ABSTRACT
T! You couldn’t tell the differ ence!’ he exclaimed, in broken sentences, helpless with laughter. His reward was a round of applause and once again I felt how gifted
he was. ‘Do you know why you applauded him?’ Tortsov asked and imme di ately
gave the answer. ‘Because he found the right Adaptation and carried it through success fully. ‘This word, Adaptation, is the one we shall use in future to desig nate the
ingenu ity, both mental and phys ical, people use to adjust their beha viour and so influ ence other people, their object.’ ‘What does “adjust” mean?’ the students enquired. ‘It means what Vanya did just now. He used his ingenu ity so he could
leave the class before time,’ Tortsov explained. ‘I think he just fooled us,’ someone inter jec ted. ‘Would you have believed him without this prac tical joke?’ Tortsov asked.
