Dewey's experiences with Alexander opened new ways for him to look at the world, at himself and his approach to philosophy and the world of ideas. The photo at the right shows Alexander teaching Dewey in a hands-on lesson in his Technique.

Their association lasted until Alexander's death in 1955. Dewey wrote the introductions to three of Alexander's books and he referred to Alexander many times in his writings. In a chapter titled "Habits of Will" in Human Nature and Conduct, published a few years after his first lessons with Alexander, he explained in detail why direct approaches to achieving good posture - admonitions to "stand up straight" and the like - are doomed to failure.