The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1908-12-26
NEW THOUGHT" A FORM OF
MANIA.

As editor of one of the foremost
medical journals in the land, as an au
thor of text books for physicians. and
rs student of mental alienation, Dr..
George NJ. Gould has come into con.
tact with the so-called new thought
and has Won notice because Of the +
vigor of his campaisn against 1t in eN.
cry form. In speaking upon the theme
he finds il impossible 10 avoid the use
OF the word crank, The 'crankism
OF the new thought he denounces As
"a strange tumble of inconsistencies.
Tie fad itself he declares is one OF 4
the great obstacles TO all progress IN
science. i'm fact an impeachment not
only OF American common sense, but
Of American capacity for thought i'll
self. A healthy mind, he insists, can
not read the so-oalled new thought
Journals for IN hour or two without
the overwhelming conviction that
these people are really insane. The
wonder is that they have preserved SO
much commercial cunuins, Doctor
Gould accuses most Of the leaders OF
the cult of chariatanry, The money
aspsct. pay-in,advance for reading no
tees. for absent treatment, for psyche
metric readings, for books. for yiera-
tons. for insuring success. for shares
OF minins stocks. for letter pads, for
Journals and lectures and all that
this is not forgotten, The vocabulary
Of these ~cnarlatans' is enough. he
SAYS, to impsach their good faith, for
Is is rsplete with isrson about the
spirit. the new Interpretation, the new
insight, and I'll that suggests ne m
tangible and the indefinite However;
ut goes On at the same time and IN
The same co'inlns with the drsaries'
waste OF words. of reverbating words,
words. words-utterly without mean
i i,g and utterly without end. There
/ are tons OF printed stuff going out
every month like this, Unity is non
ethisal. 1t simply is. God is. Energy
is Power is. Light is Life is
Thought is, Love is. Attraction Is
Electricity is. Man is Existence IS
/ the beginning of our search for happi,
ness existence is non-ethical II is
a mistake 70 call God good.
DR. Gould says there IS nothing d.
4 rectly vicious or uauseating IN new
thought literature as . whole, but It Is
all indirectly morbid. The neurotic
woman is especially vicitimized by
soul ouacks' who intensity her NOR
h,aity nv their advice, often tc the
destruction not only Of her health oa'
Of her happiness, Tho people who arc
ministered to and treated are surely
sick. very much SO, mentally and so
cially: but the teachers. the hiss
priestesses and their little amen
savers. the priests. are surely muef
.'sicker. The more the soul quacs
claims. according to DR. Gould, regard
less OF whether he has any basis fol
his claims or not. the more egotisr
and concsit be ouliyates, the more h,
ignores the tacts OF pathology and o
true science, the more emphasis h,
LAYS upon spirit the more the vic
tins are inclined TO imagine they real
lie tho God in me" The whole Sys
TEN may be summed UP in the tern
American crapkism due. Or Goul,
suspects, TO the national intellectual
idiocyncrasy In speaking of sucl
eranRs. mr. Gould writes. There il
: ever absent tho attyibuts OF spi
derlike Watching for the main chance
i highly-developed astuteRess in get
ting money from the greater fools wh,
i trust him He Is intensely ignorant
, and as inordmattiy egotiSticai, and al
:. Of that Is latent in the word cranI
also. Lastly. he is often 3 woman
and the word must be stretched t
cover that most noteworthy fact
The morbid egotism OF the new
= thought eranks, as Or Gould call
u them. is perhaps the most strikin:
e thing IN all the books. periodicals
writings. preachugs ana doings Q
these strange people Alisnists Vel
know hew egoasm rules the minds 9
s their insane patients Mentally dis
sased the craEks. Doctor Gould saws
e plainly axe. normal cvebration Be
iag disturbed ana trrsGrlar or NOR
commonly uudevelcred ana atavisiie
He says III this connection
y Fxonomauja raves and wanions "a
i thetically. hut Slso 'aa.orously
/, eyerv pAee II these s0vey sdayttes
yibralogistS mental scientists, dis
,l,at he8IerS ard r8ut rs as 3 nzlltt
tube Of suhSavietieS The keyDote q
Il the unlimited power x Il, the eteg
uS emphasis sud raEst3toa Of i +
tins worst cases and maea Eines III
EDITOR hscemes enc NTH 2ad. and hi
sentences for pases ara eaNrsly mean